United Kingdom. European students will pay the price of Brexit

The Brexit was not complete that it was already making universities and colleges in the United Kingdom shudder. In 2019, they welcomed nearly 143,000 students from the European Union. “Their number has dropped significantly this year, observes Simon Margison, professor of education at the University of Oxford. The uncertainty over the year 2021 has turned students away from our country. “

Yet impossible to obtain precise figures, the universities having little desire to communicate on these “desertions” not very rewarding for these establishments which have always taken care to praise their international openness. It is also true that “The data has been biased by the effects of the coronavirus”, as Simon Margison explains.

Do young Europeans have reason to fear Brexit? For those arriving before the 1^is January, no stress: they can continue their studies as before, just taking care to apply for residency status. Latecomers will have until June to do so.

For those who will return to school in September 2021, it looks to be more expensive! If they plan to stay more than six months at United Kingdom, they will have to apply for a visa, for the tidy sum of £ 348 (around 380 €). They will also need to have a well-supplied bank account to prove that they will be able to meet their needs (between € 10,000 and € 13,000 depending on the university or school). That’s not all. If they go on for more than six months, students will also have to pay £ 470 (€ 515) in health costs to gain access to the NHS, the public health service.

Rest, above all, a major unknown for students and apprentices who, until now, could benefit from Erasmus grants. The United Kingdom, the fourth destination of the program in Europe behind the much requested Spain, has decided to end it. Too many European students in the UK, not enough UK students in the rest of Europe, the UK government calculated short-sighted.

According to the UK Universities body, the government has committed to funding an alternative program, but nothing is being done yet. If no agreement is reached with Brussels, “From September 2021, Europeans will have to pay the same university fees as non-Europeans, between £ 12,000 and £ 30,000 (13,000 to 33,000 €) », Simon Margison worries.

Also read. In Loughborough, the University fears for its Erasmus students

Marcus Collins, international exchange referent at Loughborough University in central England, seems more optimistic. He hardly doubts that bilateral agreements will quickly be sealed between European and British establishments. “Universities like mine are trying to put things in place with already existing partners. In our case, students from Lyon could continue to come here without paying any additional registration fees and our students could continue to go there. “

The fact remains that these students will no longer be able to benefit from the Erasmus grant, which is supposed to cover part of the costs on site. “I don’t think it’s a barrier for students who want to come, nuance Marcus Collins. We are already seeing that the young people who take part in the program tend to come from a privileged background. “

Paul Trémoulet, a 20-year-old Lyonnais on exchange at Loughborough University, confirms that he would have left no matter what. But money is not everything: “Erasmus offers a framework, everything is very easy, the university takes care of everything”, he admits. Welcoming foreign students is also an asset for these universities. “My best students are Europeans, underlines Simon Margison. What are we going to do without them? It will be the end of a period. “

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