Uri Geller has been dining out on it for years, and now it has found its way on to the school syllabus. From next month students will be able to study spoon-bending at A-level.

The cutlery manipulation of one of Michael Jackson’s best friends comes under the remit of anomalistic psychology, a new option for A-level psychology from September. This branch of the discipline is the study of extraordinary phenomena, including those generally labelled paranormal. It also encompasses telepathy, psychic communication and talking to the dead.

But the new component’s supporters point out that their studies are not into the paranormal itself, but into the experiences of people who believe they have been through such events.

The option will be part of A2 psychology on the AQA syllabus. What this means when it comes to predicting students’ grades has not yet become clear.