At a dinner party the hostess swore blind that her son was at “the best school in the country, its teachers are the best.” 

By coincidence I know one of those teachers. He told me that at the school, which is selective and costs ÂŁ20,000 plus a year, there was often little for him to do – he might as well not be there. “The boys are so clever I don’t have to do much.” As for slackers, they were driven on by their pushy parents.