Norfolk secondary schools are likely to miss ambitious council targets for their 2014 GCSE performance - but are still set to make huge progress compared to last year, according to a new report.

The council wants 61pc of pupils to gain at least five GCSEs at A*-C, including English and maths, compared to 54pc in 2013.

The most recent data from the first half of the spring term suggests 57pc are likely to make the grade.

However, there are more encouraging predictions for the 16 schools the council classified as causing concern, with 58pc of pupils set to achieve the gold standard, above the 56pc target, and an 11 percentage point increase on last year's performance.

The 15 schools classed as 'requires improvement' are judged to be four percentage points off their 61pc goal.

Chris Snudden, head of the council's educational achievement service, said: 'We know there is a long way to go. What we have seen is now beyond green shoots. What we are seeing is, in many cases, rapid improvement.

'I think we are not complacent. I think we are rightly ambitious and we are all seeing the impact of that. I think this data gives us cause to be quite confident that schools are going to get their best ever outcomes this year.'