School children love his Horrible Histories books, and yet if Terry Deary had his way he would shake up education so much that schools would be history too.

"I wouldn't have schools at all," says the Sunderland author. "Nowadays people assume schools are essential, but they're finished; they cannot cope with the demands of the modern world, but they spend £50 billion a year failing.

"Give me that £50 billion and I could spend it better. I learnt from working in my dad's butcher's shop six days a week, interacting with people, and working there from as early as I can remember. Maybe that's the way forward. School is a dead end, and there won't be any schools in 25 years."

Given that York Twenty4Seven had rung Terry only to inquire about the imminent return to York of Birmingham Stage Company's Horrible Histories, his vision of education in the 21st century was a bombshell.

Hear him out, however. Terry's Horrible Histories books have sold 20 million copies worldwide, so he has struck a chord with children by venturing into the dark side of history. He is not a voice in the wilderness, as advance bookings for The Terrible Tudors and The Vile Victorians at the Grand Opera House testify.

"Humans have always been educated and have moved on, but the idea that you start education at four and end at 16 is ridiculous. I'll learn something today; I'll learn something tomorrow and I hope that I never stop learning," says Terry, who is 62.

"The other thing is that if you group people by how old they are, or where they live, why not put all those children who are 20 kilos together, or who are blond together?" he adds, warming to his theme. "Instead, you should have mentors, like I had my dad, or policemen. You have them as work shadows.

"It's not enough to go to an employer and say I've had one week's work experience at 16'. Why not broaden that base so you really know you can do a job?"

Terry believes that "exams prove absolutely nothing". "Look at the most successful people in the world. Look at David Beckham; Alan Titchmarsh. It's about the person you are," he says.

"More and more teachers teach to the test. I didn't read any fiction at school. I was just taught how to pass the 11-plus, and out of 52, 50 passed, and if you judge that as success, then it is, but that isn't what it should be about."

Terry is as busy as ever in assorted educational projects, while being happy to place The Terrible Tudors and The Vile Victorians theatre shows in the hands of the Birmingham Stage Company.

"I move on; I've got so many other projects to do, but it's lovely to have this company that you can entrust something with, knowing that they won't mess it up," he says.

Next in the pipeline is a series of Horrible Histories plays about assorted cities, including York.

"I've written the scripts for London, Cardiff, Nottingham and Edinburgh, but I won't be writing the York one. At the time the York show was being planned, I had to say sorry, I have something else on', but I have my Horrible History Of York book for the writer to base it on," says Terry.

To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the end of the Great War, he has written the text for The Frightful First World War exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North, at Trafford Park, Manchester, where the show opens on May 24 for a six-month run.

"Next year I want to do the First World War and Second World War in one show with the Birmingham Stage Company, to show the links between the two wars," Terry says.

He describes his writing for page and stage as "educainment". "Whether it's writing books or theatre shows, that sums up what I've been doing, because first you have to engage people and a good way to educate them is to entertain them," he reasons.

So, Terry, did American industrialist Henry Ford have a point when he told the Chicago Tribune in 1916 that "history is more or less bunk"?

"Yeah, he's probably right, but history doesn't matter though people do and why people behaved they way they did, and then you apply that to today," he says.

"An historical date is not nearly as important as how people behave under duress. It's not about tests and facts but learning about life and preparing for life's challenges.

Fact file

Name:

Terry Deary.

Occupation:

Author and historian. "Deary is the most influential historian in Britain today," Daily Telegraph, May 10 2007.

Born:

Sunderland, January 3 1946. Now lives in County Durham.

Former jobs:

Actor, theatre director and museum manager.

Writing career:

32 years of writing fiction for juniors and teenagers and non-fiction series, including 20 million sales worldwide of Horrible Histories. Also writes for television, theatre, radio, audio and new media scripts, and performs own scripts.

Books:

185 in Britain; 550 in foreign editions. Published in 38 languages, his sales span Russia to Brazil, Friesian Islands to China Piling up statistics: In 1996, Deary was best-selling British children's author with five books in top ten best sellers. In August 1997, had 13 titles in top 40. In 1999, outsold Enid Blyton by four to one and annual libraries' surveys made him the most-borrowed author of children's non-fiction in Britain. By 2001, had 17 titles in libraries' top 20. In Blue Peter Book Awards 2001 and 2002, won Best Book of Knowledge of All Time for Horrible Histories, The Rotten Romans and The Terrible Tudors.

Theatre:

In Summer 1999, returned to writing for theatre with Mad Millennium at Cardiff's Sherman Theatre. In November 2002, performed in professional production of his Christmas musical, Crackers Christmas at Barrow's Forum 28 Theatre. Series of touring theatre plays, Horrible Histories - The Terrible Tudors and The Vile Victorians, have been created with Birmingham Stage Company; this year, franchise will expand to include local plays in permanent residence in five British cities.

Television:

Children's series exploring lives of Henry VIII's wives, November 2005; six-part documentary series of Terry Deary's Twisted Tales, June 2006.

Audiobooks:

BBC Worldwide made ten one-hour audio Horrible Histories CDs, narrated by Deary, in 2002. In Summer 2005, 12 million CDs were released as promotion with Kellogg's cereal, followed by CDs for The Daily Telegraph.

Latest book: Fiction trilogy The Fire Chief launched in Britain and USA in January 2006. Working on film adaptation.

Family:

Married Jenny in 1975; horse-riding daughter Sara competes in three-day eventing at national level. As family team, they manage property and equestrian companies Hobbies: Supporting Sunderland AFC and road running, competing most Sundays.

Charity work:

Works with young offenders in North East and with Beamish Museum, raising money for disadvantaged children.

Honorary degree:

Doctor of Education, Sunderland University, 2000. Also ambassador for Sunderland.

Plans for 2008:

Cutting back on writing children's books to concentrate on television projects including co-writing and acting in CBBC series of Horrible Histories More plans: Hopes to create Horrible Histories visitor attraction in North East and around Britain. After 2007 exhibition at Royal Armouries, Leeds increased visitor figures by 150 per cent, this year he will create First World War exhibition for Imperial War Museum North.

  • Birmingham Stage Company presents Horrible Histories, Grand Opera House, York, April 22 to 26. The Terrible Tudors, Tuesday, 7pm; Wednesday, 10.30am; Thursday, 1.30pm; Friday, 10.30am; Saturday, 7pm. The Vile Victorians, Wednesday, 1.30pm; Thursday, 10.30am; Friday, 7pm; Saturday, 2.30pm. Tickets: adults £10.50 to £14.50, children £10, on 0844 847 2322.