Post-Brexit: New Deal for University Mobility in Europe

“The trend goes almost unnoticed” say journalists from Radio France who investigated about what they call a “an academic big bang that is only at its early stage”.

The end of Erasmus exchanges for the United Kingdom

It all started with the end of the Erasmus exchange programme for all students from EU countries. Since Brexit terminated these exchanges “that allowed European students to study without any cost in the UK, students keep leaving the country”. According to decisionmakers from the Erasmus+ France programme interviewed by the radio, “we are experiencing a massive return of French students from the UK”. Only “about 5.900 French scholarship grant holders are left in Great Britain”, which is about half of what it was four years ago. 

The high cost of studies in the UK

Radio France points out that if French people (or other young Europeans) want to study in England in the coming years, “they will have to do so at their own expense, and this could be very expensive”. According to Erasmus + France, “the tuition fees of British universities are quite high”. They reach “about 20,000 pounds (23,500 euros) for an undergraduate course, at least for the major universities”. And that’s “without mentioning accommodation and food costs”, as Radio France points out.

An opportunity for other European countries

As everyone knows, one person’s misfortune can make another person happy. According to Radio France, this is particularly true of French universities, which are trying to “take advantage of this new situation by attracting to them European students who can no longer afford to go to the UK”. And Radio France quotes Campus France, which stresses the importance of programmes fully taught in English in France. French institutions have developed more than 1,600 training programmes in English, “a real educational offer for English speakers who come to study in English and learn French”.

The Taught in English catalogue and the desire for France

With this in mind, Campus France has created an original tool, the “Taught in English” catalogue, which allows foreign students to find courses taught entirely or partially in English, in schools and universities, according to their speciality. Campus France believes that for students who are still learning French, courses in English represent “a real introduction to the French language and culture”. They complement the range of training courses in French and are aimed at another audience, those who do not speak French fluently yet to study in that language but who already have “a desire for France”.