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Good morning. No one will be surprised by my line of questioning, because I have asked the same questions previously. Certain institutions are hitting the Government’s SIMD20 targets, but I am often asked by institutions whether there is flexibility in the funding packages. Is there a role for the SFC to play in how we achieve the targets and how the institutions are funded in the future?

I get that. One thing that is forgotten is that, even in urban Scotland, SIMD20 is not a fantastic measure, because it basically varies over two or three streets. When you look at a map, the SIMD20 area will be bright red—in fact, one of the areas is right outside this building—whereas other streets around it will be better. I understand that there are other ways to measure.

On the data that we currently have, can you tell us a wee bit more about the sector’s ability to meet the 2026 target and the 2030 target using SIMD20 alone? What could we do with some of the other measures?

Good morning, minister. I am glad that you mentioned UWS—you know the adage that all roads lead to Paisley. Do colleges and universities have a role to play in attainment in general? I will use UWS as an example. Earlier, I mentioned its foundation academy, which goes into schools and ensures that young people who are not looking at that type of career consider going to university. UWS also has its historic agreement with St Mirren Football Club, where young people who want to be young Graeme Deys look to a future in sporting journalism. With that in mind, do you see a role for colleges and universities in closing the attainment gap?

Everything was going so well until you mentioned Hearts. My team, St Mirren, was beaten by Hearts last night.

I will go over some of the points that you made earlier. You spoke powerfully about light overcoming darkness but, as you said, the geopolitical world has changed dramatically since the start of this year. How are Ukrainian people in Scotland and Ukraine, and Ukrainian politicians, dealing with that change? How are you staying so optimistic despite all that difficulty?

I leave the last word to the consul, convener. I cannot say anything on top of that.

Good morning, Professor McKendrick. On the back of what my colleague John Mason has said about SIMD, I want to say that he and I have known each other for a very long time, and he is an accountant at heart who wants that one data set that he can work on.

I think that a basket of measures are needed. You have mentioned some of them. Having just one data set on its own would not be the way forward. SIMD might be a good measure in some areas, but not in others. Everybody talks about rural areas, but in some urban areas, it might work for one street but not for the street next to it. Is it not better to have a basket of measures, or am I just overcomplicating things?

Professor McKendrick, I apologise for anything that I might have said when you were refereeing at St Mirren park in the past. It was entirely of the moment and not personal.

In my area, Paisley, we have the University of the West of Scotland, which is similar to your own Glasgow Caledonian University and does well in recruiting young people to university. Unlike a lot of other universities, where access is straight from school, access to those universities is normally through college—perhaps people returning to education or going to college slightly later in life. Can more be done in the sector to work with colleges and schools to see whether they can help you with the work that you are trying to do?

Rather than anything else, I was probably coming at this from the aspect that Glasgow Caley and UWS get a better funding package, because they seem to be the ones that continually hit the figures.

I know that you cannot answer this, but my argument has always been that some of the ancient universities can carry on without Government funding. The University of St Andrews survived the reformation, for example. I am not saying that that is a Government position—it is just a thought that I have had. For some of the other universities, 70 per cent of their funding comes from the Government. There might be a way to have more flexibility, and that could be a way forward for us. We could at least have the debate.

When we talk about people from poorer backgrounds going to university, the other thing that we often talk about is that those students tend to have a higher drop-out rate in year 2. Again, UWS used to mention that to me regularly, saying that the fact that it has to retain those students should be taken into account when the Scottish Funding Council is providing funding. Can more be done to make sure that we do not have that high drop-out rate? I know that things have improved slightly, but if someone’s family has a chaotic background, they are still going to have that chaos in their life in year 2. How do we make sure that we keep them for the full course?