St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington
Harrington Road, Workington, CA14 3EE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- MATER CHRISTI MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Ian Nevitt
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lancaster
- Sponsor
- Mater Christi Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Whitehaven and Workington
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 615
- Pupils on roll
- 539
- URN
- 148703
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01900873290
About this school
St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Workington. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 539 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington, 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 119 | 102 | 93 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.4 | 36.9 | 37.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.31 -0.56 to -0.05 | -0.63 -0.90 to -0.35 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 33% | 23.5% | 31.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 44.1% | 48.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 7% | 6.9% | 7.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Cumberland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43.4 | 36.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.9 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.4 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 565 |
| 2023/24 | 515 |
| 2024/25 | 517 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington compares
St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington ranked 16th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.4 | 7.4% | 43.7% | 539 | — |
| Workington Academy | 40.5 | 7.3% | 31.3% | 1,234 | 0.5 miles |
| Energy Coast UTC | 24.2 | 10.3% | 33% | 383 | 1.9 miles |
| Netherhall School | 39.7 | 6.6% | 39% | 894 | 5.9 miles |
| St Benedict's Catholic High School | 41.2 | 8.5% | 30.5% | 990 | 6.7 miles |
| The Whitehaven Academy | 39.7 | 8.7% | 32.2% | 859 | 7.0 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)
- 43.71%
- English as an additional language
- 12.6%
- Overall absence
- 7.42%
- Persistent absence
- 16.95%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Workington Academy0.5 miles
Secondary · Workington
-
Energy Coast UTC1.9 miles
Secondary · Workington
-
Netherhall School5.9 miles
Secondary · Maryport
-
St Benedict's Catholic High School6.7 miles
Secondary · Whitehaven
-
The Whitehaven Academy7.0 miles
Secondary · Whitehaven
Other schools in Workington
- Energy Coast UTC Secondary
- Workington Academy Secondary
- Ashfield Infant & Nursery School Primary
- Ashfield Junior School Primary
- Beckstone Primary School Primary
- Dean CofE School Primary
- Derwent Vale Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Distington Community School Primary
- Northside Primary School Primary
- Seaton Academy Primary
- Seaton St. Paul's CofE Junior School Primary
- St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Workington Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington teach?
- St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Workington.
- Who is the headteacher of St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington?
- The headteacher of St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington is Mr Ian Nevitt, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington, 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 Josephs Catholic High School, Workington?
- St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington has 539 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington full?
- St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington has capacity for 615 pupils and 539 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 Josephs Catholic High School, Workington a faith school?
- Yes. St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Lancaster.
- Is St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington a selective school?
- No. St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington part of an academy trust?
- St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington is part of MATER CHRISTI MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.4 in 2022/23 and 37.4 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 Josephs Catholic High School, Workington compare with other schools in Cumberland?
- St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington ranked 16th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% 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 Josephs Catholic High School, Workington's absence rate?
- St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington's overall absence rate is 7.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington'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.