St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
Coombeshead Road, Highweek, Newton Abbot, TQ12 1PT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- PLYMOUTH CAST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Nichola Day
- Diocese
- Diocese of Plymouth
- Sponsor
- Plymouth CAST
- Constituency
- Newton Abbot
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 80
- URN
- 140765
- Local authority
- Devon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01626352559
About this school
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Newton Abbot. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 80 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
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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 21 | 22 | 7 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 29% | 59% | 71% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 14% |
| Expected standard in reading | 48% | 73% | 71% |
| Expected standard in maths | 33% | 64% | 86% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 43% | 50% | 86% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 99.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 98.0 | 100.0 | 110.0 |
| Reading progress | -5.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.90 | - | - |
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 has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Devon average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 29% | 55% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 59% | 54.9% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 71% | 57.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 118 |
| 2023/24 | 90 |
| 2024/25 | 87 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Joseph's Catholic Primary School compares
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School ranked 71st of 269 primary schools in Devon 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 41% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 71% | 5.8% | 27.6% | 80 | — |
| Highweek Community Primary and Nursery School | 50% | 5.8% | 38.8% | 287 | 0.3 miles |
| Bradley Barton Primary School and Nursery Unit | 74% | 4.4% | 14.4% | 467 | 0.5 miles |
| Wolborough Church of England Nursery and Primary School | 63% | 6.1% | 41.6% | 189 | 0.6 miles |
| Bearnes Voluntary Primary School | 31% | 4.3% | 39.6% | 100 | 0.7 miles |
| All Saints Marsh CofE Academy | 85% | 4.6% | 23.8% | 84 | 0.9 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)
- 27.59%
- English as an additional language
- 10.3%
- Overall absence
- 5.81%
- Persistent absence
- 15.07%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Highweek Community Primary and Nursery School0.3 miles
Primary · Newton Abbot
-
Bradley Barton Primary School and Nursery Unit0.5 miles
Primary · Newton Abbot
-
Wolborough Church of England Nursery and Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Newton Abbot
-
Bearnes Voluntary Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Newton Abbot
-
All Saints Marsh CofE Academy0.9 miles
Primary · Newton Abbot
Other schools in Newton Abbot
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School ranks 9th of the 27 ranked primary schools in Newton Abbot.
- Abbotskerswell Primary School Primary
- All Saints Marsh CofE Academy Primary
- Ashburton Primary School Primary
- Bearnes Voluntary Primary School Primary
- Blackpool Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bovey Tracey Academy Primary
- Bradley Barton Primary School and Nursery Unit Primary
- Canada Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Chagford Church of England Primary School Primary
- Chudleigh Church of England Community Primary School Primary
- Chudleigh Knighton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Decoy Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School teach?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Newton Abbot.
- Who is the headteacher of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School?
- The headteacher of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is Mrs Nichola Day, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Joseph's Catholic Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 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 Catholic Primary School?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School has 80 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School full?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 80 on roll (38%), 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 a faith school?
- Yes. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Plymouth.
- Does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Joseph's Catholic Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs St Joseph's Catholic Primary School?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is part of PLYMOUTH CAST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Joseph's Catholic Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 29% 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 rank locally?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School ranked 71st of 269 primary schools in Devon 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 41% 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's absence rate?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Joseph's Catholic Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School'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 1 July 2026.