Mr. Andrew Brownlee:

The Deputy raises a valid point. As a government and a society, we need to consider how further education works with higher education to try to get the most appropriate route to a career for all young people. That is to the fore in the Department's mind. The national skills strategy, which was launched at the end of last year, addressed more integrated pathways between further and higher education.

Key priorities for the HEA are access and retention. They comprise one of the main objectives within the performance compacts that institutions have to agree with us. There are always strong retention targets within those. We challenge the institutions and hold them accountable for these targets, but there is a resource implication to supporting those types of student through higher education.