Since my appointment to this role, I have met with the leadership of the TUI on a number of occasions and I always leave every meeting struck by a sense of common purpose. That doesn’t mean we agree on every single thing and nor should we. But I genuinely believe there is so much overlap in our priorities. At the end of the day, it is the job of my department to promote and advocate for further and higher education, to secure increased investment, to develop policies that ensure access for all and inclusion, to tackle inequality and to make sure education can be empowered and supported to be that great leveler we all proudly know it is.