Brexit happened one month ago now
When talking to young people all over Europe, the main questions are: “What about Erasmus?”; “Will I be able to go and study in UK?”. In 2017, the United Kingdom hosted a little bit more than 30 000 European students and was on the third step of the podium behind Germany and Spain. Like for many aspects of Brexit, it is really too early to answer clearly.
However, one thing is certain: the Erasmus+ programme is not threatened for the upcoming months. Although Brexit already took place, a transition period will ensure that British and European students will keep the same rights until the end of the year. The United Kingdom will therefore remain eligible for the programme, at least until the end of 2020. During this time, Brussels and London will have to decide on the terms of their future relationship, and thus the future of Erasmus+ for UK.
If we have a closer look at the Higher Education system, ECTS credits acquired during studies in the UK will not be affected by Brexit. The country is part of the European Higher Education Area, as are 48 other countries. This framework being independent of the European Union, the marks a student will obtain or have obtained in the United Kingdom, therefore remain valid in the other countries.
To come back to the Erasmus+ program, if everybody agrees on the fact that this it has brought a lot to UK citizens and to the country, for the Conservative Party MPs, this issue is not considered as a priority for the negotiations that will start this month.
Nothing is decided for now and it will be for sure a source of strong debates during the negotiations. Like Norway, Iceland or Turkey, the UK will in any case still be able to participate in the Erasmus+ programme, even outside the EU.
We will let you know the results of the negotiations on this topic…stay tuned!
