Bright pupils 'falling two years behind peers in Far East' Last night, the Coalition seized on the disclosure, claiming that the report represented a "damning indictment of Labour's record on education." Elizabeth Truss, the Education Minister, said: "This Government is clearing up Labour's mess. Our reforms - tougher discipline, more rigorous exams, more freedom for headteachers, a more demanding curriculum and higher quality teaching - will drive up standards so our pupils have a first-class education that matches the best in the world. Researchers analysed the results of two large-scale studies - the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) - which are based on independently-administered tests sat by pupils in countries around the world. Data from 2003, 2007 and 2009 was assessed. It compared England with 12 other countries - Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Slovenia, Norway, Scotland, the United States, Italy, Lithuania and Russia. The study found that England's most able youngsters made less progress than those of similar abilities across all the 12 other countries studied as a whole. But it was revealed that the gap was most marked when compared with some of the "tiger" economies of East Asia, with 16-year-olds from England around two years behind their peers. Dr John Jerrim, one of the report's authors, said the findings were "worrying." "At the age of 10, the highest achieving children in England can match the highest achieving children in Taiwan and almost match the highest achieving children in Hong Kong," he said. But the highest achieving children aged 16 in England are about two years behind the highest achieving children in Hong Kong and Taiwan. One reason might be that the curriculum doesn't stretch the highest achieving children enough in secondary school. The study called for a greater focus on reforming maths education in the early primary and pre-school years. It also recommended that the secondary curriculum should stretch the best mathematicians, with bright pupils being given extra tuition.