Students are leaving school without the ability to do simple tasks such as sewing - a skill that would be critical to a surgeon, an academic has claimed.

According to a report from the Edge Foundation, the government’s focus on the English Baccalaureate has had a negative impact on the study of arts and creative subjects in schools.

In Towards a Twenty-First Century Education System, the education charity calls for changes to the national curriculum, saying creativity should be at the heart of all learning.

Clinician professor Roger Kneebone, professor of surgical education at Imperial College, London, says that the impact of the decline of creative subjects is evident amongst medical and science students.

He said: “It is a concern of mine and my scientific colleagues that whereas in the past you could make the assumption that students would leave school able to do certain practical things - cutting things out, making things - that is no longer the case.

Students ‘lack tactile knowledge’

“We have students who have very high exam grades, but lack tactile general knowledge, so they struggle even to perform chemistry experiments.

“An obvious example is of a surgeon needing some dexterity and skill in sewing or stitching.

“It can be traced back to the sweeping out of creative subjects from the curriculum. It is important and an increasingly urgent issue.”

The report warns that between 2010 and 2018 entries to design and technology GCSE have fallen by 57 per cent, and there has been a 20 per cent reduction in entries to creative subjects.

The EBacc effectively makes a minimum of seven GCSEs compulsory for pupils in England, but does not include any arts, design or technology subjects, the Edge Foundation says.

Edge Foundation chief executive Alice Barnard said: “Creative subjects count for less under Progress 8 measures.

“The relentless focus on performance tables makes teachers feel compelled to ‘teach to the test’ - it is driving good teachers out of the profession and limiting choices and opportunities for young people.

“It is not just the creative industries expressing concern about having a talent pipeline for the future, but employers across all sectors and industries.”