UK Faces Steep Costs as it Prepares to Rejoin Erasmus Exchange Programme

Britain is set to pay nearly £1 billion annually to regain access to the Erasmus student exchange programme, a flagship EU initiative that allows students to study at universities across Europe. After leaving Erasmus at the end of the Brexit transition period, the UK is rejoining under a plan that will see British students return to European universities in the 2027 to 2028 academic year. The first year of the renewed participation comes at a discounted rate of £570 million, reflecting a 30 per cent reduction on the standard annual fee. European Union officials have stated this discount applies solely because the UK is joining in the final year of the current Erasmus funding cycle. A long term arrangement, subject to separate negotiation, will not benefit from such a reduction, likely raising the cost to over £840 million per year.

This sum represents around 10 per cent of the £7.5 billion the UK government allocates to universities through direct funding. The resumption of Erasmus membership emerges as the initial concrete result of renewed dialogue between Downing Street and Brussels. Ministers consulted have indicated the scheme could potentially enable participation by over 100,000 individuals, including not just university students but also apprentices, further education students, and schoolchildren joining exchange visits.

For context, the previous UK government introduced the Turing scheme after Brexit, which operated with a budget of approximately £100 million per year. Turing supported around 43,000 UK students annually in placements worldwide, but it did not guarantee fee waivers for participants, nor did it generate reciprocal funding flows from European students coming to the UK. By contrast, Erasmus had brought significant numbers of EU students to British universities, outnumbering UK students going in the other direction and creating a net fiscal cost to the UK. In the final year of the scheme before Brexit, 18,300 British students took part, compared to 30,000 EU students coming to the UK, resulting in a net cost of over £200 million annually to the taxpayer.

Proponents of Erasmus highlight its wider economic impact. Spending by EU students supported British institutions, and according to industry group Universities UK, the net benefit to the national economy before Brexit was approximately £250 million per year, even after accounting for the country’s financial contribution. Advocates further point to the expansion of the Erasmus scheme’s remit, now covering college students, apprentices, and school pupils as well as undergraduates, thus broadening access and potential benefits beyond the university sector.

Despite these arguments, critics question the tangible value for money when compared to alternatives. The Turing scheme, though less costly and more global in reach, lacked the economic and institutional reciprocity of Erasmus and was limited in its ability to attract foreign students and associated spending to the UK. University leaders note that non reciprocal arrangements deprive British institutions of additional sources of funding that they received under Erasmus.

The renewed commitment to Erasmus signals a significant policy shift but generates debate about strategic priorities for the UK’s international education sector. With participation costs poised to rise, scrutiny will inevitably focus on whether these investments yield the expected returns for the skills base, global connections, and economic future of the nation’s youth.