Norfolk still languishes near the bottom of primary school league tables for England published today.

The county 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 see the league tables

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

However, it slightly narrowed the gap with the national average, from five percentage points last year to four percentage points in 2013.

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.

The government said 25 Norfolk primary schools - 13pc of the total - had fallen below the floor, the joint fifth highest proportion in England.

The target had been tightened in 2013, with students having to achieve level four in maths and reading and writing, rather than 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 Primary 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.'

What do think? Email newsdesk@archant.co.uk