In 2013 and 2014, biology undergraduates at the University of Oxford were asked to name five species of birds, trees, mammals, butterflies and flowers found wild in the British Isles. That’s biology undergraduates. At Oxford University. Needing to identify only five species. No problem.

Except, of course, it was a big problem. Only 56 per cent of the students could name five species of birds, 54 per cent five species of mammals, 25 per cent five species of wildflowers, 24 per cent five species of trees, and 13 per cent five species of butterflies.