Pre-Brexit situation
Higher education in the UK is a world-class sector which makes it attractive to international students and staff. UK universities rank amongst the world’s best and produce highly-regarded research
The higher education sector is valuable. In 2011–12, universities generated an annual output of £73 billion for the UK economy, contributed 2.8% of GDP and supported over 750,000 jobs.
International students’ payments to universities (for tuition fees and accommodation) and the spending of their visitors, contributed £13.8 billion gross value added to GDP, and supported 250,000 jobs (in 2014-15).
International students accounted for 19% of the university population in 2014-15 (see Table 10.1):
- 437,000 international students studied in the UK in higher education (19% of total);
- 125,000 came from the EU (29% of international students and 5.5% of total);
- 312,000 (71% of international students and 14% of total) came from non-EU countries.
Note that EU students contributed less per capita than non-EU students because tuition fees for a non-EU student are higher. There are also more non-EU post-graduates.
The UK higher education sector had strong ties to the EU. Collaboration and co-operation between UK universities and EU institutions was facilitated by:
- free movement of students from the EU;
- free movement of staff from the EU (31,600 EU academic staff make up 16% of the academic staff in higher education) and to the EU;
- membership of EU research programmes, which provided significant funds to universities and facilitate collaboration;
- membership of Erasmus+, which provided funding for work and study placements abroad to support student and staff mobility.
Table 10.1: Student population in higher education for 2014-15
| Student population (higher education) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | ||
| EU | 125,000 | 5.5% |
| Non-EU | 312,000 | 13.8% |
| International (sub-total) | 437,000 | 19.3% |
| UK | 1,830,000 | 80.7% |
| Total | 2,267,000 | 100.0% |
| Source: Universities UK | ||
Sources:
Universities UK, Economic impact of international students, March 2017
Oxford Economics, The economic impact of universities 2014-15, October 2017
Photo by OleksSH/Shutterstock
Erasmus+
Erasmus+ (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. The UK joined Erasmus in 1987.
The European Commission manages it, sets priorities and targets, and oversees delivery. These priorities link with the EU’s migration agenda, security agenda and its strategic investment in human capital. National Agencies are responsible for managing most parts of the programme in each country.
Erasmus+ includes non-EU associate countries in its programmes: Norway, Turkey, Iceland, North Macedonia, Serbia and Liechtenstein. There are also opportunities for many non-associate countries to participate in certain actions of the programme.
The overall programme provided opportunities for over four million Europeans to study, train and volunteer abroad. In 2016, 725,000 Europeans received Erasmus mobility grants.
From a UK perspective, through Erasmus+, in 2015-16:
- UK received grants of €92 million;
- 44,700 Europeans participated in over 800 UK projects:
- 31,400 were students in higher education;
- 15,800 UK students studied abroad;
- UK received 4,400 staff;
- 2,900 UK staff worked abroad.
Sources:
Erasmus+ UK factsheet for 2016
Brexit impact
In December 2017, the agreement reached in Phase 1 of the Brexit negotiations meant no change to the UK’s status in Erasmus+ until 2021.
The Erasmus scheme was scrapped for the UK in December 2020, when the government announced its post-Brexit trade deal with the EU. However, the TCA allows the UK to negotiate continued membership of the Erasmus+ programme (see EU-UK Trade Agreement).
In April 2017, House of Commons Education Committee made five recommendations in response to Brexit:
- Uncertainty over EU students and EU staff needs to be reduced immediately.
- The immigration system after Brexit should cater for the needs of higher education.
- Research collaboration with Europe is essential to higher education – the Government should commit to Horizon 2020.
- As Erasmus+ is an important programme for student and staff mobility, continued membership should be a Government target.
- The Government should establish a new regional growth fund to replace, and exceed, the investment from European structural funding.
Source: House of Commons Education Committee Exiting the EU: challenges and opportunities for higher education, April 2017
Rejoining Erasmus+
In December 2025, the Starmer government announced that the UK would be rejoining Erasmus+ from 2027.
After a six-year gap, British students will be able to study abroad at universities in Europe from 2027. According to the government, more than 100,000 people in the UK could benefit from the scheme in 2027-28 alone.
Since Brexit, Erasmus+ has expanded, doubling its budget for 2021-27 compared to the 2014-20 programme, and pushing for greater uptake from among schools, adult learning and sports courses.
The UK contribution for 2027 will be approximately £570 million, which covers the 2027/28 academic year. Any subsequent UK participation in Erasmus+ falls under the next multi-annual financial period for the EU (2028-34) and the future UK contribution will need to be agreed.