St Joseph's RC Primary School, Edinburgh
St Joseph's RC Primary School is a primary school for pupils in Edinburgh. It has a Roman Catholic religious character.
- Attendance
- 93.3%
Data last updated 25 Oct 2026
St Joseph's RC Primary School in detail
School in Scotland
St Joseph's RC Primary School is a local authority school in Scotland. Scottish schools are inspected by Education Scotland rather than Ofsted, and Scotland does not publish school-by-school exam league tables.
St Joseph's RC Primary School has a pre-school (nursery) class.
In the 2025 pupil census it had 249 pupils, an average class size of 24.9 and 17.9 pupils per teacher.
24% of P6-P7 pupils are registered for free school meals, 52% of pupils have an additional support need recorded and 37% speak English as an additional language.
48% of its pupils live in Scotland's most deprived fifth of areas and 4% in the least deprived fifth (SIMD).
Attendance was 93.3% in 2024/25, and 25.3% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
The 2026 school estate survey rated its buildings' condition as good (A) and their suitability for teaching as good (A); the school was 76% full.
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to St Joseph's RC Primary School are Broomhouse Primary School (under 0.1 miles), Stenhouse Primary School (0.4 miles), Murrayburn Primary School (0.5 miles) and Longstone Primary School (0.7 miles).
Broomhouse Primary SchoolStenhouse Primary SchoolMurrayburn Primary SchoolLongstone Primary School
Getting there
The nearest tram or metro stop is Saughton (Edinburgh Trams), about 460 metres away (roughly a 6-minute walk).
9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Whinpark Medical (opposite), 170 metres away.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to St Joseph's RC Primary School are Forrester High School (0.7 miles), St Augustine's High School (0.7 miles), Wester Hailes High School (1.1 miles) and Merchiston Castle School (1.4 miles).
Forrester High SchoolSt Augustine's High SchoolWester Hailes High SchoolMerchiston Castle School
Sources: Scottish Government school statistics: pupil census, attendance and absence, school estate, leaver destinations (OGL); NaPTAN (Department for Transport)
Key Information
Scottish GovernmentInspection
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of St Joseph's RC Primary School in March 2026.
- 1.3 Leadership of changevery good
- 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessmentgood
- 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusiongood
- 3.2 Raising attainment and achievementgood
HMIE grades on a six-point scale: unsatisfactory, weak, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent.
Source: HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland), Open Government Licence.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Special Measures
Keep up with St Joseph's RC Primary School
Getting There
Tube / Metro / Tram
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 15
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 3
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 15 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 12 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt.
3 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Edinburgh City is 12 (the median across 140 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
Questions parents ask about St Joseph's RC Primary School
When was St Joseph's RC Primary School last inspected?
HM Inspectorate of Education (Education Scotland) last published an inspection of St Joseph's RC Primary School in March 2026. Inspectors evaluated leadership of change as very good; learning, teaching and assessment as good; ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion as good and raising attainment and achievement as good, on a six-point scale from unsatisfactory to excellent.
What is the catchment area for St Joseph's RC Primary School?
Scottish schools have catchment (zoned) areas, and St Joseph's RC Primary School is no exception: children living in its zone are normally given a place there automatically. Families who want a different school make a placing request to Edinburgh City. Edinburgh City publishes the zone boundary.
How do I apply to St Joseph's RC Primary School?
If you live in St Joseph's RC Primary School's catchment zone your child is normally allocated a place automatically, and Edinburgh City will write to you. To ask for a place here from outside the zone, make a placing request to Edinburgh City - requests usually open in November and close in mid-March for the following August.
How many road collisions happen near St Joseph's RC Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 15 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 12 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt. 3 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Edinburgh City is 12 (the median across 140 schools, same distance and years).
Where is St Joseph's RC Primary School?
St Joseph's RC Primary School is at 39 Saughton Road, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH11 3RQ.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)