St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Exmouth continues to perform well, maintaining its status as a good school since its last inspection in October 2018. The school fosters a safe and nurturing environment where pupils exhibit positive behavior and form strong relationships with staff. The curriculum is well-structured, particularly in reading, where high expectations and effective phonics instruction allow pupils to develop positive attitudes toward learning. Parents express satisfaction with their children's experiences, highlighting the supportive school community and engagement opportunities provided to pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning.
• Strong focus on reading with high expectations in phonics.
• Curriculum designed to deepen students' understanding of subjects.
• Children in early years receive engaging and reflective learning experiences.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
• Positive relationships between staff and pupils lead to a safe and enjoyable school environment.
• Increasing attendance rates.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent implementation of the curriculum across subjects.
• Learning activities do not always reflect pupils' knowledge and skills, hindering progress.

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 Catholic Primary School, Exmouth attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.1% 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, 3.2% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth 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 Catholic Primary School, Exmouth had 22.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 2.4% 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, 21.6% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.5% 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 2024–25 St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth received £6,775 and spent £7,006 for each of its 189 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £149,000 (£790 per pupil).

Across all 34 schools of Plymouth Cast, income was £8,158 and spending £8,000 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Exmouth · Devon local authority: places and applications

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth is part of Plymouth Cast, which runs 34 schools. The nearest others:

• Our Lady and St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School Teignmouth
• St Nicholas Catholic Primary School Exeter
• Priory Roman Catholic Primary School, Torquay Torquay
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Newton Abbot
• Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary School Torquay
• Sacred Heart Catholic School Paignton
• St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School Brixham
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Buckfast Buckfastleigh
• St John's Catholic Primary School Tiverton
• St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Primary School, Dartmouth Dartmouth

What is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth is Good, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth last inspected by Ofsted?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth have?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth has 185 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth cover?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 36% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Exmouth is at Regents Gate, St Josephs Rc Primary School, Exmouth, Devon, EX8 1TA.