The UK should consider rejoining the Erasmus+ student mobility scheme in light of improved relations with the European Union, a House of Lords report has recommended.
A week before Britain left the EU in December 2020, it was announced it would end its participation in the bloc’s flagship study-abroad scheme, which was described as “extremely expensive” by Boris Johnson, prime minister at the time. From September 2021, the Turing Scheme has funded study placements for UK students, both in Europe and globally.
According to a report published by the Lords’ European Affairs Committee on 29 April, that scheme has enjoyed some success, with 38,000 students studying abroad in 2022-23, mostly on short-term placements. That was roughly double the number who travelled overseas on the last year of the Erasmus+ scheme, although this tended to fund an entire academic year of study.
But the lack of incoming students from Europe was a flaw of the Turing Scheme, explains the committee, which backs former Conservative leader Lord Hague’s belief that a “two-way flow [of students] is extremely important”. Other witnesses told the committee that Erasmus+ had been a useful “showcase” for UK universities that encouraged students to return for postgraduate study.
