Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's policy is on UK access to Erasmus+, in the context of the policies of the Irish Government on access to Erasmus+ in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department understands that the Irish Government has allocated funding to allow higher education students in Northern Ireland to access the Erasmus+ Programme.
The department looks forward to continuing its collaborative work with sector stakeholders and Northern Ireland Executive officials to ensure that students in Northern Ireland are able to benefit from the opportunities available to them through the UK Government’s Turing Scheme.
For academic year 2023/24, the Turing Scheme is allocating over £2.9 million to education providers in Northern Ireland to fund international placements for over 1,000 participants, more than half of whom are students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The government does not intend to negotiate resuming participation in any aspect of Erasmus+ with the EU as a Programme Country.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to make changes to the Erasmus programme.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Erasmus+ is the European Union's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. Any changes to the programme are therefore for the European Commission to determine, and not the UK Government.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of international student visa restrictions on the higher education sector.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The department works closely with the Home Office on a range of issues, including on matters relating to international student visas. The government keeps all immigration policies under constant review to ensure they best serve the country and reflect the public’s priorities.
International students make a significant economic and cultural contribution to the UK’s higher education sector, and I am proud to have met our International Education Strategy ambition to attract at least 600,000 international students for the second consecutive year.