Norfolk County Council has said the county's schools are 'on track' to meet ambitious targets.

Performance data from secondary schools show that, by the end of the spring term, 58pc of pupils were predicted to achieve the government's gold standard of five GCSEs at C grade or above, including English and maths.

The actual result last year was 54pc, and the council's target for July 2014 is 60pc.

Data for next Tuesday's Children's Services Committee also shows that 77pc of primary school pupils are set to achieve the expected level four in reading, writing and maths - exactly meeting the council's target.

As previously reported, the county's schools have also been receiving an increasing number of positive Ofsted reports.

The county met or exceeded the council's target for the number judged 'good' or better in April 2014, with 70pc of primary and 65pc of secondary schools making the grade. The targets for July 2014 are 79pc and 75pc respectively.

James Joyce, chairman of the Children's Services Committee, said: 'There is still a long way to go. Whilst schools are on track to achieve these ambitious targets, we are not there yet and we need to make sure that in the last term of the academic year the focus is maintained. Our priority has to be to reach and then move past the national average because that is what Norfolk's children deserve.'