The British government has decided join again to the European Erasmus student exchange program January 2027in a move that marks a shift in the politics of post-Brexit relations with the European Union. As the newspaper exclusively announced GuardianThis decision is part of a wider strategy to restore relations between the UK and the EU after years of institutional distancing.
According to information from Guardianthe official announcement of this return is planned for this Wednesdayafter a final agreement was reached between both parties on Tuesday. The new program allows UK students to take part in vocational training placements academic exchange at universities across the European Union under the Erasmus+ program. The reinstatement will come into force in January 2027 and will once again open the doors to student mobility between the UK and the continent.
The agreement also stipulates that European students traveling to the UK via Erasmus will be exempt from standard international fees and will only have to pay the equivalent of domestic prices, which is set at £9,535 (approx 10,900 euros) annually, according to the sources consulted by Guardian.
As reported GuardianBritish ministers have shown interest in extending the benefits of the Erasmus program beyond traditional university exchange. The aim would be to reach a broader spectrum of the population, including those regions that once voted to leave the European Union.
As part of the negotiations, British Secretary of State for Relations with the EU Nick Thomas-Symonds and EU Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič met in Brussels last Wednesday, according to the British newspaper, to review the status of the talks, with the return to the Erasmus program becoming one of the priority issues for the success of the talks.
For their part, British students who take part in the program continue to pay the usual tariffs at their home university during the year they are studying in Europe as part of their UK degree. In addition, they can apply for a scholarship to cover “additional costs” caused by the cost of living abroad.
The UK withdrew from the Erasmus program in 2021 following the completion of Brexit, when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson argued that the program was failing to deliver good value for money for the country, as he remembered Guardian. However, in her opinion, the coming to power of the Labor Party, which has been led by Keir Starmer since July 2024, represents a change of course. One of the new executive’s priorities was to reshape relations between London and Brussels, and youth mobility was among the European Union’s key demands in the negotiations.
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