GCSE league tables published this morning have confirmed that Norfolk and Suffolk are continuing to close the gap with the national average.

However, both counties remain in the bottom third in the rankings for England.

In Norfolk, 54.9pc of teenagers achieved the government's 'gold standard' of at least five GCSEs at A*-C, including English and maths, last summer, an improvement of 2.2 percentage points.

That saw the county move up to 102nd in the national rankings, compared to 137th two years ago.

The national average for state-funded schools was 57.1pc in 2014-15.

In Suffolk, 54.5pc made the gold standard last summer, an increase of 2.8 percentage points. It placed the county 106th place in England - the fourth consecutive year it has improved it league table position.

Cambridgeshire jumped above the national average, with 58.8pc of pupils reaching the government target.

School successes

Wymondham College's headline GCSE figure of 87pc placed it 184th among state-schools in England, making it the only school in our region to appear in the top 10pc in England.

Hethersett Academy, Dereham Neatherd and Notre Dame High School, in Norwich, also saw more than two-thirds of students achieve the gold standard.

Hartismere was the top-performing school in Suffolk, with 76pc of students gaining the gold standard.

In Cambridgeshire, Parkside Community College was top of the table, with a headline score of 79pc.

Bottom of the table

Five schools in Norfolk fell below the government's target of at least 40pc of pupils gaining at least five GCSEs at A*-C, including English and maths.

City Academy Norwich performed worst, with 27pc of pupils gaining the gold standard. It was the third year in a row less than 30pc of pupils achieved this, putting it among the 100 worst-performing schools in England on this headline figure.

The school received an official government warning about 'unacceptably low' standards in September, triggering a process that could lead to it being removed from its current sponsor, the TEN Group.

The other Norfolk schools below the 40pc figure were Great Yarmouth High School, Ormiston Victory Academy, in Costessey, the Hewett School in Norwich, and Wayland Academy, in Watton.

The 39pc figure at the Hewett - a drop from 44pc the year before - came as the school endured a year of bitter controversy about its future, and eventual conversion to an academy sponsored by the Inspiration Trust.

In Suffolk, Ormiston Denes, in Lowestoft, and the new Saxmundham Free School, both saw 29pc of pupils gain the gold standard.

In Cambridgeshire, Thomas Clarkson Academy's figure of 27pc saw it join City Academy Norwich in the bottom 100 schools in England.

Most improved schools

Nine schools in Norfolk have posted a double-digit improvement in their headline GCSE score.

Ormiston Venture Academy in Gorleston recovered strongly from a big drop in results in 2014, and the number of pupils gaining the gold standard rise by 18 percentage points.

Marshland High School and Wymondham College both improved by 15 percentage points.

In Suffolk, Stradbroke High improved by 16 percentage points, and Mildenhall College Academy rose by 11 percentage points.

Value added

As well as headline GCSE results, the league table also includes a value added measure, which aims to show how much the performance of pupils has improved during their time at the school.

Wymondham College performed strongly on this measure, with one of the highest value added scores in the country.

Stradbroke High, IES Breckland and Hethersett Academy joined it in the top 10pc in England. This was particularly significant for IES Breckland, whose headline GSCE result of 40pc was only just above the government's minimum floor standard, and has recently come out of special measures.

Ely College, King's Lynn Academy and the Hewett School were among the worst-performing 10pc of schools nationally on this measure.