Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Erasmus and Erasmus Plus

Tuesday 2 May 2023 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • UK government has decided not to seek continuing participation in the Erasmus and Erasmus Plus programmes.
  • The government believes that the Turing scheme provides global educational opportunities.
  • The response cited financial imbalance as a reason for not participating in Erasmus.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Richard Thomson
Brexit
Context

The question arises from discussions about the UK's educational opportunities post-Brexit, specifically regarding its participation in European Union initiatives.

Question

Whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on association to the EU's Erasmus and Erasmus Plus programmes. I am concerned that despite a willingness across the House and the EU for UK participation, the government's decision not to seek continuing involvement is disappointing.

Answer from Leo Docherty

We fully recognise the benefits of international educational opportunities, but we have decided that it is not in the UK's interest to seek continuing participation in the Erasmus or Erasmus Plus programmes. Of course, we have our own scheme, the Turing scheme, which supports global access to education and had more than 41,000 participants in the last academic year.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about future discussions on rejoining Erasmus and Erasmus Plus was not addressed.

How: We Have Decided Against It

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Q2 Richard Thomson
Brexit
Context

The question arises from discussions about the UK's educational opportunities post-Brexit, specifically regarding its participation in European Union initiatives.

Question

There is a real willingness across the House and the European Union for the UK once again to participate in Erasmus and Erasmus Plus, so that answer is incredibly disappointing. If the Minister genuinely believes that we are better together, surely our academic and scientific communities would be even better together if we were back exactly where we belong: at the heart of those hugely beneficial European programmes.

Answer from Leo Docherty

Many students are, of course, still going to receive an education in Europe. The Erasmus programme was financially unbalanced on our side, and the advantage of the Turing scheme is that these opportunities are now global.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about reconsidering participation in Erasmus Plus was not addressed.

How: These Opportunities Are Now Global

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