Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 2:44 pm on 13 January 2021.
Well, you're absolutely right: the ability for those individuals to progress is really important, and that's why we prioritised those learners last year. Because of the ongoing disruption, learners who find themselves in this year's cohort, again, will have to have additional support. So, we prioritised those students last year, and we're keen to continue to have conversations to prioritise those students this year, and to work with the colleges to understand what they need to allow those practical assessments of people's skills to go forward. Whilst colleges are closed for face-to-face teaching for the majority of their students, there is an exception where assessments—important external assessments—have to be carried out. Those are still able to be done within colleges and I know colleges are working hard to accommodate students in that regard. But with regard to a longer term plan, and as was referenced by the finance Minister earlier, whilst additional resources are being made available for education in the new financial year, the impact of COVID-19 on students' learning is going to be felt for many, many years. We've made good progress this year in recruiting additional staff, but we're not going to catch up from this pandemic in any one single academic year, and we do indeed need to have ongoing investment and a plan for catch-up.