"In our view, maths and English tells the story - you can't fudge maths and English, " he says.
They are maths and English, two sciences, a humanity (geography or history) and a modern foreign language.
Their schools focus on religious learning: even basic subjects such as maths and English get short shrift.
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"Too much time spent looking at the quality of school lunches and not enough on maths and English, " Sir Michael said.
Prisoners in the North West will be given "military-style" lessons in maths and English to boost their chances of finding employment on release.
The best performing county was Sutton in London, where 74.7% of pupils got the government benchmark of five GCSEs, including maths and English.
The new certificate would replace the dozens of existing vocational qualifications with a single "gold standard" exam, which would also include maths and English.
The tests are the same for both primary and secondary school teacher trainees, who must also have achieved a grade C or above in GCSE maths and English.
The leafy London borough of Richmond came out as the best-performing local authority, with 87% of pupils reaching the government's benchmark of Level 4 in maths and English.
The association also criticises the Department for Education and Skills' eligibility test for Nagty membership as being among the top 5% of performers in national maths and English exams.
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The tables show the best performing local authority is Richmond upon Thames in south London, where 87% of pupils achieve the government's benchmark of Level 4 in maths and English.
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The BBC tables will also show how schools fared with their high-fliers - the percentage of pupils achieving a Level 5 (the level expected of a 14-year-old) in maths and English.
The BBC will be publishing tables that will allow readers to rank schools in their local authority according to how many pupils achieved the expected level (Level 4) in maths and English.
Under-achievement is seen at primary school, where national tests in maths and English show both groups are less likely than others to reach the expected level, and continues up to GCSE level and beyond.
Stratford Academy head teacher Andrew Seager said the school had made good progress in the past five years, with results rising from 42% of pupils getting five good GCSEs including maths and English to 62%.
He calls for the apprentice's accomplishments to be robustly tested and validated, and says they must include high quality attainments in maths and English for those who have not got GCSEs in the subjects before they start.
The most recent data on GCSEs in England, published in January, showed that pupils from a black background remain the lowest performing group in terms of how many students get five good GCSEs including maths and English.
Fewer than one in 10 schools, or 1, 310, are below the government's floor target of achievement - 60% of pupils getting Level 4 in English and maths and scoring above the England median for progress in maths and English.
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Ofsted also said that the money the government makes available for summer schools to help disadvantaged children bridge the gap between primary and secondary education could be better spent on extra maths and English classes once they start secondary school.
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Mr Laws told delegates it was "quite literally intolerable" that in some schools and certain areas of the country almost eight in 10 children on free school meals - a key measure of poverty - failed to get five good GCSEs, including maths and English.
The new measure is already being dubbed "the best eight" because it would measure pupils' performance in eight GCSE subjects, which have to include English and maths, three English Baccalaureate subjects and three others.
For the middle and upper tier, basic maths, English and computing will be compulsory.
Mr Blunkett could certainly regard these results as justification for his tough targets and firm focus on maths, science and English.
About a quarter of each course at DUOC involves remedial classes in maths, language and English.
The move follows growing recruitment issues in core subjects including Maths, English and Science.
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But the same data did not give the overall figures for maths, science and English teacher posts.
The subjects at which private-school pupils excelled were those demanded by the top universities: maths, further maths, English and physics.
The Isle of Man branch of the ATL said the move will help to boost recruitment in specialist areas such as maths, English and science.
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