Ofsted: Outstanding trending_up Popular emoji_events #3 in Knowsley public Top 8% UK

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

person Ms Pauline McIlroy (Headteacher)

location_onLiverpool, L36 6DS

language Visit Website phone 01514778990

verified

Ofsted

Outstanding

Inspected 2023

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Students

204

school

Expected Standard

83%

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Demand Ratio

1.3x

summarize

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is a Voluntary aided school primary school in Liverpool, serving ages 5-11. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted — the highest possible grade. Demand is above capacity (1.3×) — apply through your local authority on time. Ranks in the top 8% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is a voluntary aided school in Liverpool, Knowsley, admitting pupils aged 5-11. The school has approximately 202 pupils on roll, of whom 29% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 83% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined. The school ranks #3 of 48 primaries in Knowsley and #1,059 of 14,159 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2023. The school's current overall rating is Outstanding. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Outstanding, behaviour and attitudes Outstanding, personal development Outstanding, and leadership and management Outstanding.

The school is oversubscribed — in the most recent cycle, there were 1.3× as many applications as places, making a successful application competitive.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 21.0:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.0 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

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Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

83%

LA 57%

Reading93% LA 71%

Writing90% LA 67%

Maths87% LA 70%

Read SS

106

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

106

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

70%

LA 58%England 61%

Reading87% LA 71% · Eng 74%

Writing87% LA 69% · Eng 72%

Maths83% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Read SS

107

Maths SS

103

GPS SS

105

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

79%

LA 58%England 60%

Reading86% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing90% LA 68% · Eng 71%

Maths97% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Read SS

106

Maths SS

107

GPS SS

107

Progress (0 = national avg)

2.1

Read

LA 0.7

-0.2 to 4.4

2.7

Write

LA 0.4

0.5 to 4.9

3.7

Maths

LA 0.3

1.5 to 5.9

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

86%

LA 61%England 65%

Reading89% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Writing93% LA 73% · Eng 78%

Maths93% LA 76% · Eng 79%

Read SS

109

Maths SS

110

GPS SS

111

Progress (0 = national avg)

2.6

Read

LA 0.7

0.3 to 4.9

0.1

Write

LA -0.2

-2.0 to 2.2

3.8

Maths

LA 0.4

1.8 to 5.8

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

77%

LA 60%

Reading88% LA 72%

Writing88% LA 72%

Maths85% LA 73%

Read SS

108

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

0.9

Read

LA 0.1

-1.4 to 3.2

-1.3

Write

LA -0.3

-3.5 to 0.9

0.3

Maths

LA 0.1

-1.8 to 2.4

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Ranking History & Trajectory

National & Local Authority position based on DfE performance data · Methodology

Year	Primary Overall (Nat)	LA Rank	Attainment	Progress
2025	#1,059 / 14,159	#3	#1,045	#1
2024	#2,694 / 14,233	#10	#4,029	#1
2023	#268 / 13,940	#1	#1,423	#1,158
2019	#489 / 11,810	#1	#920	#1,710
2018	#2,897 / 10,972	#10	#2,658	#6,024

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

18 October 2023

Inspection Report

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19 March 2013

Inspection Report

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07 January 2011

Inspection Report

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03 December 2007

Inspection Report

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18 March 2003

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2023-10-18

S5 Inspection EIF

Outstanding

Education

Outstanding

Behaviour

Outstanding

Development

Outstanding

Leadership

Outstanding

verified_user Safeguarding: Met

2013-03-19

S5 Inspection EIF

Outstanding

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Outstanding

2007-12-03

None EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.0%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.0%(0 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 207 pupils. During this period, there were 0 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.0%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	207	0	0.0%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	206	0	0.0%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	207	0	0.0%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	208	1	0.5%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	205	0	0.0%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	203	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	204	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	206	0	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	201	1	0.5%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	202	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	202	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	201	4	2.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	201	1	0.5%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	204	1	0.5%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	206	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	206	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	206	0	0.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	204	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	205	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	203	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	204	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	205	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	206	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	207	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	206	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	207	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Moderate Learning Difficulty 18 pupils

Speech, Language & Communication 6 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 5 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 2 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 1 pupils