An agreement to rejoin Erasmus – the EU’s student exchange programme – is expected to be announced on Wednesday as part of the UK government’s drive towards closer relations with Brussels.
The final details of the announcement were agreed by the two sides on Tuesday, with a plan to allow UK students to participate in the EU-wide scheme from January 2027, sources said.
The Guardian understands that British students would be able to participate in vocational training placements under the Erasmus Plus scheme, as well as university-based study exchanges.
UK ministers are believed to be keen to extend the benefits of the programme beyond traditional academic exchanges of undergraduates to a wider section of the population, including in leave-voting areas.
The EU relations minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, and his EU counterpart, Maroš Šefčovič, met in Brussels last Wednesday to take stock of the negotiations to date – and are believed to have got Erasmus over the line.
The UK quit Erasmus after Brexit, when Boris Johnson claimed the programme did not offer value for money. The Labour government agreed to reopen negotiations at the UK-EU summit last May, and has been seeking to bring down the cost of UK participation.
The UK rejoining the £23bn Erasmus scheme has been a key demand from EU capitals as part of “reset” talks, alongside a mobility deal that would grant young Europeans the right to live and work in the UK for several years and Britons to do the same in Europe.
A quick breakthrough on Erasmus would help ministers demonstrate progress in their drive to improve relations with the EU. Talks to join the bloc’s £131bn defence fund broke down last month after France demanded that the UK contribute £5.7bn to EU budgets in order for British defence firms to bid for contracts.
Talks on food exports, energy markets and the youth mobility scheme also appeared to be stuck – but sources on both sides said they were confident that all elements of the “reset” deal would get over the line.
With the public mood on the EU shifting, Keir Starmer said at a press conference in London two weeks ago that “we do need to get closer” to the EU, arguing that people would “have to be grown up” about this and to accept that it would require “trade-offs”.
Government sources have told the Guardian that the prime minister is pursuing an “iterative” process with the EU and that at the next annual reset summit, expected in the spring, there will be fresh issues on the table.
The Cabinet Office has been approached for comment.