Pejorative word for excellent pupil

Question

I need a pejorative word for a pupil, who is always having excellent grades at school. He or she would have little or no interest in any of the subjects, nor great understanding, achieving their marks by laborous and mindless cramming.

My intuition is that 'nerd' and 'geek' do not fit the model, 'nerd's being smart and 'geek's particularly interested in a subject. The model I am describing usually applies to at least one pupil in a class.

Answer 1

Swot as a slang word. (British slang)

(Offensive Slang) Swot; A person who values his education at least three times more than his social life and his teacher at least three times more than his friends, hypothetically.

^{http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Swot}

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a student who studies assiduously, especially to the exclusion of other activities or interests; grind.

^{http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/swot}

Note: Swotter and swat are the variants of the word.

Grind is mentioned as a synonym. (US slang)

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There is also keener in Canadian English slang. It can be applied to different contexts.

(Canadian slang, noun) Individual eager to demonstrate knowledge or participate enthusiastically in school, church, seminars, etc. Like nerd, geek, brown-noser, smartypants, etc. but with more emphasis on willingness and enthusiasm, and less on social inadequacy, sycophancy, or natural ability.

^{http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=keener}

Answer 2

• Teacher's pet is always a good choice. Even though at face value it suggests coöperation on the part of the teacher, it's not necessarily limited to situations where that's the case. (In fact, quite typically insults don't have to be true to be insulting.)
• Swot and swotter are an option in British English, but not really in the New World.
• Conversely, grind is used in American English, but not in the UK.
• Eager beaver is a more obscure one still, and it also has a secondary, sexual meaning. Handle with care.
• Other, more generic, options include climber, striver, smug, crammer, overachiever, careerist, as well as your own geek and nerd. Will work in some contexts, won't work in all contexts.