Post-Brexit rescue plan for 21,000 students

Universities have welcomed a decision by the European Commission to protect more than 20,000 students on the Erasmus+ exchange programme in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The UK’s departure from the EU will affect some 7,000 British students in the rest of Europe and almost 14,000 non-British European students in the UK, who are spending time at a university abroad as part of the EU’s Erasmus+ programme. 

The Commission’s proposal, released on 30 January, aims to ensure “the continuation of ongoing Erasmus+ learning mobility activities involving the UK, without modifying the amounts allocated to them and their financing”. This will prevent a “very disruptive” impact on students, such as the loss of academic credits and having  to repeat the time studied abroad when back home, the Commission said.