St Joseph's RC Primary School

St Joseph's RC Primary is a Catholic primary school in Ordsall, Salford, with 224 pupils and a context of high disadvantage: 40.7% are eligible for free school meals, 23.2% receive SEN support, and the local area is well above average for deprivation. Safeguarding standards are met. Inspectors found early years and inclusion to be secure, but achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing require improvement. Pupils are happy, safe and well cared for; early years provision is rich, inclusion support is proactive, and pupils benefit from strong pastoral care and a wide range of experiences. Reading and phonics are taught well, and pupils who join later or have SEND are supported to progress from their starting points. However, pupils do not achieve as well as they could in key stages 1 and 2, with end-of-key-stage-2 national test outcomes below average over time. Teaching quality and curriculum delivery vary across subjects; pupils do not consistently retain learning long term or apply spelling and handwriting, and assessment within lessons does not always address misconceptions swiftly. Behaviour expectations are inconsistent and can disrupt learning, while the PSHE/personal development curriculum is not coherently sequenced, leaving pupils less secure in understanding British values and some aspects of health. Leaders have appropriate improvement plans and are beginning to act, but many changes are in their infancy and oversight of impact is not yet precise enough to secure rapid improvement. Attendance is broadly in line with national averages, although persistent absence has been above average in recent years.

Strengths

• Early years provision is engaging and well sequenced, preparing children well for Year 1.
• Clear transition processes help staff quickly understand children's needs.
• Children in early years make positive progress from their starting points, including those with SEND.
• Inclusion work is proactive, with specialist support and targeted provision for pupils with barriers to learning.
• Leaders use additional funding well to broaden experiences and support disadvantaged pupils.
• Pastoral care is detailed and effective for pupils facing challenges in their lives.
• Pupils feel safe, happy and cared for, and bullying or discrimination is dealt with effectively.
• Pupils have many opportunities to broaden their experiences through visits, theatre, art and residential trips.
• Phonics and reading are taught well, with effective support for pupils who find reading difficult.
• Pupils with EAL and SEND are supported well to access the curriculum.
• Attendance processes are robust and attendance rates are broadly in line with national averages.
• Governors understand the school's context and provide appropriate support and challenge.
• Staff feel supported and valued, and leaders consider workload and wellbeing.
• Pupils take on leadership roles and show care and support for one another.
• Pupils learn about positive relationships, online safety and the impact of discrimination.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve as well as they could in key stages 1 and 2.
• End-of-key-stage-2 national test outcomes are below average over time.
• Curriculum delivery and teaching quality vary across subjects.
• Pupils struggle to remember what they have been taught in the longer term.
• Pupils do not consistently apply spelling and handwriting.
• Work in pupils' books is variable and sometimes does not show secure knowledge for next steps.
• Assessment within lessons is inconsistent, so misconceptions are not addressed swiftly.
• Behaviour expectations are inconsistent and pupils sometimes lose concentration.
• Recent changes to behaviour systems are not yet embedded.
• The personal development and PSHE curriculum is not coherently sequenced.
• Pupils lack a secure understanding of British values and some aspects of health, including mental health.
• Leaders' oversight of the impact of improvement actions is variable.
• Many improvement actions are in their infancy, so long-term impact is not yet seen.
• Persistent absence has been above the national average in recent years.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Joseph's RC Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.9% of pupils at St Joseph's RC Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St Joseph's RC Primary School had 15.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 23.2% of pupils at St Joseph's RC Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St Joseph's RC Primary School received £7,441 and spent £7,365 for each of its 220 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £164,000 (£745 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Salford · Salford local authority: places and applications

What is St Joseph's RC Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's RC Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was St Joseph's RC Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Joseph's RC Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does St Joseph's RC Primary School have?

St Joseph's RC Primary School has 220 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Joseph's RC Primary School cover?

St Joseph's RC Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Joseph's RC Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 30% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph's RC Primary School?

St Joseph's RC Primary School is at St Joseph's Drive, Ordsall, Salford, Greater Manchester, M5 3JP.