Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire still languish near the bottom of primary school league tables for England published today.

Norfolk tied for 136th place out of 154 local authorities on the government's key measure of the number of students achieving the expected level in maths and reading tests, and a teacher assessment for writing.

• Click here to view the results for primary schools in the EDP region

• Click here to view the top and bottom five schools in the region

Suffolk tied for 147th place, while Cambridgeshire was joint 125th.

However, Norfolk slightly narrowed the gap with the national average.

In England, 75pc of pupils gained the expected level in the three areas, while in Norfolk the figure was 71pc. Last year the gap was one percentage point bigger.

This year's figures for Suffolk and Cambridgeshire were 70pc and 72pc respectively.

The results also put the spotlight on schools which failed to meet the government's floor standard, and are at risk of government intervention or academy conversion.

Suffolk's 14pc of primaries failing to meet the floor was the fourth highest in the country.

Norfolk, with 13pc, had the joint fifth highest proportion.

The number of schools in the county failing to meet the floor increased from 22 last year to 25 this year, although the target had been tightened with students having to achieve level four in both reading and writing, rather than just English overall.

The tables also reported the results of new grammar, punctuation and spelling tests, with an impressive 100pc of pupils at schools including Trowse, Saxlingham and Beaupre primaries achieving the expected level four.

Mick Castle, Norfolk cabinet member for schools, said: 'We have always said that there is no quick fix with regards to making improvements to Norfolk's schools and that it would take time to turn things around. However, we have already made some positive strides in the right direction and are investing £1.5 million of funding.

'Since September we have supported 17 primary and secondary schools to take part in the London Leadership Strategy. Ofsted has now inspected four of these schools and judged three to be 'good' and one 'outstanding' – these were previously considered to be 'requiring improvement'.

'In addition, across Norfolk 66pc of primary and secondary school pupils now attend a 'good' or 'outstanding' school.

'I'm well aware there's still a long way to go but we have the strategy and determination in place in Norfolk to succeed.'