St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School demonstrates a strong overall performance, having established a positive and safe environment for its pupils. The school prioritizes personal development, equipping students with important life skills and encouraging their participation in community activities. Leaders have effectively addressed gaps in experiences for disadvantaged pupils, which has led to improved outcomes for these students. Although the school's achievement levels are satisfactory, there are some concerns regarding the fluency of pupils' writing and the consistency of addressing letter formation errors.

Strengths

• Pupils develop confidence and resilience through diverse learning opportunities.
• Effective support for disadvantaged pupils has led to better outcomes.
• The curriculum is ambitious and well thought out, building on prior knowledge.
• Leaders ensure staff receive ongoing professional development.
• Pupils participate enthusiastically in school life and leadership roles.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils' writing fluency is not as developed as their reading skills.
• Inconsistencies in addressing pupils' letter formation errors.
• Temporary part-time attendance arrangements need clearer endpoints.

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, Preston attended 93.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.0% 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, 2.6% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston 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, Preston had 20.9 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, 7.5% of pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.7% 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, Preston received £7,875 and spent £7,557 for each of its 332 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £397,000 (£1,195 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Mater Ecclesiae Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £6,871 and spending £6,690 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 Preston · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston is part of Mater Ecclesiae Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Ignatius' Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• The Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• Christ The King Catholic High School Preston
• St Maria Goretti Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Clare's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Anthony's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston is Expected standard, from an inspection in March 2026.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston was last inspected in March 2026.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston has 347 pupils on roll.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston is at Rigby Street, St Joseph's, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 5XL.