Students in Britain will no longer be able to participate in the Erasmus+ European exchange programme after the 2021-22 academic year as a result of Brexit negotiations.
Under the latest version of the scheme, Erasmus+, around 200,000 people have taken part including around 15,000 British university students each year.
The government is instead launching a domestic alternative, the Turing scheme, which will provide funding for placements and exchanges from September 2021.
The University of Sheffield’s Acting Head of Partnerships and Global Opportunities, Katja Nieminen, said: “Brexit does not change our University’s global outlook and we are committed to continuing exchange programmes with European university partners.
“In the coming months, we will continue to work closely with our European partners, as well as Faculties, departments and other stakeholders, to secure and enhance overseas opportunities for our students.
“Last week, the Department for Education released further details on the Turing Scheme, the new £100 million programme set to replace Erasmus+, starting from September 2021. It was positive to note the scheme’s ambition to provide additional funding to ensure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are able to take part.”
Although the transition period has now ended, the University still has an active Erasmus+ project which is due to conclude at the end of the 2021-22 academic year. Any students currently abroad or due to go abroad this academic year through the Erasmus+ programme will not be affected by this change.
The University will also be able to send and receive exchange students in the 2021-22 academic year. Students due to go abroad in the 2021-22 academic year can and should continue to apply for exchanges at advertised destinations.
Vivienne Stern, the director of Universities UK International, said to the Guardian: “It’s hugely disappointing after all this that we are no longer in the scheme, but it’s not surprising – I understand that the European commission was not willing to budge on cost.”
Stern said she was pleased at the prospect of a new national plan to fund outward mobility, which she hoped would meet the costs of young people travelling overseas.
“As I understand it, there will be grants for young people not just in universities but broader than that, to support study and possibly working and volunteering. These experiences help graduates gain employment, especially for students from low-income backgrounds who are the least likely to be able to travel abroad otherwise,”
Any Erasmus replacement needed to be “ambitious and fully funded”, she added.
“It must also deliver significant opportunities for future students to go global, which the Erasmus programme has provided to date.”
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