Erasmus scheme to return for UK students, BBC understands
According to information obtained by the BBC, Britain is preparing to re-join the Erasmus program five years after announcing that it would end its participation within the scope of the Brexit agreement with the European Union.
Through the programme, the EU provides funding for people to study, train or volunteer in other European countries for up to a year.
The UK replaced this in 2021 with its own Turing scheme, which funds similar deployments around the world.
The government said it would not comment on ongoing negotiations.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer proposed a youth mobility plan in May. Could be part of a new deal with the EU.
The Erasmus program was canceled in the UK in December 2020, when the government announced the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.
Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was a “difficult decision” but that the scheme had become “extremely expensive”.
This, he said, would be replaced by the Turing plan, which has been operating ever since.
Both programs are open not only to university students, but also to people attending vocational courses, apprentices and people studying at a college or school.
in 2020 Last year that England participated in ErasmusOverall, the program has received €144m (£126m) of EU funding for 55,700 people to take part in Erasmus projects.
The UK sent 9,900 students and trainees to other countries as part of the program that year, while 16,100 came the other way.
While Glasgow, Bristol and Edinburgh were the three universities that sent the most students, the countries that students from England went to the most were Spain, France and Germany.
Turing plan in the 2024/25 academic year £105 million funding43,200 placements were paid for, including 24,000 in higher education, 12,100 in further education and 7,000 in schools.
The majority (38,000) were from England, 2,900 from Scotland, 1,000 from Wales and 1,200 from Northern Ireland.
Ministers who implemented the Turing plan in 2021 Designed to benefit more people from disadvantaged backgrounds and provides more support for travel expenses than the Erasmus programme.
It is not yet clear what will happen to the Turing program if Erasmus is reintroduced for UK students.
