Last month, the UK government confirmed the upcoming end to the Turing Scheme as the country re-enters Europe’s Erasmus+ mobility program in 2027/28.
Parliamentary under-secretary of state Josh MacAlister said in a statement that the UK’s re-entry into Erasmus+ would “build on the Turing Scheme’s success in opening up world-class opportunities for learners, educators, young people and communities.”
The Department for Education has said the scheme is broader in scope that previously, with an estimated 100,000 people set to benefit from placements in EU member states and several countries outside the EU.
While the news of UK universities participating once more in Europe’s flagship international exchange program has been warmly welcomed by the sector, Universities UK International (UUKi) said the end of Turing would also be “disappointing”.
“The UK Turing Scheme has played a pivotal role in supporting outward student mobility since 2021, providing funding for over 200,000 UK students to access life-changing international study, work and volunteering experiences,” said UUKi director Jamie Arrowsmith.
As well as announcing the winding down of Turing, MacAlister confirmed a budget of up to £78 million for the scheme’s sixth and final year in 2026/27 – something Arrowsmith said would help students and universities during the transition to Erasmus+.
“Before the reassociation agreement was secured, both Scottish higher education bodies and UUKi had argued that Erasmus offered benefits beyond those available through the Turing scheme, particularly around reciprocal exchanges, deeper institutional partnerships and inbound student mobility,” said Bronagh Masterson, student mobility officer at the University of St. Andrew’s.
She said Scottish universities received a “significantly smaller” share of funding through Turing than they had historically done through Erasmus+, reducing the number of students who were supported and creating greater competition for limited sector resources.
At the same time, Masterson hailed several “valuable features” of Turing, including its global scope opening opportunities in North America, Asia and Oceania, as well as its more accessible, shorter mobility opportunities.
Meanwhile, the Welsh government announced earlier this year that its mobility program – Taith – would be wound down in August 2027, in preparation for Erasmus+.
Since launching in 2022, more than 18,000 students, faculty and researchers have received international exchange funding through the Taith program, visiting almost 100 countries.
Anna Dukes, director of global engagement at Cardiff Met University said Erasmus+ would bring “stability, familiarity and opportunities to strengthen and expand European partnerships”, hailing “significant” opportunities for Welsh universities.
But she warned that universities had become accustomed to the flexible models of Taith, praising the “agility and global scope” that the program enabled, particularly its strong emphasis on widening participation and support for underrepresented groups.
“Taith has enabled greater participation in short-term and accessible mobility experiences, helping to embed a more inclusive culture of international learning,” said Dukes, highlighting that these “important learnings” must be carried forward to Erasmus+.
The Turing Scheme, too, has been praised for its emphasis on widening participation, with students from disadvantaged backgrounds set to make up 61% of participants in 2025/26.
Turing has enabled institutions to support mobility opportunities across a much wider range of destinations
Bronagh Masterson, University of St. Andrew’s
Though Masterson noted that the timing of funding allocations had proved challenging under Turing, highlighting that early confirmation of funding was particularly important for students from lower-income backgrounds, who may need to demonstrate financial resources as part of visa processes.
Looking forward, Arrowsmith said the transition to Erasmus+ offered “huge opportunities” that go beyond student mobility, including staff exchanges, institutional partnerships and “wider international cooperation within and beyond Europe”.
European policymakers have urged UK universities to make the most of the “colossal” Erasmus+ budget.
While the UK government will contribute more than £570m a year from 2027, it said it had managed to secure a 30% discount on what it would have paid under the UK’s trade deal with the EU.
Seven years after the UK’s departure from Erasmus following Brexit, universities were told by colleagues in Germany: “The program you’re coming back to is not the program you left. Not for you, and not for us.”
They highlighted its transition from an undergraduate exchange program to a “powerful program for the strategic internationalisation of higher education”.
But sticking points remain. Most notably, the question of whether Erasmus+ exchange students will be subject to the government’s incoming international student levy at English universities.
Under the latest agreement, the UK has rejoined Erasmus+ for the final year of the scheme’s current iteration, before the international student levy takes effect in 2028.
But the country’s continued association for the 2028-34 Erasmus+ program will be subject to future negotiations, with the government confirming that questions around the international student levy would be clarified as part of these discussions.
While the prospect of future negotiations introduces some uncertainty about the future of Erasmus+, Masterson said the decision to transition away from Turing and Taith may be interpreted as a sign of confidence in the UK’s renewed participation in Erasmus+.
“Universities across Europe have maintained strong relationships throughout the intervening years, and there is considerable enthusiasm for rebuilding participation within a shared mobility framework,” she added.
