Events in London and Moscow have also confirmed the list of subjects that Russians concerned for their life expectancy should avoid.

ECONOMIST: Russian poisonings

Mr Wilty recounts his time in Singapore, where he had to produce a list of ten subjects to talk about (and was given a list of banned ones, including politics, sex and religion).

ECONOMIST: Cracking jokes the world over

One of the earliest of these refers young people to a list of "facilitating subjects" - English, maths, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, history and languages.

BBC: Top universities warn against 'soft subjects'

Mr Gove indicated that computer science could be added to the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) list of key academic subjects that teenagers are encouraged to study at GCSE.

BBC: Computer science teachers offered cash incentive

It suggests students should have A-levels in at least two subjects from the list to improve their chances of getting in.

BBC: Top universities warn against 'soft subjects'