Bradford's new schools' head has sailed into a storm by saying that targets to raise education standards should be much more ambitious.

Former admiral Sir Anthony Tippet, 72, wants Bradford schools to rank alongside the national average within five years.

But his aim has received an immediate backlash from rank-and-file teachers who say that setting unrealistic targets could further destroy morale in the beleaguered service.

Sir Anthony, pictured, revealed his hand at his first meeting as chairman of the new interim Education Policy Partnership, formed when the Government wrested control from Bradford Local Education Authority after a disastrous report by Ofsted inspectors.

To achieve his aim, Bradford - currently ranked 137th out of England's 150 local education authorities - would have to leap 81 places up the league table and rank above authorities like Kensington and Chelsea, Devon and Norfolk.

At yesterday's meeting, Sir Anthony said: "We must look ahead not astern. We must give a sense of uplift to the education service."

His aims are much more ambitious than those set out in the Ofsted action plan which was painstakingly compiled by the education authority in response to the watchdog's criticisms and says that by 2005 exam results at GCSE and key stages one, two and three should have risen to year 2000 national averages. He said: "Such achievement would still place Bradford below the national average which will, with current rising expectations and achievements, be reached in 2005," said Sir Anthony.

"Coming fresh to the situation I ask myself whether after over five years endeavour such a level of achievement would be what schools and parents would want. Ought not a large metropolitan borough council such as Bradford aim to achieve at least national average levels by this time?"

The EPP comprises councillors head teachers, teaching unions, school governors, the churches and the education authority.

Sir Anthony's targets have been largely welcomed by other EPP members who believe they are realistic.

But Association of Teachers and Lecturers joint Bradford secretary Stuart Herdson said: "If you pitch targets too high you are not going to achieve them, you are going to demoralise staff."

And National Union of Teachers Bradford secretary, Ian Murch, said the fact that Bradford was large was irrelevant and said that being metropolitan could actually work against raising standards.

But Hanson School head teacher and convenor of Bradford Upper School Heads, Tony Thorne, said: "Anything is achievable providing the support is there. We have got to aim high."

Education portfolio holder, Coun David Ward (Lib-Dem) said he thought the goal was realistic but he admitted that they would now have to convince teachers that new measures being taken would make targets achievable.

"We are not going to be satisfied with being just average," he said. "That would be totally the wrong message. There has got to be a belief that it can be phenomenally better."

It emerged last night that a more detailed set of targets has been produced for the companies bidding for the Bradford education contract to work to. Department for Education officials said they could not be released until Monday in case any of the bidders on the education privatisation shortlist were given an unfair advantage. But when pressed they said that, in broad terms, they matched the sort of challenge Sir Anthony had advocated.

Sir Anthony, who is chairman of Halifax Education Action Zone, has also received criticism there after he admitted that it had failed to meet the tough targets he had set.

Vice-president of Calderdale National Union of Teachers Jim Miller said: "The targets when the Halifax education action zone began were unrealistic and unachievable, they were setting the zone up to fail. It was expected to be a quick fix and it hasn't worked."