Is Brexit set to kill off Erasmus for UK experts and students?

The Erasmus programme for expat fellowships and expat foreign study students at Czech universities will continue until at least the end of this year.

An announcement by the Czech Education Ministry has confirmed the Erasmus programme in support of foreign fellowships and studies will not be affected by the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and will continue to at least the end of final negotiations next December. However, the British parliament has now rejected a move to continue cooperation with the programme between 2021 and 2027, in spite of its already stated intention of participating at some time in the future.

The programme in its present form sponsors the further education of students in secondary schools as well as the overseas stints of expert professionals and athletes, with the UK a popular destination. This specific programme is due to end in December, and it’s not certain what, if anything, will replace it. For the rest of this year, UK organisations can apply for financial support for their projects and their Czech equivalents can allow Britons to join their projects.

During the last academic year, around 560 Czech nationals came to the UK under the scheme, with 200 still in the UK at the beginning of January. Some 300 British students entered the Czech Republic, with 160 remaining and more expected to arrive. However, it’s not yet clear how the present uncertainty over the Brexit factor will affect applications from British students and academics, nor how new post-Brexit immigration requirements may affect Czechs arriving under the programme.