Return of Erasmus+ and the effects on funding

UK Rejoins Erasmus+ What it means compared with the existing Turing Scheme, and how It fits with Horizon Research Funding

The British government has confirmed that the UK will rejoin the European Union’s Erasmus+ student exchange programme from January 2027, restoring a flagship opportunity for study, training and youth mobility that was lost after Brexit. 

The move comes alongside continuing cooperation in EU research funding through the Horizon Europe programme - a reminder that the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with Europe is shifting toward practical collaboration in education and science. 

What does the return of Erasmus+ mean?

Under the new agreement, the UK will contribute £570 million for the 2027/28 academic year to associate with Erasmus+, benefiting students, apprentices, teachers and youth organisations across Europe and the UK. The deal includes a 30 % discount in the first year, negotiated because the UK is joining partway through the EU funding cycle. 

Once fully in force, Erasmus+ will once again allow British students to study or train abroad under domestic tuition rules and receive grants, while students from EU countries can come to the UK on the same terms. This is a key contrast with the UK’s post-Brexit mobility gap. 

Erasmus+ vs the Turing Scheme: Key Differences

After Brexit, the UK withdrew from Erasmus+ in 2020 and launched the Turing Scheme as its replacement, funded by the Department for Education. 

In 2020, the last year in which the UK participated in Erasmus, external, the scheme received €144m (£126m) of EU funding for 55,700 people to take part in Erasmus projects overall.

The UK sent out 9,900 students and trainees to other countries as part of the scheme that year, while 16,100 came the other way. In comparison, the Turing scheme - named after British mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing - received £105m of funding in the last academic year.

This paid for 43,200 placements, with 24,000 of those being in higher education, 12,100 in further education and 7,000 in schools.

Ministers who introduced the Turing scheme in 2021 said it was ‘designed to benefit more people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and provide greater support for travel costs than the Erasmus scheme did’.

While the cost of the new deal is roughly four times what the UK paid the last time it accessed the Erasmus scheme, it is not a like-for-like comparison.

The government is pointing out that under the Brexit deal the default price for rejoining the scheme - based on the UK's GDP - was set at £810m a year, but negotiated down.

Turing Scheme was designed to fund global placements for UK students and staff in countries around the world, but only supports outward mobility (that is, UK students going abroad, not the reverse).

Funding and Scale

Erasmus+ is part of a €26 billion EU budget for education, training and youth initiatives across Europe. 
The Turing Scheme’s budget has been significantly smaller, typically around £100 million annually, and focused on UK participants’ grants and travel support. 

How this fits with Horizon Europe Research Funding

While Erasmus+ focuses on educational mobility, the Horizon Europe programme represents the EU’s major research and innovation funding scheme, and the UK has already rejoined and associated with it. 
UK Research and Innovation.

Horizon Europe is the EU’s flagship research and innovation framework, with a budget of around €95.5 billion for 2021–2027. It supports collaborative research across borders on everything from climate change to health, technology and industrial innovation. 
UK Participation

After prolonged negotiations following Brexit, the UK formally associated with Horizon Europe in 2024, allowing UK researchers and institutions to participate fully in funding calls, lead projects, and access grants on similar terms to EU states. 

This return has already had tangible results: UK groups have been among the leading recipients of Horizon grants, with significant funding awarded for scientific research and innovation, and high participation in competitive EU research calls. 

Connection to Erasmus+

Together, participation in Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe illustrates a multi-layered engagement with EU programmes:

• Erasmus+ focuses on education, mobility, and cultural exchange.
• Horizon Europe drives research, innovation, and scientific collaboration.

Both enhance international cooperation and opportunities — but in different domains: one for students and educators, the other for researchers and innovators.

Why It Matters

The decision to re-associate with Erasmus+ alongside continued engagement with Horizon Europe marks a significant pivot in the UK’s international engagement post-Brexit.

Supporters highlight the benefits for access, skills, global collaboration and academic partnerships. Critics argue about cost and question whether domestic programmes like the Turing Scheme offered better value for some students. 

Seen together, the return to these EU programmes reflects a strategic choice to embed UK students and researchers more deeply in European networks, while also preserving the ability to pursue global opportunities outside the EU framework.

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