For a generation of students who lost automatic access to study and work across Europe after Brexit, the prospect of the UK rejoining the EU’s Erasmus+ exchange scheme from 2027 marks a striking change in direction.

Ministers in London and Brussels are working towards a deal that would see the UK associate to Erasmus+ in time for the next phase of the €26bn education and youth programme, with negotiators aiming to finalise terms by January 2026. The move is designed as a flagship of Keir Starmer’s promised “reset” of relations with the European Union – and as a visible win after talks over UK participation in a major EU defence fund collapsed in November.

Under the emerging plan, Britain would again pay into Erasmus+ and follow its rules, in return for allowing UK students, apprentices and young people to take up funded placements at European universities, colleges and youth projects, and for EU participants to do the same in the UK. Association to Erasmus+ sits alongside a proposed youth mobility scheme, a food standards deal and closer climate co‑operation in a single negotiating package being assembled by both sides.

Erasmus+ supports study, traineeships and youth exchanges across the EU and a small number of associated non‑EU countries. Before Brexit, the UK was one of the programme’s most active members, sending and hosting tens of thousands of students each year and building dense institutional links between universities, further education colleges and youth organisations.

That participation ended when the Johnson government chose not to associate to the current 2021‑27 Erasmus+ cycle, arguing that the UK was paying more into the scheme than it recovered in grants and that it subsidised too many EU students coming to Britain. As a domestic replacement, ministers created the Turing Scheme, focused on funding outward mobility from the UK to destinations around the world.

Turing has enabled study abroad for many students, but official evaluations and sector surveys have highlighted persistent problems. Universities reported complex application processes, delays in funding and particular difficulties for less affluent students unable to front costs before grants were confirmed. The scheme’s budget has also been cut for 2025‑26, underlining concerns in the sector that it cannot match the scale, stability and reciprocity of Erasmus+ on its own.

Recognising those strains, universities, unions and youth groups have lobbied hard for a return. Universities UK and the European University Association have jointly urged both sides to agree long‑term UK association “swiftly”, warning that institutions need certainty to plan partnerships and exchanges several years in advance. The Trades Union Congress has called for full Erasmus+ membership to be restored, framing access to European study and work opportunities as a matter of generational fairness.

For the Starmer government, rejoining Erasmus+ is part of a broader strategy to reduce post‑Brexit frictions without reopening the question of EU membership or single market access. At a UK‑EU summit in May, leaders agreed to open negotiations not only on Erasmus association and a youth mobility visa scheme, but also on closer alignment in areas such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules for food, and linking carbon emissions trading systems.

Talks on the youth mobility plan began in September, with the aim of creating reciprocal visas allowing young people to live, work or study in each other’s territories for several years. Technical discussions on food standards and carbon markets, led on the UK side by foreign policy adviser Michael Ellam, started in mid‑November, around six months later than initially envisaged.

The Erasmus+ file has gained urgency since late November, when negotiations over British association to the EU’s SAFE defence loans fund broke down. Brussels had sought a multi‑billion euro UK contribution to the €150bn scheme, which is designed to boost European defence production. London walked away, saying the price was too high. As a result, British firms face tighter limits on their participation in EU‑funded defence projects, capped at 35 per cent of contract value on third‑country terms.

That setback has sharpened the political need in London to show that the reset with Brussels is still delivering concrete benefits. EU diplomats, for their part, see progress on civilian programmes such as Erasmus+ and youth mobility as a way to demonstrate that closer ties with the UK can bring advantages for citizens on both sides, even as more sensitive areas such as joint defence finance remain contentious.

Money is again at the heart of the Erasmus+ talks. Associated non‑EU countries typically contribute to the programme’s budget in proportion to their GDP and expected participation, with correction mechanisms if they draw down more or less funding than they pay in. EU capitals are wary of offering the UK a discounted deal, especially after the dispute over SAFE contributions, while British ministers insist any agreement must be “on the right terms for the UK” and defensible to domestic audiences still divided over Brexit.

Other files in the same negotiating bundle add complexity. On food standards, unresolved questions include whether Britain will have to revisit its planned ban on commercial imports of foie gras, the extent to which it aligns with tighter EU rules on genetically modified crops, and UK requests for flexibility on mycotoxin limits that affect products such as oat‑based foods. Each of those issues carries its own political sensitivities in key member states.

Polling suggests, however, that a youth‑focused package enjoys broad public support in Britain, including among many who voted Leave in 2016. EU representatives in London have publicly argued that stronger EU‑UK cooperation on education and mobility would help underpin prosperity and democratic resilience in a turbulent international environment.

If negotiators can translate that political will into a detailed legal text by early 2026, the first UK students could once again apply for Erasmus+ placements in time for the 2027 academic year. For those who came of age just as Brexit closed off long‑standing routes into European study and work, that would amount to the reopening of a door many had assumed was shut for good.