Britain's schools have become "factories" producing young people who are "incapable of living full and autonomous lives", a leading headmaster warned today.

Anthony Seldon, Master of fee-paying Wellington College, is calling for an overhaul of the system which would give independence to all schools.

In his new book, An End To Factory Schools: An Education Manifesto 2010, he argues school education is vital in preparing people to live full, productive lives.

But students often do not properly value their schooling, parents are indifferent and there is a fight to draw the best graduates into teaching and to encourage them to stay.

Exam results have improved at the cost of a schools system which is now subjected to strict government control, it says.

Dr Seldon says Britain does not need "container loads of young men and women whose knowledge is narrowly academic and subject-specific which they can regurgitate in splendid isolation in exams".

The manifesto warns: "Schools have major responsibilities for developing the whole person, not just their intellect.

"The traditional model of large, de-personalised and exam-focused schools is appropriate neither for the academic, cultural, moral, spiritual, physical and emotional development of young people, nor for preparing them for a fruitful life."

Dr Seldon, the biographer of Tony Blair, suggests in his book that more spending on schools has not resulted in better standards.

It says: "Too many state schools in Britain in 2010 have become factories.

"Results (at least on paper) have improved. But at what cost? Reluctant students are processed through a system which is closely controlled and monitored by the state. No area of public life is more important than education to prepare people to live meaningful, productive and valuable lives.