St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is performing well overall, with a strong Catholic ethos that fosters good behavior and positive character development among students. The leadership team has implemented effective strategies to develop early reading skills, and Year 1 pupils consistently achieve impressive results in phonics. However, there is a noticeable decline in achievement as students progress to upper key stage 2, with Year 6 results falling below national averages and no students meeting the higher standard in key subjects. The school is aware of these challenges and is working to enhance curriculum planning and teaching methods.

Strengths

• Strong Catholic ethos contributing to a positive school culture
• High expectations for pupil behavior and conduct
• Effective early years education with a focus on reading and language skills
• Consistently above-average phonics screening results in Year 1
• Good subject knowledge among teachers across various subjects

Areas for Improvement

• Decline in achievement in upper key stage 2
• Year 6 results below national average in reading, writing, and mathematics
• Teachers often assign mathematics work below age-related expectations
• Inadequate planning to secure earlier knowledge before progressing

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, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy attended 97.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.8% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy 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, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy had 20.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 7.3% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.6% 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, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy received £5,919 and spent £6,089 for each of its 194 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £65,000 (-£335 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust, income was £6,980 and spending £7,208 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 Harrogate · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy is part of The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

• St Robert's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Harrogate
• St John Fisher Catholic Academy Harrogate
• St Mary's Primary School Knaresborough, A Voluntary Catholic Academy Knaresborough
• St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Ripon
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Otley Otley
• Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy Leeds
• St. Mary's Menston, a Catholic Voluntary Academy Ilkley
• Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Leeds
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Horsforth Leeds
• The Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Ilkley

What is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy have?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy has 191 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy cover?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 80% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harrogate, A Voluntary Academy is at Coppice Rise, North Yorkshire, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 2DP.