Back to school - Telegraph The summer holidays are over and in England and Wales the new school term starts this week at what is a challenging time for teachers and pupils alike. The A-level and GCSE results last month showed that greater rigour is being introduced to exams following years of rampant grade inflation. But restoring integrity to the system goes beyond exams and is relevant also to the way subjects are taught if our children are to be properly equipped for the world of work and if the country is to be able to compete in the global marketplace. From this year, children starting the sixth form will either stay on in the classroom or be in full-time training until they are 17 - the first change to the leaving age since 1972, when it was raised to 16. In 2015 it will go up again to 18. But there is little point young people remaining at school merely to emerge with sub-standard qualifications in key subjects. The Government has decided that pupils failing to get at least a C grade in GCSE maths or English will be required to re-sit the exam. This is not only a good idea but was a key recommendation of Alison Wolf's review of vocational education, which reported two years ago. These are the two areas in which potential employers have often found new recruits wanting. Every year for decades, more than 200,000 pupils have been leaving school at age 16 without showing basic competence in both English and maths. These figures represent a national scandal and a personal calamity, since literacy and numeracy are the two most important skills with which school-leavers can be equipped if they want to get a job. Ministers are right to want to push schools and pupils towards the highest standards; but no one should underestimate the challenges that lie ahead to achieve them.