St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington
Mossy Lea Road, Wrightington, Wigan, WN6 9RE
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Miss Vicki Gleeson
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Liverpool
- Constituency
- West Lancashire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 140
- Pupils on roll
- 67
- URN
- 119696
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01257423092
About this school
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Wigan. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 67 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
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 | 12 | 17 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 58% | 50% | 65% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 18% |
| Expected standard in reading | 92% | 67% | 65% |
| Expected standard in maths | 67% | 58% | 76% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 75% | 25% | 59% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 99.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 101.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.40 | - | - |
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, Wrightington 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 | 58% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 50% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 65% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 105 |
| 2023/24 | 89 |
| 2024/25 | 79 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington compares
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington ranked 194th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 53% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 65% | 5.9% | 5.1% | 67 | — |
| Wrightington Mossy Lea Primary School | — | 5.4% | 0% | 24 | 0.7 miles |
| Shevington Vale Primary School | 70% | 3.9% | 9.7% | 196 | 1.2 miles |
| Coppull St John's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 53% | 3.9% | 8.3% | 77 | 1.3 miles |
| St Marie's Catholic Primary School Standish | 91% | 5.1% | 11.8% | 197 | 1.4 miles |
| Appley Bridge All Saints Church of England Primary Academy | 63% | 3.4% | 8.4% | 138 | 1.4 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 5.13%
- English as an additional language
- 5.1%
- Overall absence
- 5.91%
- Persistent absence
- 13.33%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Wrightington Mossy Lea Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Wigan
-
Shevington Vale Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Wigan
-
Coppull St John's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
St Marie's Catholic Primary School Standish1.4 miles
Primary · Wigan
-
Appley Bridge All Saints Church of England Primary Academy1.4 miles
Primary · Wigan
Other schools in Wigan
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington ranks 39th of the 66 ranked primary schools in Wigan.
- Appley Bridge All Saints Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Aspull Church Primary School Primary
- Beech Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Bickershaw CofE Primary School Primary
- Billinge Chapel End Primary School Primary
- Britannia Bridge Primary School Primary
- Bryn St Peter's CofE Primary School Primary
- Canon Sharples Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Castle Hill St Philip's CofE Primary School Primary
- Dalton St Michael's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Garswood Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Highfield St Matthew's Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington teach?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Wigan.
- Who is the headteacher of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington?
- The headteacher of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington is Miss Vicki Gleeson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington, 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, Wrightington?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington has 67 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington full?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington has capacity for 140 pupils and 67 on roll (48%), 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, Wrightington a faith school?
- Yes. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
- Does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington as having no nursery classes.
- How have St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 58% in 2022/23 and 65% 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, Wrightington compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington ranked 194th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 53% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% 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, Wrightington's absence rate?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington's overall absence rate is 5.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Wrightington'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 15 July 2026.