Thirty-eight years have passed since the creation of the student exchange program. A means for European citizens to come closer to each other through education. Of course, politics is often involved in such issues.
Somehow the program came under scrutiny in 2020 under the Johnson government, as part of an effort to end EU-UK cooperation for good and fully implement it. As a result, London decided to abandon Erasmus+, judging it to be particularly costly.
Five years later the decision is overturned. and Under Secretary for European Affairs Nick Thomas-Symonds hailed it as a “victory for young people”.
What is provided for in the new agreement?
The London-Brussels agreement will come into effect for the academic year 2027/2028. According to official announcements, the United Kingdom will have to pay 570 million pounds for this year, while the British government claims that the price is discounted by 30%. In fact, the EU and Britain will renegotiate, after the end of this term, for the next seven-year cycle of the program.
Essentially, British students will now be able to take advantage of universities in Europe for a year, without additional fees, and of course the same will apply to Europeans. In fact, the program does not only concern students but also people in vocational training and apprentices, for this from 2014 onwards it acquired the symbol “+” in its name.
Until recently, the Conservative government had replaced the Erasmus student exchange program with the UK’s Turing programme.
Turing, named after Alan Turing, the British mathematician who succeeded in deciphering encrypted German communication during World War II, had a more global approach and students could reach 150 countries, including Canada, Japan and the United States. Now, its future is uncertain, as the Starmer government has not specified whether it will keep both programs.
Reactions to the cost
After the news of the reintegration, apart from the students, some of the opposition factions, as well as the universities, expressed their satisfaction. The Liberal party shouted “hallelujah” in the House of Commons, while University UK, which represents 142 British universities, said it was “fantastic news for the UK” with its chief executive, Vivian Stern, saying that Erasmus+ “offers life-changing opportunities for thousands of students”.
But, at the same time, there are reactions and reservations about the cost of the program. The Conservative party accused the Labor government of “caving in” to EU demands and “covertly undoing Brexit”. The shadow education minister, Laura Trott, even commented on the cost of reintegration as “unrealistic”.
However, one day before the official announcement of reintegration, a YouGov poll showed that 65% of British citizens are in favor of Erasmus+, while a survey by Universities UK, from 2020, is also of interest, which showed that universities gained 243 million a year from the student exchange program, despite its costs.
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