St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy

St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy at a glance

Located in Matlock, Derbyshire, St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy is a primary school, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy with a Roman Catholic religious character. The school educates roughly 156 pupils aged 3 to 11. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. 37% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, well below the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has fallen by 20.0 percentage points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 104 in reading and 103 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy their first choice was offered one of its 14 Reception places. Overall pupil absence was 5.5%. There are about 18.7 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 57% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.