Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussion (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with education sector stakeholders on a potential domestic alternative to the Erasmus+ Programme.

We have made clear that we value international exchange and collaboration in education and training as part of our vision for a global Britain. The White Paper on the Future Relationship between the UK and the EU proposed that the UK and EU should continue to give young people and students the chance to benefit from each other’s world leading universities.

Ministers and I meet with representatives of the education sector regularly to discuss the Department for Education agenda, and that has included the questions of the Erasmus+ programme and international mobility more widely.

Ultimately, participation in the future Erasmus+ programme (2021-2027) is a matter for negotiations to come about our future relationship with the EU and, as is the duty of a responsible government, we are preparing for a range of potential outcomes. This includes consideration of domestic alternative options for supporting international mobility outside Erasmus+. My officials have had observer status on work done by UK and members of the sector on what form a domestic alternative to Erasmus+ could take. We are listening to stakeholder views on this issue. Our stakeholder engagement will be ongoing.