St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

School overview

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is a primary school serving Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy with a Roman Catholic religious character. It has 121 pupils aged 2 to 11 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated St Joseph's Catholic Primary School 'Good'. 84% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, well above the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has risen by 27.0 percentage points year on year, though small year groups can make these figures swing sharply from year to year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 38% of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 106 in reading and 105 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 Primary School their first choice was offered one of its 20 Reception places. Overall pupil absence was 8.8%. There are about 22.2 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 39% 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 comparing schools, it is still worth visiting in person to see whether the atmosphere and approach suit your child. 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.