The school's oldest and original building in this location is a Grade II listed structure which was previously a residential property before it was bought by the Christian Brothers in 1931.

[3] In the early 1980s the school pulled out of the Catholic reorganisation of secondary provision and decided to stay private.

Approximately 75% of applicants reach the school's qualifying standard, and places are allocated among these using other criteria (faith, siblings and distance).

St Joseph's has Specialist Status for Science and Mathematics and is rated as Outstanding in all areas by Ofsted.

A new Science Wing was added to the old building, forming a quadrangle in the centre of the school, which contains a heart-shaped pond overlooked by a statue of the Virgin Mary, marking the end of the second millennium.