With Brexit 2020, Great Britain also left the EU’s Erasmus program. At the end of 2025 the return to the EU exchange program was announced. The first stays will be possible again from mid-2027, according to estimates from Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalization (OeAD), which is running the program. Schools, universities and youth institutions should take action now to establish contacts with partner institutions.
Before Brexit, Great Britain was one of the most popular Erasmus destinations for Austrian students, apprentices, teachers and pupils. In the higher education sector, the country with 4,800 people (2014-2020) ranked third behind Germany and Spain, and in the school and vocational training sector it even ranked first. On the one hand, this was due to the language, and on the other hand, it was also due to the reputation of the English schools and universities.
After the UK exit, relocation to Ireland
After Great Britain left, exchange activities in the school sector moved to Ireland. “But Ireland is full because the whole of Europe has moved there,” said OeAD managing director Jakob Calice to the APA. There are therefore hardly any available partner schools left. In the higher education sector, the rush to Ireland was not so extreme, as the Netherlands and the Nordic countries also offer many study programs in English.
EU membership is not a prerequisite for participating in Erasmus – so people were surprised that Great Britain also left the popular program. On the one hand, there were certainly cultural reasons: “People said that it was not appropriate to take part in a program that wanted to shape a European identity and put European values in the foreground,” said Calice.
First Erasmus semester in Great Britain in autumn 2027
For students, an Erasmus semester abroad in Great Britain is realistic from autumn 2027 – you should take care of it this autumn, advises Calice. Internships in Great Britain could also be possible as early as summer 2027. Austrian schools can cooperate with Great Britain again from the 2027/2028 school year and send their students there. For the first year, due to the necessary development, he hopes for a total of around 2,000 stays abroad across all educational sectors and youth – that would roughly correspond to the peak in 2017. Since then, Erasmus has been expanded significantly, so the potential is significantly higher.
APA/UT24
