Hull pupils who took national tests for 14-year-olds last year had the worst average scores in the region and among the poorest in the country as a whole.

The figures come just weeks after the 2006 GCSE results for the city's schools were published and raised questions about the apparent improvement in standards claimed in recent years.

They will lend weight to the growing argument in the city that a fundamental change of approach is needed if results are to improve.

Four of Hull's 14 secondary schools are today ranked among the country's worst 200 schools based on their key stage three test results.

At the city's poorest performing school – Sir Henry Cooper – fewer than a third of children reached the expected standards in English, 42 per cent did so in science and just over half in maths. Hull councillors have already begun an inquiry into education standards in the city and are in the process of drafting their final report.

Cabinet member for lifelong learning Coun Mike Ross said: "The key issue is parental involvement and starting to tackle the issue at a much earlier stage.

"When children are coming to start school, not at 14 and 16, is the key time to get it right because at the moment children are coming to school with poor communication skills which is harming their ability to learn."

The control of Hull Council passed from Labour to the Liberal Democrats last year and Coun Ross said he and his colleagues had long argued that improvements at key stage three – the period covered by these tests – were vital.

"As a city we want to see the best for our children. While there clearly have been improvements over the last few years the rate of progress has not been enough.

"The Liberal Democrat group have consistently stressed the importance of key stage three and the impact they have on later success. We want to see the improvements continue but at a much faster pace in years to come."

Hull regularly had the worst GCSE results in the country until 2005 when a dramatic improvement was hailed as a turnaround in the performance of the city's schools.

But last year, only a quarter of pupils hit the Government's new "gold standard" of five grade Cs including English and maths, worse than any other authority.