St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery
The Avenue, Walford Road, Ross-on-Wye, HR9 5AW
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mrs Hayley Francis
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Cardiff
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Hereford and South Herefordshire
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 183
- URN
- 116911
- Local authority
- Herefordshire, County of
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01989564655
About this school
St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Ross-on-Wye. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 183 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 1 February 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 14 | 16 | 21 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 79% | 88% | 71% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 14% | 13% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 86% | 88% | 81% |
| Expected standard in maths | 93% | 100% | 90% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 79% | 94% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 108.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.20 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Herefordshire, County of average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 79% | 62.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 88% | 61.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 71% | 62.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 156 |
| 2023/24 | 170 |
| 2024/25 | 174 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery compares
St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery ranked 27th of 72 primary schools in Herefordshire, County of for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 68% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 95% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 71% | 3.4% | 18.4% | 183 | — |
| Ashfield Park Primary School | 67% | 4.1% | 25% | 246 | 0.2 miles |
| Brampton Abbotts CofE Primary School | 61% | 5.6% | 45.1% | 112 | 1.0 miles |
| Bridstow CofE Primary School | 22% | 5.1% | 18.8% | 86 | 1.1 miles |
| Walford Nursery & Primary School | 84% | 2.9% | 7.7% | 182 | 1.6 miles |
| Weston-under-Penyard CofE Primary School | 71% | 4.2% | 33.8% | 62 | 2.2 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.39%
- English as an additional language
- 22.4%
- Overall absence
- 3.39%
- Persistent absence
- 3.68%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ashfield Park Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Ross-on-Wye
-
Brampton Abbotts CofE Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Ross-on-Wye
-
Bridstow CofE Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Ross-on-Wye
-
Walford Nursery & Primary School1.6 miles
Primary · Ross-on-Wye
-
Weston-under-Penyard CofE Primary School2.2 miles
Primary · Ross-on-Wye
Other schools in Ross-on-Wye
St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery ranks 3rd of the 11 ranked primary schools in Ross-on-Wye.
- Ashfield Park Primary School Primary
- Brampton Abbotts CofE Primary School Primary
- Bridstow CofE Primary School Primary
- Goodrich CofE Primary School Primary
- Gorsley Goffs Primary School Primary
- Lea CofE Primary School Primary
- Llangrove CE Academy Primary
- Walford Nursery & Primary School Primary
- Weston-under-Penyard CofE Primary School Primary
- Whitchurch CofE Primary School Primary
- John Kyrle High School and Sixth Form Centre Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery teach?
- St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Ross-on-Wye.
- Who is the headteacher of St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery?
- The headteacher of St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery is Mrs Hayley Francis, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery?
- St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery has 183 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery full?
- St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery has capacity for 210 pupils and 183 on roll (87%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery a faith school?
- Yes. St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Cardiff.
- Does St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery as having nursery classes.
- How have St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 79% in 2022/23 and 71% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery rank locally?
- St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery ranked 27th of 72 primary schools in Herefordshire, County of for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 68% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 95% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery's absence rate?
- St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery's overall absence rate is 3.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Joseph's RC Primary School and Nursery's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.