The Conservative government has outlined its plans to transform the quality of education in England, at the heart of which lies an emphasis on so-called traditional academic subjects.

School minister Nick Gibb revealed in a speech that under a new system, all secondary school pupils would be required to take at least five core subjects - there would be no exception to this.

As such, students would be compelled to study GCSEs including maths, science, English, a foreign language and either geography or history. As a whole, the government argues, these subjects offer pupils an all-round education.

While this isn’t a surprise - the proposal was outlined in the Conservative’s election manifesto - that the government is beginning to make it a reality is nevertheless a notable moment.

In its manifesto, the Tories explained that when they came into power in 2010, they “inherited a system where far too many children left school without the qualifications and skills they needed”.

They said: “One in three children was leaving primary school unable to read, write and add up properly. The number of pupils studying the core academic subjects at GCSE had halved. Our schools had fallen down the global league tables for maths and science. And the poorest children were attending the weakest schools.”

By re-emphasising the importance of academic subjects, this can be reversed. This doesn’t represent a step back, but an acknowledgement that core subjects offer pupils the education need to succeed in life.

Mr Gibbs said that “knowledge is power”, which is especially important for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In making academic subjects the foundation of secondary school education, these youngsters can realise their dreams and do just as well as their peers from comparatively wealthy families.

The problem presently, the MP argued, is that poorer pupils are often encouraged to take what he called “less demanding qualifications”, meaning that, in effect, the power that comes with knowledge - courtesy of core subjects - is taken away from them. This perpetuates the divide in attainment levels between poor and rich.

“If we are to deliver a fairer, more socially mobile society, we must secure the highest standards of academic achievement for all young people, and especially those from the least advantaged backgrounds,” Mr Gibbs said in his speech.

Writing in the Independent earlier in the week, you can gauge his thinking about why it is important for academic subjects to form the bedrock of England’s education system. He noted how 2015 is a remarkable year for historic anniversaries.

We have, for example, the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, 600 years have passed since the battle of Agincourt and it is the bicentenary of Waterloo. However, the problem is that for many young people - young adults even - this is lost on them. They have no idea.

“The principal cause of such weak general knowledge among school leavers has been an ideology that regards knowledge as second fiddle to so-called skills; the intellectual skills of a historian, a geographer, a scientist,” Mr Gibbs said.

“Understanding scientific methods became more important than knowing the difference between a metal and a halogen; analysing historical evidence took precedence over knowing the details of key events.

“While pupils need both skills and knowledge, all the evidence shows that the way to develop those skills is through the acquisition of knowledge, rather than teaching amorphous skills such as ‘critical thinking’, evaluation, reflection and so on.”

The government insists the best solution to this problem is a return to an academic-first education.