St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell
Bury Lane, Withnell, Chorley, PR6 8SD
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mrs Katie Cunliffe
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Liverpool
- Constituency
- Chorley
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 105
- Pupils on roll
- 92
- URN
- 119680
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01254830400
About this school
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Chorley. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 92 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Early years
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 12 | 14 | 14 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 83% | 79% | 71% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 25% | 29% | 14% |
| Expected standard in reading | 92% | 79% | 86% |
| Expected standard in maths | 92% | 79% | 93% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 83% | 86% | 64% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 111.0 | 111.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 108.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +4.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +3.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.70 | - | - |
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 Catholic Primary School, Withnell has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 83% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 79% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 71% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 100 |
| 2023/24 | 98 |
| 2024/25 | 99 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell compares
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell ranked 126th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire 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 97% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 71% | 3.3% | 6.1% | 92 | — |
| Abbey Village Primary School | 80% | 6.8% | 24.1% | 52 | 0.6 miles |
| Brinscall St John's CofE and Methodist Primary School | 68% | 2.7% | 4.8% | 183 | 0.8 miles |
| Withnell Fold Primary School | 42% | 3.4% | 5.8% | 83 | 1.4 miles |
| St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School | 10% | 5.9% | 14.3% | 56 | 1.9 miles |
| Feniscowles Primary School | 56% | 3.8% | 10.7% | 417 | 2.3 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.
Inspection history
-
Ungraded inspection report17 December 2024
- 8 October 2019
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 6.06%
- English as an additional language
- 1%
- Overall absence
- 3.26%
- Persistent absence
- 3.45%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Abbey Village Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
Brinscall St John's CofE and Methodist Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
Withnell Fold Primary School1.4 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School1.9 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Feniscowles Primary School2.3 miles
Primary · Blackburn
Other schools in Chorley
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell ranks 11th of the 40 ranked primary schools in Chorley.
- Abbey Village Primary School Primary
- Adlington Primary School Primary
- Adlington St Paul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Balshaw Lane Community Primary School Primary
- Brindle St James' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Brinscall St John's CofE and Methodist Primary School Primary
- Buckshaw Primary School Primary
- Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit Primary
- Chorley St James' Church of England Primary School Primary
- Chorley, the Parish of St Laurence Church of England Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Charnock Richard CofE Primary School Primary
- Clayton-le-Woods Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell teach?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Chorley.
- Who is the headteacher of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell?
- The headteacher of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell is Mrs Katie Cunliffe, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell has 92 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell full?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell has capacity for 105 pupils and 92 on roll (88%), 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 Catholic Primary School, Withnell a faith school?
- Yes. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
- Does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell as having no nursery classes.
- How have St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 83% 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 Catholic Primary School, Withnell compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell ranked 126th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire 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 97% 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 Catholic Primary School, Withnell's absence rate?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell's overall absence rate is 3.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Withnell'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.