Written by James McCall Accommodation Director

Finally some great news for our industry. The UK is rejoining Erasmus+, and this signals something we’ve been arguing for years: the UK benefits enormously from welcoming EU students, and the government is finally acknowledging it.

This isn’t symbolic politics. This is real, funded access to UK English language schools returning after Brexit stupidly killed it.

I’ve been in this industry since the early 2000s and witnessed Erasmus work brilliantly for everyone. Nearly three times as many EU students came here through Erasmus as British students went to Europe. EU students got British English immersion with funding support. We welcomed motivated students from across Europe. Everyone benefited.

Then Brexit killed it overnight. “Too expensive,” they said. Rubbish. It was political ideology trumping common sense.

The damage was immediate. EU student numbers at universities fell by more than half. Language school bookings from EU countries dropped significantly. Years of broken connections, lost opportunities, young people on both sides paying the price for Brexit posturing.

Now it’s reversing. Not everything’s fixed, but this door has reopened. We hope this is the start of something greater, like the youth mobility scheme that’s been talked about for years.

What this really signals is a fundamental shift. The government is acknowledging what we’ve known all along: the UK and EU benefit from educational and cultural connections. Severing them was ideological stupidity that hurt young people on both sides. Now we’re rebuilding those connections.

For EU students wanting English language study in the UK, this is part of a broader positive movement. Erasmus+ will help with course fees, living costs, travel expenses once implementation details are confirmed. But more importantly, it shows the UK is moving back toward being a welcoming destination for European students rather than creating barriers.

People forget Erasmus+ covered more than universities. Language courses at British Council-accredited schools, vocational training, apprenticeships, adult learning. All eligible. For English language learning specifically, this resurrects something Brexit destroyed. French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish students accessing funded immersive English courses again.

Our sector has endured relentless pressure since 2016. Brexit chaos, Covid devastation, hostile visa policies, constant political antagonism toward international students. I’ve spent nearly a decade watching this sector get battered from every direction. Every single piece of good news matters when you’re just fighting to survive.

This is good news and a great way to end 2025!

Questions remain. What happens to Turing? Which schools will participate? How exactly will implementation work? We’re watching closely. But today we’re celebrating a door reopening that should never have closed.