St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Coundon is currently rated as 'requires improvement' overall. The school has faced significant staffing changes, and leaders are committed to improving outcomes for all pupils, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). While there have been strides in enhancing the quality of education since disappointing results in key stage 2, there are still subjects, particularly reading and mathematics, where pupil achievement is not yet satisfactory. Leaders are working effectively with the Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust to implement necessary changes, though challenges remain in consistently addressing pupils’ knowledge gaps.

Strengths

• The school provides a calm environment where pupils feel safe and valued.
• There is a wide range of activities that promote personal development and character building.
• Support for pupils with SEND is generally well-tailored and effectively managed.
• Staff are united and focused on implementing improvement strategies.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve well enough in reading and mathematics.
• Assessment processes to check pupils’ understanding are not consistently applied.
• Early years provision does not adequately develop children's spoken language and communication.

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, Coundon attended 94.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.9% 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, 1.8% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon 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, Coundon had 15.7 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, 14.0% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.0% 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, Coundon received £8,948 and spent £8,837 for each of its 105 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £97,000 (£922 per pupil).

Across all 35 schools of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, income was £7,699 and spending £7,759 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 Bishop Auckland · County Durham local authority: places and applications

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon is part of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, which runs 35 schools. The nearest others:

• St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland
• St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College Bishop Auckland
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Newton Aycliffe
• St Charles' Catholic Primary School, Tudhoe Spennymoor
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe Newton Aycliffe
• St Chad's Catholic Primary School, Witton Park Bishop Auckland
• Our Lady and St Thomas Catholic Primary School, Willington Crook
• St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Crook Crook
• St William's Catholic Primary School Trimdon Station
• St Bede's Catholic Primary School Darlington

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2024.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon was last inspected in June 2024.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon has 100 pupils on roll.

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

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

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

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon is at Victoria Lane, Coundon, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 8NN.