Professor Lord Robert Winston (pictured) believes that in a subject area where there can be changes in received wisdom from month to month, getting science teachers more involved in higher education would help keep their teaching up to date

Professor Winston, a fertility expert popularly known for television series such as Child of Our Time, said: “We should be inviting teachers into universities where they are actually running science classes within biology, chemistry and physics, and inter- acting in a way that they can brush up on their research.

“It would be cheap, and there would be better practical work done for children.”

Professor Winston felt the benefits could work both ways, with science teachers helping university researchers look beyond the often narrow focus of their own work. He made his comments at last week’s Tapestry Partnership conference in Glasgow.