UK to rejoin EU’s Erasmus student exchange program in 2027: Report

LONDON

British students will be able to take part in the Erasmus student exchange scheme as of January 2027, according to a report Tuesday.

A deal for the UK to rejoin Erasmus, the EU’s student exchange program, is expected to be announced Wednesday as part of the British government’s drive toward closer relations with Brussels, The Guardian reported.

According to the report, citing sources, the final details of the announcement were agreed Tuesday by the UK and the EU, with a plan to allow UK students to participate in the scheme.

UK students would be able to participate in vocational training placements across the EU under the Erasmus Plus scheme, as well as university-based study exchanges, according to the agreement.

Sources told the newspaper that there is expected to be an international fee waiver for EU students studying at UK universities under the Erasmus scheme, meaning they would pay the equivalent of domestic fees, which are capped at £9,535 ($12,806) a year.

UK students, meanwhile, would continue paying their standard domestic fees at their home university during their year studying in Europe as part of their UK degree courses.

The Erasmus student exchange scheme was scrapped in Britain in December 2020, when the government announced its post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.

In the 2016 Brexit referendum, the majority of Britons voted in favor of the withdrawal of the country from the EU.

After the Brexit agreement was signed by representatives from Britain and the EU on Jan. 24, 2020, the UK officially withdrew from the bloc Jan. 31 of that year.