St Joseph's Catholic Primary, Stanley

About St Joseph's Catholic Primary, Stanley

St Joseph's Catholic Primary in Stanley holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained since its most recent ungraded inspection in February 2024, which confirmed the school remains Good. The most telling academic metric comes from the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, where 65% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That figure sits just above the County Durham local authority average of 62%, placing the school 77th out of 170 primary schools in the area. In the North East region, it ranks 314th out of 677, and nationally it sits in the 43rd percentile. While no pupils achieved the higher standard across all three subjects, individual subject scores tell a more nuanced story: the average scaled scores in both reading and maths were 104, and 23% of pupils hit the higher standard in each of those subjects. Writing proved tougher, with only 10% reaching the higher threshold.

Digging deeper into the Ofsted history, the school has held a Good overall effectiveness rating across both its graded inspections, the most recent full graded inspection taking place in 2012. The leadership and management have consistently been rated Good, and the early years provision, which was graded as a 2 (Good) back in 2007, has evidently been maintained to a satisfactory standard. The school's Progress 8 scores for reading, writing and maths are not available in the data, so it is not possible to measure how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. However, the raw attainment figures suggest a solid, if not spectacular, performance. With 74% of pupils meeting the expected standard in maths and writing individually, and 71% in reading, the school is performing broadly in line with or slightly ahead of the local picture, though it sits well behind the top performers in the county like Montalbo Nursery & Primary School.

The school is a Roman Catholic state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 3 to 11, with a nursery provision attached. It has 224 pupils on roll against a capacity of 236, and 19.9% are eligible for free school meals, which is slightly above the national average. Admissions for the 2025/26 year show it is oversubscribed: 49 applications for 24 places, with exactly 24 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.04. The school offers a broad range of facilities including an ICT suite, art studios, music rooms and a chapel, and runs clubs from science and coding to gardening and film. Sports on offer include football, netball, athletics, cricket, tennis and swimming. The SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. This is a school that suits families seeking a faith-based primary with a solid academic record, a good range of extracurricular activities, and a clear Catholic identity, but who are prepared for a competitive admissions process.

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