The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 2 plus 5 letter word UP TO SNUFF
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
U
P
T
O
S
N
U
F
F
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Meeting the required standard" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case meeting the required standard = up to snuff.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.