NORFOLK County Council is celebrating the achievements of its looked after children today after the proportion gaining five GCSEs at A* to C doubled in two years.

NORFOLK County Council is celebrating the achievements of its looked after children today after the proportion gaining five GCSEs at A* to C doubled in two years.

Figures published today show that 16.4pc of children in the county achieved the benchmark in 2009, compared to 8.1pc in 2007 and 14.5pc in 2008.

Norfolk's performance is better than the national average, where 14.8pc of looked after children achieved five A* to C in 2009, up from 13.9pc in 2008 and 12.6pc in 2007.

The success has been attributed to Norfolk County Council's Virtual School, which provides an overview of the learning needs of the county's looked after children.

Alison Thomas, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for children's services, said: “We are ambitious for all of Norfolk's children and young people and, as corporate parents, are proud of the achievements of all of the children in our care.

“Many of the county's looked after children will have had to overcome considerable adversity in their lives and some will come from backgrounds where education has not been valued.

“Alongside schools and foster carers we are able to support the individual needs of these young people and raise their aspirations.

“We know there is still more to do and are focusing our efforts on raising attainment at Key Stage 2, where results have dipped slightly from extremely high levels last year.

“However, Norfolk's results remain above the national average in maths and English.”