Meeting of the Parliament 06 March 2018
I am very interested in tracking the progress of all the universities, which I follow closely. However, I welcome the work that the new principal of the University of St Andrews has undertaken to given further impetus to the widening access agenda.
I made it clear in my statement that colleges play a crucial role in our higher education system and in widening access. However, we also need to ensure that we are working with primary and secondary schools, where most of our young people will develop their dreams and ambitions for their future lives and careers.
We are taking a whole-systems approach to the issue, which is why I am delighted that, in the next couple of weeks, we will have a seminar at which regional improvement collaborative leads will come together to discuss what more can be done to develop that whole-systems approach. Peter MacLeod, who sits on our access delivery group, will lead that seminar.
It is very important that we encourage our young people to develop their dreams and ambitions, regardless of whether they will finally achieve them in employment, college, university or an apprenticeship. This is apprenticeship week, so I should mention that apprenticeships are exceptionally important outcomes for young people.