Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they are making for UK citizens to be able to study in France after the UK has left the European Union; and what advice, if any, they provide to those who wish to do so.

We have made clear in the recent political agreement (published on 14 November) that the UK remains committed to continued cooperation with the EU on education. In the attached government white paper, ‘The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union[1]’, we also set out our desire to facilitate mobility for students and young people, enabling them to continue to benefit from world leading universities and the cultural experiences the UK and EU Member States – including France – have to offer.

With the caveat that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”, in principle the UK will continue to benefit from all EU programmes, including Erasmus+, until the end of the current budget plan, and applications should continue as normal. The UK is also open to exploring participation in the successor scheme to the current Erasmus+ Programme. We welcome the attached proposals for the 2021-2027 successor scheme to Erasmus+ (published on 30 May), and are considering these carefully; we will continue to participate in discussions on these proposals while we remain in the EU. Ultimately, UK participation in the successor programme is a matter for negotiations on our future relationship with the EU.

[1] The white paper can be found via this link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/725288/The_future_relationship_between_the_United_Kingdom_and_the_European_Union.pdf.