Last night in Westminster, we launched our report on Erasmus+ and celebrated the announcement that the UK will be rejoining the programme in 2027.
We were joined by MPs across the political spectrum, and heard speeches from Pippa Heylings MP (Lib Dem), European Movement UK CEO Sir Nick Harvey, Baroness Carmen Smith (Plaid Cymru), Wera Hobhouse (Lib Dem), Manuela Perteghella (Lib Dem), Minister for European Relations Nick Thomas-Symonds, and President of Young European Movement UK, Alfred Quantrill.
“We expect that over 100,000 people could benefit from mobility and partnership opportunities from Erasmus+ participation in 2027-28,” said Nick Thomas-Symonds.
Being part of Erasmus+ will benefit not just students, but apprentices, trainees, adult learners, schools, and more. And it will open up a pathway to more young Europeans spending time in the UK, as well, rebuilding the sense of shared European identity that was snatched away by Boris Johnson’s hard Brexit.
Our movement wrote to MPs, signed petitions, shared stories, organised events, briefed decision-makers and kept the case for Erasmus+ alive. Without our supporters’ energy, commitment and belief, this simply would not have happened.
For more on this, read our report Unlocking opportunity: Why the UK needs Erasmus Plus, which was produced in conjunction with the Centre for International Learning and Leadership and The National Campaign for Erasmus+, and use our Funded By Erasmus tool to see how your area benefited from Erasmus+ last time (2014-2020) and help make the UK's return a success.