Presiding Officer, can I thank Michelle for her question? I believe higher education is a joint endeavour, one where the individual benefits, but also we as a society benefit too. And that’s why the universal grant of £1,000, which was recommended by Diamond in his independent review, will be taken forward. This Government believes in the principle of universalism within that progressive system, and that’s why we will fulfil the recommendation by Diamond. It’s incongruous for the Member to argue on one hand that the £1,000 should not be paid, but on the other hand then talk about the issue around student debt and tuition loans. What we do know is that abolishing tuition loans, and not supporting individual student upfront costs, benefits the middle classes and the better-off more. You can’t have it both ways.

The Member is correct, though—and I should have addressed this in answer to Llyr Gruffydd, and I apologise for not doing so, Llyr—about the issue around the interest rates. I am concerned about interest rates, and how they are applied to student loans. And, as a result of that concern, I have written to the UK Government on that issue, expressed my support for a review of the interest rates, and to keep rates as low as possible. And I have made it clear to Jo Johnson, the Minister in the Westminster Government, that we need to work collectively together on this particular issue. So, I’m not forgetting about this point; this is an important point, and we are taking action to try and address this at the UK level.

The Member is also right to talk about careers advice, and I would urge everybody thinking about applying to university to look at the latest longitudinal education outcomes survey. The LEO survey will tell you what the likelihood is of what you studied leading to a job, and the rates of pay that you would get. It makes very interesting reading. And if you do so, I suspect that we will see a rush of students applying for the computer science course in Swansea, because that course leads to high levels of employment, with very good levels of wage. So, you’re right; we do need to make sure that students are getting proper careers advice before they make an application to a university. And teachers who are advising them need to be aware of the plethora of information that there is out there for students, to help them make those choices. Because undertaking a degree course is not to be taken lightly. It’s something that really does need some proper consideration, and looking at the prospects at the end is an important factor to consider.

With regard to subject-specific support, I understand that is UKIP policy. Diamond looked at subject-specific support, rather than a universal system, and he came down on the side of a universal system, and rejected the proposals for subject-specific support.