Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 1:39 pm on 6 February 2019.
Well, Oscar, I would argue that the results speak for themselves. We have seen an increase of 35 per cent this year in the registrations for part-time degree courses with the Open University alone here in Wales. The Welsh Government engaged last year with a highly successful public information and advertising regime. In terms of reach and outputs, it's actually the most successful Welsh Government advertising programme ever undertaken—even more successful than the organ donation publicity campaign. What's important to me is that we look to support part-time learners in other areas, not just simply those who are studying at a degree level. We've made a big impact at degree level. We need to now make sure that those adults who want to study below degree level also have the opportunity. I'm currently considering the report that was commissioned by the previous Minister around Adult Learning Wales and we'll be looking to explore with our colleagues in FE what more we can do to ensure that part-time learning at all levels becomes a reality for many more Welsh citizens who wish to pursue it.