Catherine McBride OBE@CeeMacBee
Some thoughts about rejoining Erasmus+ and the miraculous fixing of Reeves' Black Hole - as long as we are sending the money to the EU...🙄
From the Government's PR Publication:
The UK contribution for 2027 will be approximately £570 million. This covers the 2027/28 academic year.
and
Over 100,000 people in the UK could benefit from the scheme in the first year alone.
This means the UK will pay the EU £5,700 per student, but previously 10x as many Erasmus beneficiaries were EU students coming to study in UK universities at subsidised UK student rates, leaving the UK with £5.3 billion in unpaid student debts.
Why didn't the UK Government ask the EU to repay the owed student debts before agreeing to join another Erasmus+ scheme? 🙄
Also worth noting in today's PR publication is that Emarmus+ is not just about students; people 'of all ages', can apply. Last time, teachers were as likely to use the scheme as students.
'Erasmus+ offers opportunities around education, training, youth, culture and sport for participants of all ages.'
and
'The programme will create educational and training opportunities for British apprentices, further education students and adult learners, as well as those in higher education.'
The government even claims that re-joining Erasmus+ will help 'disadvantaged groups' - do they mean the EU?
Why not use the £570 million to help 'disadvantaged' UK students to attend UK universities and colleges by paying their full tutition and board? If Rachel has found £570 million down the back of the sofa, it should only be used to help UK students.
Below is some information about what happened last time we were in the Eramus scheme. 10 times as many EU students came to the UK, and we were left with £5.3 billion of unpaid student loan. 🙄
The EU-to-UK ratio of students using freedom of movement before Brexit was 10:1
In 2020/21, 152,000 EU students were enrolled in UK higher education institutions, paying the same fees as UK students, of £9,250 per year (university fees are now £9,535). In the same year, only 15,000 UK students used the Erasmus+ programme to study, train, or intern in EU countries. So the ratio of students coming to the UK from the EU to students going from the UK to the EU was about 10 to 1.
In total, over the seven years from 2014 to 2020, only 100,000 UK students participated in the EU’s Erasmus programme. Fewer than the number of EU students enrolled in the UK in 2020/21.
EU students can still study in UK universities if they are offered a place. However, now, an EU national studying in a UK university pays the same amount as other international students. This has saved the UK taxpayer at least £ 2,000 in subsidies per year for each EU undergraduate, and much more if they are studying STEM subjects or taking a postgraduate course. If the 152,000 EU students studying in the UK in 2020/21 were all enrolled in a three-year degree course, this would have cost the UK taxpayer over £900 million in tuition subsidies. Why should UK taxpayers be asked to pay this again?
£5.3 billion owed for EU student loans
EU students also had access to UK student loans: By 2020, around 120,000 EU students had taken out UK student loans. Unfortunately, EU student loan repayment rates have been much lower than those of UK students, because many EU graduates left the UK after graduating. In 2020, EU students owed £5.3 billion in student loans, and the Student Loan Company data shows that only about 20-25% of this amount was actively being repaid. The repayment rate is much higher among UK borrowers because HMRC can deduct repayments directly from salaries. It has been estimated that between 50% and 70% of EU student loans will be written off because enforcement outside the UK is limited, rendering them unrecoverable.
The citations are in the publication below:
open.substack.com/pub/catherinem…
