Erasmus: How Brexit is affecting disadvantaged students in the UK

Students fear that their once-in-a-lifetime chance of studying abroad might be ruined due to cuts in Erasmus funding. Krisha Bhattarai report.

For many students across the UK, the peak of their academic life comes around in September of their third year, when they take that Ryanair flight out to expand their horizons and maybe learn how to order a coffee in Spanish.

I was no different to these students, hauling a series of small suitcases and trekking all the way to Barcelona to enjoy a semester in the Catalan sun. 

Of course, this trip was only made possible by the thousand pound grant I occurred from the Erasmus network, which helped to cover my rent while I was away. As someone with a chronic illness which prohibits them from working long hours, the grant was essential for me to be able to study abroad.

However, this once-in-a-lifetime experience may be coming to and end for students in the UK due to Brexit.

Due to the results of the 2019 General Election yesterday, it is almost guaranteed that the £112m exchange programme will be axed after Brexit, affecting thousands of hopeful students across the UK. 

A 2019 report by the House of Lords EU Committee has stated that the cut of Erasmus funding will “disproportionately affects people from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with medical needs or disabilities”.

We here at the Glasgow Standard wanted to find out a little bit more about the Erasmus experience and how students and exchange coordinators feel about the cut in funding.

Lucy Holmes, 19, recently applied to go on Erasmus next year:

Knowing that all the partner universities I applied to would qualify me for Erasmus plus funding made studying abroad a lot more desirable and also realistic that it would be possible to afford. 

Despite this grant, it would not cover most of my time there and I will mostly be relying on my student maintenance loan and savings to help me through. The Erasmus grant might cover the cost of rent if I am lucky but it is unlikely for most destinations that this will be the case.

Flora Smith, 21, currently on Erasmus in Sweden: 

If funding is cut, I think this will really hinder students in the future because I know that I would definitely not have been able to come here and I imagine it would be the same for loads of other students. 

I mean, it’s hard because unless you already have a lot of money, you really need the grant to be able to go. So I think maybe it would be good to have a special grant in place for this.

Gary Mullen, 25, went on Erasmus in 2017: 

If I hadn’t gotten the Erasmus plus grant or any type of financial help, I would not have been able to go. Nobody in my family, including myself, had ever left the UK before since we did not have the money to go on holidays. 

When I first went home and told my parents I have to leave the country for a year, they were like  how are you going to pay for it and I said well, I am actually going to get a grant. So, definitely, that was one of the main reasons I actually went in the first place.

Niamh Moran, 24, speaker for the Erasmus network:

Apart from people who study languages, others may not be able to go away for three people who do not have those opportunities. I don’t know how they will because if they can’t work in the country or they can’t work full time or if they have a disability where they can’t work or maybe they live in a place which may also affect this.

I know someone who had a disability in France and the Erasmus grant actually set her up with accommodation that had disabled access so it was wheelchair friendly if that’s not there I don’t know if the people in France would look out for her in that way. 

As well as students who have been involved with exchanges, we also asked Exchange Co-coordinators about their views on the cut of funding.

Keshav Dahal, chair in Intelligent Systems and the Leader of Artificial Intelligence, Visual Communication and Networks (AVCN) research centre and Erasmus+ co-ordinator at UWS:

The Erasmus mobility scheme has provided a great opportunity for scientists and researchers to exchange their experience and learn from each other. 

I, professionally, will be affected by Brexit as most of my research funding come from the EU. However, the UK government has promised to support existing projects. Recently, I am trying to get projects from other sources, like local industries, but there are lots of uncertainties around the Brexit and the scientific community are as confused as the general public. 

Iain Muego, communications and media journalism lecturer and Erasmus+ coordinator at GCU:

I have known students who have studied media journalism and you have gone abroad to America and Canada and that and some of them have loved it so much that they have not come back. They are out there now and they are living the dream.

The Erasmus programme is not just for universities and students studying abroad. There is a whole range of social product that is about corporation and understanding within Europe and the more we understand about each other and the more we learn and the more we work with each other the more that we cooperate with each other, the less likely we are to fight with each other.

Currently, 53% of UK university students who are living abroad are doing so through the Erasmus scheme and most of them can only afford to do so due to the grant provided by the programme. 

Although the cut of financial help will mostly affect those who may have a disability or come from low-income backgrounds, it will be critical for all students, lecturers and researchers alike. 

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