"He used to be one of the top pupils, but now he does nothing.
He proposes that places at the best universities should be awarded to the top pupils in each of the UK's sixth forms, regardless of absolute results.
Education minister Gilles de Robien has unfolded proposals ranging from a permanent police presence in some schools to allowing top pupils from difficult areas to opt for high-performing lycees elsewhere.
Schools minister Elizabeth Truss blamed Labour for the decline in pupils' performance, adding: "Based on data between 2003 and 2009 it shows that our top pupils actually lose ground as they get older, not just with their peers in the Far East, but with those in every other country".
It said many schools did not track their most academically gifted pupils "sufficiently well" and it was critical of mixed-ability classes, saying they often saw "a lack of differentiation, teaching to the middle" with "the top pupils not being stretched".
In 1823, the Minister of State, Bernardino Rivadavia, announced that the six top pupils of each state would be selected to receive higher education in Buenos Aires.
The top per pupil spender among states was New Jersey, which averaged $11,659.
Neither craft nor design are part of the five core subjects of the new English Baccalaureate, for which 15 per cent of the country's top GCSE pupils will be eligible.
To gain the top marks pupils will have to answer questions equivalent to the Advanced Extension Award AEAA), which was introduced to add extra stretch but which has so far failed to win the backing of schools.
