I would also like to remind Conservative Members that both their colleagues in the UK Government and the Westminster Petitions Committee have rejected calls for a universal reduction in tuition fees as a result of the pandemic. The reality is that a universal reduction in fees or debt cancellation would only harm—harm—the quality of education and student services that our universities can provide, unless, of course, the UK Government would be willing to provide the necessary funding to offset any fee reduction, and I don't see any of that coming soon.

Furthermore, we know that, by themselves, fee cuts or debt write-offs primarily benefit the wealthiest students and the highest earning graduates. It does nothing to put money in students' pockets in the here and now, unlike our new reformed student packages, which put grant funding directly into students' pockets to support them with living costs.

I have to say that, despite all the uncertainty, we are seeing record numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit from this support, with the average Welsh-domiciled student getting £7,000 a year as a non-repayable grant. The same students would receive nothing if they lived across the border. On top of that, only this morning I was hearing from the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, which has allocated a record number of scholarships to Welsh students to allow them to pursue their higher education through the medium of Welsh—in excess of 300 scholarships paid for this academic year.

Helping students deal with hardship now is what student representatives in Wales are telling me is their priority. We know absolutely that some students have suffered financially during the pandemic. That is why we have asked HEFCW to ensure that some of the additional funding made available to the sector supports institutions to provide hardship funding to students, based on where we see a clear need for such funding.  

We are very fortunate in Wales that, during a great time of financial difficulty for many, we have recently implemented the most generous student maintenance support package in Europe, which will particularly support adults, part-time students and postgraduates to enter higher education to improve their knowledge and skills in a challenging labour market environment. And that's before we talk about the extension of the individual learning accounts, which we will now push out across the whole of Wales, allowing those people who have had their job prospects—or, indeed, their income—affected by COVID-19 to be able to undertake additional learning.

Despite how different and unusual the student experience might be this year, I'm encouraged that 18-year-old entry rates for higher education have surpassed 30 per cent for the very first time for Welsh applicants. We have also seen a 2 per cent increase in the number of students placed through UCAS at Welsh higher education institutions. That is a real vote of confidence in the quality of Welsh higher education. When we still see a dip in the demographic of 18-year-olds, we've still been able to increase the number of people that have chosen to come and study here in Wales.

These encouraging numbers will help our sector to improve its financial position, which will be further bolstered by the £27 million higher education investment and recovery fund that we have recently remitted to HEFCW. Plaid Cymru might not welcome it, but I can assure you that HEFCW, the institutions and vice-chancellors certainly do welcome it. I expect this funding to maintain critical teaching and research capacity where we are seeing a temporary downturn in revenue, and to support research and education activities that will contribute to our wider economic recovery.

This additional funding brings our total HEFCW funding this year to £203 million. That is up from £117.5 million when I first became the Minister for Education. Suzy Davies talked about consequentials from the Westminster Government in regard to HE. Let me tell Suzy: money that had been made available to English institutions has been on the basis of loans. We are giving hard cash to our universities, and we don't expect them to pay it back, which again is very different from the attitude taken across the border.

Looking ahead, we know that the coming term will be a challenge for universities and colleges. We have co-produced guidance with the sector so that they can operate safely. Colleges have notified us of a small number of staff and student cases that have already occurred this term, but I have been absolutely confident that they have followed to a tee the protocols for test, trace, protect to keep these cases under control. The feedback that I've had from colleges is that students are generally complying very well with rules around social distancing, hygiene and face coverings. Many, if not all, of our institutions have now put in place social contracts or added COVID security measures to existing social and behavioural contracts to make it clear that our students have a personal role to play in helping keep themselves and others safe. But, clearly, we will monitor the situation in universities closely as students return to campuses this week. I'm delighted to say that a testing centre on the grounds of the University of South Wales in Pontypridd is being built as we speak, Deputy Presiding Officer, to provide additional testing facilities in that institution and that area. 

I conclude by urging everyone involved in higher education and further education to stay safe, maintain social distancing, wash your hands more often, wear a face covering, avoid socialising indoors with people outside of your household, and stay home if you or anyone else in your household has symptoms, and if you do, then please get yourself a test. But, as someone said, I wish all of our students, whether they be in schools, FE colleges, or coming to our universities, the very best of luck for the new academic year. Diolch yn fawr.