Brexit barriers remain for student exchange program

CGTN Europe

The current UK Labour government has committed to reset relations with the EU. But student exchange programs remain affected. Now efforts are underway to establish a youth mobility scheme. CGTN reporter William Denselow reports from Brussels.

Transcript

00:00The full effect of Brexit will be studied for years, but for students the impact is

00:06clear-cut.

00:07The UK shelved its participation in the EU's Erasmus Plus student exchange programme.

00:13University of Ghent still has arrangements with 22 UK universities, but student participation

00:19is half of what it once was.

00:22Administrative steps have increased and have made it increasingly difficult for students

00:27to really make sure that this is in place before they leave for the UK, and specifically

00:37for internships these steps have turned out to be very complicated and in a lot of cases

00:43are unfeasible for students.

00:45More demand remains, rising costs and burdensome administrative processes are barriers for

00:51many students on both sides of the channel.

00:54Students at this university are already applying for exchanges, scheduled for September and

00:59even February 2026.

01:02Lawmakers here in Brussels are working on ways to boost mobility for young people.

01:09Polling suggests 51% of British voters are in favour of rejoining Erasmus Plus, with

01:1615% opposing the move.

01:21The Liberal Democrats back the plan, but the Labour government says the UK currently has

01:25no plans to rejoin the programme.

01:28The European Union has separately floated a plan to open pathways for young people to

01:32spend longer periods of time overseas, without necessarily being strictly tied to a job,

01:38educational programme or training programme.

01:42That has also been rejected by London.

01:44Some EU lawmakers blame the politics that still surround Brexit, especially the issue

01:50of migration.

01:51I think that since the UK left the European Union, immigration has increased.

01:58I think it is a subject that is politically manipulated, instrumentalised.

02:03Erasmus Plus, yes, it is about mobility.

02:06Young people can arrive in the country, but I think some companies would be very happy

02:10to have young Europeans back.

02:14The UK replaced Erasmus Plus with its own system called Turing in 2021.

02:20It is boasting exchanges around the world, not just in Europe.

02:23For the 2024-25 academic year, the programme is offering roughly $140 million for overseas

02:31educational placements, but some say the programme has led to increased bureaucracy for universities

02:36and a lack of opportunity for European students.

02:40What Turing does is whilst allowing that kind of outgoing study, it doesn't fund incoming

02:45study.

02:46That leads to, from our perspective, a tension between students and universities, obviously

02:51because there's less places, but also between university and university.

02:55More than 15 million people have participated in the Erasmus Plus programme since it launched

03:00in 1987.

03:01But for now at least, the UK's participation is consigned to the history books.

03:07William Denslow, CGTN, Brussels.

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