St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon at a glance

Located in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon is a primary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Roman Catholic religious character. The school educates roughly 112 pupils aged 2 to 11. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Requires improvement' at its most recent inspection. 70% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, above the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has risen by 10.0 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 around the middle of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 105 in reading and 105 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 5% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon their first choice was offered one of its 11 Reception places. Overall pupil absence was 7.8%. There are about 17.5 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 53% 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. If you are considering St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon, it may be worth asking how leaders have responded to Ofsted's findings and what has changed since the inspection. 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.