St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
The Broadway, Barking, IG11 7AR
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- THE GOOD SHEPHERD CATHOLIC TRUST
- Head of School
- Mrs Rowena Lumber
- Diocese
- Diocese of Brentwood
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- The Good Shepherd Catholic Trust
- Constituency
- Barking
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 242
- URN
- 147328
- Local authority
- Barking and Dagenham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02082706474
About this school
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Barking. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 242 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 21 March 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. 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 | 41 | 26 | 18 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 71% | 81% | 83% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 17% | 31% | 28% |
| Expected standard in reading | 76% | 81% | 100% |
| Expected standard in maths | 83% | 96% | 100% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 76% | 96% | 94% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 107.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 112.0 | 113.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +4.40 | - | - |
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 has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Barking and Dagenham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 71% | 59.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 81% | 62.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 83% | 64.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 245 |
| 2023/24 | 238 |
| 2024/25 | 237 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Joseph's Catholic Primary School compares
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School ranked 5th of 43 primary schools in Barking and Dagenham for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 91% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 83% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 83% | 4% | 33.5% | 242 | — |
| St Margarets CofE Primary School | 89% | 4.8% | 21.2% | 393 | 0.2 miles |
| Gascoigne Primary School | 59% | 6.8% | 30.9% | 1,115 | 0.2 miles |
| Greatfields Primary School | — | — | 30% | 50 | 0.4 miles |
| Northbury Primary School | 69% | 6% | 24.6% | 832 | 0.5 miles |
| Ripple Primary School | 73% | 5.9% | 26.1% | 856 | 0.6 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)
- 33.48%
- English as an additional language
- 52.7%
- Overall absence
- 4.04%
- Persistent absence
- 7.43%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Margarets CofE Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Barking
-
Gascoigne Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Barking
-
Greatfields Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Barking
-
Northbury Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Barking
-
Ripple Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Barking
Other schools in Barking
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School ranks 4th of the 11 ranked primary schools in Barking.
- Eastbury Primary School Primary
- Gascoigne Primary School Primary
- George Carey Church of England Primary School Primary
- Greatfields Primary School Primary
- Manor Junior School Primary
- Northbury Primary School Primary
- Ripple Primary School Primary
- Riverside Primary School Primary
- St Margarets CofE Primary School Primary
- Thames View Infants Primary
- Thames View Junior School Primary
- Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School teach?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Barking.
- Who is the head of school of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School?
- The head of school of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is Mrs Rowena Lumber, 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 242 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St Joseph's Catholic Primary School full?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 242 on roll (58%), 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 Brentwood.
- Does St Joseph's Catholic Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Joseph's Catholic Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs St Joseph's Catholic Primary School?
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is part of THE GOOD SHEPHERD CATHOLIC TRUST. 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 71% in 2022/23 and 83% 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 5th of 43 primary schools in Barking and Dagenham for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 91% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 83% 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 4% 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 10 July 2026.