One of the many questions raised following the Brexit referendum, was ‘what about the Erasmus scheme?’ Launched in 1987 and initially aimed at university students across the EU, the aim was to offer students from all participating countries the opportunity to learn, study and work in another member country. The outcomes were to equip the young participants with education, skills and competences they would then bring into their working lives.
This has undoubtedly been successful. Students from UK universities have long had the benefit of being able to study or partake in work experience across Europe. Not only has this been beneficial to those studying languages but has also offered great opportunities for students studying a multitude of other disciplines. Science students, for example, would have the chance to participate in the international collaboration necessary to their discipline.
Nor would students on lower incomes have had any anxiety about how to fund their studies. The Erasmus scheme funded travel and subsistence costs for participating students, making the opportunity as achievable as possible to anyone who might be interested.
Erasmus: ‘A nice little jolly for the well-heeled student’?
The scheme hasn’t been without its critics. An article in The Telegraph in January 2020, included readers’ comments that dismissed it as: “Akin to a summer break in Ayia Napa” and asked “How many students from working-class backgrounds took advantage of the Erasmus programme? It always struck me as a nice little jolly for the well-heeled student.”
What these comments fail to recognise, however, is the fact that Erasmus also included students from very different backgrounds to those rather sneeringly described. According to FE Week, the perception of the programme as only for higher education students is “misleading and exclusionary”. Erasmus+ also funded FE students – many of whom come from severely disadvantaged backgrounds – to take part in work experience abroad. This for many, is a revelation and the opportunity of a lifetime.
One support tutor at a college in Yorkshire explained that a considerable time in tutorials used to be set aside for helping students to complete their passport applications, in preparation for their work experience abroad. Their parents couldn’t help them, she explained, as they themselves had never had a passport or been abroad. Some of the students who were preparing for work experience included travel and tourism students who were going to work as ground crew at Malaga airport and catering students doing work experience in a Parisian patisserie.
The chance of a lifetime offered by Erasmus
Level one public service students at Bradford College (Bradford has been identified as being in the bottom 30% of deprived areas of the UK) participated in an Erasmus-funded trip to Sicily, where they experienced outdoor activities and chronicled their experience by video. Watching this, it’s plain that they are not the sort of students that many people would typically associate with Erasmus. Level one qualifications are equivalent to GCSE grades D, E, F or G (grades 3, 2 or 1 in the new format), so academic success has so far eluded them.
Watching the video, it’s apparent that some are almost painfully shy when talking to the camera, yet clearly manage to express their pride in what they have achieved. Whether this was the novel experience of camping on Mount Etna, or the ability to budget for, buy and cook food (the scheme also provides some spending money) it’s obvious that they have made huge progress because of their experience.
What about the alternative?
But what about the Turing scheme, lauded by Boris Johnson – and others? Characteristically, Johnson had promised that the UK would be able to remain in Erasmus, later back-tracking, saying that the UK was losing out financially. The substitute was the Turing scheme, which Johnson claimed would involve “the best universities all over the world” and “strengthen the UK’s global leadership”. So far, so laudable. But does it work?
The notion of a worldwide student exchange scheme clearly has attractions over one which is confined to one continent. Launched in 2021 and now administered by Capita, the scheme promised to offer additional funding for disadvantaged students to aid them in participating. However, some universities and colleges are already finding that it is less effective than Erasmus.
The first evaluation of the Turing scheme has now been published, showing mixed results. According to the researchers, the timing of funding of the new scheme may actually prevent those from disadvantaged backgrounds from participating. Under Erasmus, there was ‘pre-financing’; the beneficiary – the college – would be given a grant, which would then be used to finance the students on their placement.
Turing funding is on a different model. The placement must be confirmed prior to the funding application approval. There have been occasions when the funding has not been released until the placement has started, meaning that some of the costs have to be met by the student upfront. The ‘well-heeled students’ (or their parents) may be able to cover this in the short term, but it’s out of the question for any from financially deprived backgrounds. This was noted by the research, which found that “when asked the likelihood of going on placement in the absence of funding, only 23% of FE participants said it was likely they would have, compared to 60% of HE participants”.
The final indignity affects the FE teachers themselves. Under Erasmus, teachers could also study abroad for a period. FE teachers’ professional development is known as ‘industrial updating’; they could use Erasmus funding to work in various vocational settings across the EU in addition to the UK. Whilst Turing covers them to accompany students under 19 for safeguarding purposes, they can no longer access this funding to study abroad themselves.
So, whilst it is undoubtedly beneficial for students – and their teachers – to have the opportunity to study overseas, it remains to be seen whether Turing can fill the gaps left by Erasmus.
