The UK will rejoin the Erasmus program and restore British students’ access to the EU-funded study, training and volunteering program five years after the country ended its participation following Brexit.
Ministers are expected to confirm the move this week, with UK students expected to be able to take part in Erasmus placements from January 2027. The government declined to comment on the details of ongoing talks with the European Union.
The decision represents a significant policy shift after the UK withdrew from Erasmus in December 2020 as part of its post-Brexit trade deal. At the time, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson described withdrawing from the program as a “difficult decision” and argued that participation had become “extremely expensive”. It was replaced in 2021 by the UK’s Turing Program, which funds international internships worldwide.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed a desire to reset relations with the EU, suggesting in May that a deal on youth mobility could be part of a broader deal.
Student groups have long been campaigning for the return of Erasmus. Alex Stanley, vice president of higher education at the National Union of Students (NUS), said the move was warmly welcomed.
“It is fantastic that another generation of students can take part in the Erasmus programme,” he said. “From the day we left, students campaigned for a resumption of the Erasmus program. This is a huge win for the student movement.”
Erasmus, named after the Dutch Renaissance scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam, offers participants funding to study, train or volunteer in another European country for up to one year. It is open not only to students, but also to students in further education, training and vocational training, as well as some high school students.
In 2020, the final year of UK participation, Erasmus provided €144m (£126m) in EU funding to support a total of 55,700 participants. This year around 9,900 British students and trainees went abroad, while 16,100 European participants came to the UK. Glasgow, Bristol and Edinburgh universities sent the most students, with Spain, France and Germany the most popular destinations.
In contrast, the Turing Program provided £105 million in the 2024-25 academic year, funding 43,200 internships worldwide. Of these, 24,000 were in higher education, 12,100 in further education and 7,000 in school. The majority of participants came from England, with smaller numbers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Ministers who introduced Turing said it was designed to reach more students from disadvantaged backgrounds and provide greater support for travel costs than Erasmus. It remains unclear what will happen to the Turing program when Erasmus is reintroduced for UK students, or whether the two programs will run in parallel.
The return of Erasmus is also welcomed by opposition politicians. Liberal Democrat universities spokesman Ian Sollom described the move as “a moment of real opportunity and a clear step towards repairing the Conservatives’ disastrous Brexit deal”.
If confirmed, re-entry into Erasmus would represent one of the most noticeable post-Brexit policy shifts to date, opening up new avenues for British students for cultural exchange, skills development and European collaboration.
