Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary, has called for traditional school standards to be protected through a renewed focus on grammar, spelling and algebra.
Writing exclusively in today's Observer, Clarke, a former mathematician, also confirms his support for a change in the system which would see university places awarded to teenagers after they have taken A-levels rather than before.
He believes that admission tutors need to look beyond results to solve the problem of distinguishing between the soaring number of candidates with grade-perfect portfolios.
'We do need to be eternally vigilant that, at all levels, standards are constantly maintained or raised, and that extends to "traditional" standards, such as grammar, spelling and algebra, just as much as any other,' he writes.
Clarke is known to be acutely concerned about the state of mathematics, not only backing the appointment of a maths 'tsar' and the creation of a tougher maths GCSE, but also attracting more maths teachers by paying the best up to £5,000 more than their colleagues.
The Education Secretary, who was furious at the recent decision by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance exam board (AQA) to drop Greek and Latin from its syllabus, also uses his article to take a clear sideswipe at the decision.
'We do need to nurture "traditional" areas of study like the classical civilisations and their languages, rather than letting them fade away,' writes Clarke, who was angered by the AQA's failure to consult before dropping the subjects and their refusal to reinstate the exams.
He also writes of changes to the way university courses are filled by ending the 'lucky dip' system that sees provisional places awarded before A-level results are released.
'We do need to help universities make their selections on a sound basis, ideally by enabling selection to take place after the A-level qualification rather than mainly before, and on the basis of more information about the applicant's capacity and achievement.'
His comments have been welcomed by educationalists, who are strongly supportive of the shake-up which would mean students receiving their A-level grades earlier, and applying for university places when they know how well they have done.
'The argument about post-qualification applications has moved on from whether we do it to how we do it,' said John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association.
But Dr Martin Stephen, chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, is concerned exam boards will take advantage of the demand for the delivery of earlier exam results to increase reliance on technology.
'A massive alarm bell should start ringing when the discussion turns to putting priority on the speed and, therefore, the ease of marking, rather than the breadth of assessment,' he said. 'By turning to computer and on-screen marking, exam boards will only measure the narrow band of skills that can be judged by a tick in a box. This is hugely dangerous, because enormous tracts of knowledge will be abandoned.'
The Girls' Schools Association also expressed concern. 'We would be very concerned if there was an increase in the amount of work that students or teachers have to do to win entrance to universities,' said Sheila Cooper, general secretary of the GSA.
'Pupils and teachers have to work hard enough already. Why can't the universities take responsibility and increase the numbers of interviews they give?'
