St Joseph's Primary School
St Joseph's Primary School is a catholic maintained school in Bessbrook for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 385 pupils. About 35 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in Northern Ireland.
28 Convent Hill, Bessbrook, BT35 7AWAll details
Inspection
Schools in Northern Ireland are inspected by the Education and Training Inspectorate. Since 2024 its reports end with a written summary and next steps instead of a grade, and there is no published list of outcomes.
Results
Northern Ireland publishes no results for individual primary schools, so there are none to show. Enrolment, free school meals, special needs and attendance are below.
Getting a place
There is no entrance test. When more children apply than there are places, the school's published rules decide, usually brothers and sisters first, then parish or feeder links, then whoever lives closest.
As a Catholic school it may put baptised Catholic children first.
Apply through the Education Authority's online admissions system in January.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Attendance
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.6% of the time. Across similar schools in Northern Ireland it was 94.0%. Northern Ireland doesn't publish figures on pupils who miss a lot of school, or on suspensions, for individual schools.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessbrook Primary School, Newry | Controlled | 440 m | 124 | ETI, no open data | – | Compare |
| St Peter's Primary School, Cloughreagh | Catholic maintained | 0.7 miles | 352 | ETI, no open data | – | Compare |
| St Malachy's Primary School | Catholic maintained | 1.2 miles | 304 | ETI, no open data | – | Compare |
| Mullaglass Primary School | Controlled | 1.7 miles | 85 | ETI, no open data | – | Compare |
| St Brigid's Primary School, Drumilly | Catholic maintained | 2.0 miles | 120 | ETI, no open data | – | Compare |
| St Patrick's Primary School | Catholic maintained | 2.4 miles | 446 | ETI, no open data | – | Compare |
| St Malachy's Primary School, Carnagat | Catholic maintained | 2.5 miles | 239 | ETI, no open data | – | Compare |
| St Joseph's Convent Primary School | Catholic maintained | 2.9 miles | 468 | ETI, no open data | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is St Joseph's Primary School a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score St Joseph's Primary School yet. Northern Ireland doesn't publish inspection grades.
How many pupils does St Joseph's Primary School have?
385 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in October 2025.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 28 Convent Hill, Bessbrook, BT35 7AW
- Type of school
- Catholic maintained school (Catholic Maintained school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Local authority
- Newry, Mourne and Down
- Ward
- Camlough
- Setting
- Rural
- DE reference
- 5036110 · LAESTAB 5036110
Where these figures come from
- School details, enrolment, free school meals, special needs and newcomers: Department of Education (Northern Ireland) school-level enrolment data, October census (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Attendance: Department of Education school-level attendance tables.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.