Thank you for that. This desire on behalf of Welsh Ministers has already been expressed to HEFCW in an additional remit letter that went out earlier this autumn, and future remit letters would seek to build upon this.

I am struck by how important these opportunities are. Again, this morning, with Dawn Bowden, I was in Merthyr Tydfil college. We met students there this morning who were undertaking the first two years of their course at the campus in Merthyr and who will then go on to study at the University of South Wales to complete their degrees. Many of their students who study A-levels, for instance, then move on to progress to study at a higher level within the same institution, and what’s been crucial for raising aspiration levels in that community, which has had a very difficult time, is that close linkage between the FE college and the HE institution.

I will continue, as we work towards the single tertiary education authority, to express my desire, and how important I believe it is, to HEFCW in my regular meetings with both the chairman and the chief executive, and my officials will be monitoring what evidence there is from HEFCW to see that the spirit of the remit letter has indeed been fulfilled.