The Transforming Education in Norfolk Group (TEN) was formed last year when City Academy Norwich, Wayland Academy in Watton and City College Norwich formed a federation.

Its institutions include the company Norfolk Educational Services, created to deliver some of the core activities for its other members, and freeing schools to concentrate on teaching.

Fakenham High School and Attleborough High School are poised to join the group.

Founding chief executive Dick Palmer said TEN is focused purely on Norfolk, and is looking for schools in the east of the county to join those it already has further west.

He said the Department for Education has judged that TEN has good capacity for growth.

He said one of the group's innovations is the imminent appointment of a head of English across the group, something TEN is looking at repeating, particularly for core subjects.

He said the group was seeking to take on some primary schools, which would give it a unique selling point.

'We would be able to say to parents that if you take your son or daughter within a TEN institution we can give them entitlement to a degree.

'You don't have to stay, but it will be a unique progression route – primary to secondary to further and higher education,' he said.

He added: 'Our ambition is quite simple in one sense.

'What we are attempting to do is transform education in Norfolk.

'We recognise that Norfolk needs to raise its game and we believe by having a local partnership of educational establishments we can best serve that goal.'