Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the accessibility of study abroad for those who would have been eligible for the Erasmus scheme.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Under the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with the EU, the UK will continue to participate fully in the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ Programme until project completion. Certain projects may continue up to 2024.
The UK government is supporting access to study abroad through the Turing Scheme. The scheme provides grant funding for education providers and organisations to offer their students, learners and pupils undertake study or work placement across the globe. Participants can study or work anywhere in the world, subject to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office travel advice.
For the 2022/23 academic year, the Turing Scheme is providing funding for over 38,000 pupils, learners, and students across the UK to study and work in over 160 destinations across the globe. More than half of these opportunities are for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds. In the 2021/22 academic year, the Scheme provided funding for over 41,000 participants, with 48% of this for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For comparison, Erasmus+ participant numbers for higher education (HE) were 15,784 in the 2015/16 academic year, 16,559 in 2016/17, 17,048 in 2017/18 and 16,596 in 2019/20. The Turing Scheme is providing funding for 23,472 HE placements in the 2022/23 academic year and provided funding for over 28,000 HE placements in 2021/22. Direct comparison across all sectors is not possible, given the data published by the European Commission for Erasmus+ doesn’t specify numbers of student participants for other education sectors. Whilst Erasmus+ included some staff mobility, the Turing Scheme is focused on student placements.
In 2019/20, UK institutions received around €134 million of funding from the Erasmus+ programme. €41,257,969 of this was for in further education (FE) and vocational education and training (VET) and €87,621,663 in HE. In 2021/22 the Turing Scheme allocated £24,819,113.40 of funding in FE and VET, £67,001,941.25 in HE, and £6,710,407.60 in schools for student mobilities and accompanying staff. The figures for 2022/23 are £36,376,335.62, £62,115,424.80, and £7,616,999.60 respectively.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the median grant size awarded to the students set to participate in the Turing Scheme in 2022 is.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The first year of the Turing Scheme has provided funding for placements in the 2021/22 academic year. As placements are ongoing, it is not possible to provide summary statistics on grants awarded at this time. Statistics on the Turing Scheme will be available in the Autumn, after the end of the first year of the programme. Currently published information on the 2021/22 funding provided by the Turing Scheme is available at: https://www.turing-scheme.org.uk/funding-opportunities/funding-results/.
Data relating to median grant rates for Erasmus+ is not published by the National Agency. The European Commission publishes data on overall grants by activity for each National Agency, but this cannot be disaggregated into individual learners grants. This summary data can be found in the statistical annexes of their Statistics page which is available here: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/statistics-and-factsheets.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the median grants awarded through the (a) Turing and (b) Erasmus+ schemes were in the latest period for which that data are available.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The first year of the Turing Scheme has provided funding for placements in the 2021/22 academic year. As placements are ongoing, it is not possible to provide summary statistics on grants awarded at this time. Statistics on the Turing Scheme will be available in the Autumn, after the end of the first year of the programme. Currently published information on the 2021/22 funding provided by the Turing Scheme is available at: https://www.turing-scheme.org.uk/funding-opportunities/funding-results/.
Data relating to median grant rates for Erasmus+ is not published by the National Agency. The European Commission publishes data on overall grants by activity for each National Agency, but this cannot be disaggregated into individual learners grants. This summary data can be found in the statistical annexes of their Statistics page which is available here: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/statistics-and-factsheets.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to reinstate the Erasmus scheme for developing international educational opportunities in all schools in England.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
While the government fully recognises the benefits of international educational opportunities, the government has decided that it was not in the UK's interests to seek continuing participation in the Erasmus+ programme.
Under the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with the EU, the UK will continue to participate fully in the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes. This means that the projects successfully bid for during the current programmes will continue to receive EU funding for the full duration of the project, where certain projects may continue up to 2024.
The UK has introduced the Turing Scheme, a new international mobility scheme that has a global reach. The Turing Scheme provides funding for UK education providers and organisations in the schools, higher education, further education, vocational education, and training sectors to offer international opportunities across the world for their pupils, students, and learners. Funding has been allocated for over 41,000 individual placements to over 150 destinations across the 2021/2022 academic year.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Turing Scheme will commit the same proportion of investment to industrial symbiosis as the Erasmus scheme did previously.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Turing Scheme is demand-led, and as such, the scheme does not commit to specific levels of funding for single areas or industries, including industrial symbiosis.
Universities are independent, autonomous bodies, and consequently, responsible for forging their own partnerships, including those with industries.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will introduce funding for staff exchange opportunities as part of the Turing Scheme.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK’s international mobility programme, the Turing Scheme, is funded by a budget of £110 million for the 2021/22 academic year. Education providers successfully applied for funding for over 41,000 individual placements for their students to study and work around the world. The government has also confirmed funding for the continuation of the Turing Scheme for the next 3 years, including £110 million for the 2022/23 academic year.
The UK is not participating in the 2021 to 2027 Erasmus+ programme. A direct comparison with overall funding for the Turing Scheme and the 2014 to 2020 Erasmus+ programme cannot be made as both programmes cover different activities and types of mobilities.
However, in terms of grant funding the Turing Scheme provides rates for providers and students that are broadly consistent with what would have been received under the 2014 to 2020 Erasmus+ Programme. To support levelling up, the Turing Scheme also goes further in some areas to provide additional support for disadvantaged students and students with special educational needs and disabilities.
Unlike Erasmus+, which was mainly EU focused, the Turing Scheme is also a truly global programme with every country in the world eligible to partner with UK education settings subject to government travel advice. For the 2021/22 academic year, providers successfully applied for mobilities to over 150 destinations worldwide.
In considering what elements to include under the Turing Scheme, the department prioritised pupils, students, and learners over staff placements to ensure that as many students as possible can benefit. This includes a focus on widening access for disadvantaged students.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to bring funding levels in the Turing Scheme to an equivalent level with Erasmus+.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK’s international mobility programme, the Turing Scheme, is funded by a budget of £110 million for the 2021/22 academic year. Education providers successfully applied for funding for over 41,000 individual placements for their students to study and work around the world. The government has also confirmed funding for the continuation of the Turing Scheme for the next 3 years, including £110 million for the 2022/23 academic year.
The UK is not participating in the 2021 to 2027 Erasmus+ programme. A direct comparison with overall funding for the Turing Scheme and the 2014 to 2020 Erasmus+ programme cannot be made as both programmes cover different activities and types of mobilities.
However, in terms of grant funding the Turing Scheme provides rates for providers and students that are broadly consistent with what would have been received under the 2014 to 2020 Erasmus+ Programme. To support levelling up, the Turing Scheme also goes further in some areas to provide additional support for disadvantaged students and students with special educational needs and disabilities.
Unlike Erasmus+, which was mainly EU focused, the Turing Scheme is also a truly global programme with every country in the world eligible to partner with UK education settings subject to government travel advice. For the 2021/22 academic year, providers successfully applied for mobilities to over 150 destinations worldwide.
In considering what elements to include under the Turing Scheme, the department prioritised pupils, students, and learners over staff placements to ensure that as many students as possible can benefit. This includes a focus on widening access for disadvantaged students.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to replace the international opportunities for young people previously accessed through the European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus+ programmes.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In light of the changing needs of young people and due to the pandemic, DCMS reviewed its programmes and funding for out-of-school provision to ensure it achieves maximum impact and levelling up opportunities. As a result, at the 2021 Spending Review, the government decided that DCMS should continue to focus on domestic youth provision through a National Youth Guarantee for young people and DfE will continue to offer the Turing Scheme, an international educational exchange scheme that has a genuinely global reach and increases social mobility.
The Turing scheme is backed by £110 million, providing funding for over 41,000 overseas placements for students in universities, colleges and schools, starting in September 2021.
48% of the overseas placements receiving Turing Scheme funding are for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds and areas which did not previously have many students benefiting from Erasmus+, making life-changing opportunities accessible to everyone across the country. The second year of the Turing Scheme will open for applications shortly, at which point youth organisations will be able to review the eligibility criteria when considering applying for funding.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding did Welsh universities receive from the Turing Scheme in 2021-22; how many students from Welsh universities studied overseas under the Turing Scheme in 2021-22; and what estimate he has made of the (a) funding for and (b) number of students under that scheme in 2022-23.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Turing Scheme is providing funding for 372 eligible organisations who successfully applied for the 2021/22 academic year, with over 41,000 expected participants. Of these, 13 organisations were Welsh, and these were provided with £5,170,829 of funding. Data on expected participant numbers at these Welsh institutions is not currently available. More details of the funding provided for the 2021/22 academic year is available here: https://www.turing-scheme.org.uk/project-community/funding-results/.
Regarding the number of educational establishments in Wales receiving Turing Scheme funding for 2022/23 and student numbers for 2022/23, we have no data on this yet as applications for the 2022/23 academic year have yet to be made. Data on this will only be available after bids are considered and results are known.
The timetable for applications for Turing Scheme funds for the 2022/23 academic year will be published on the Turing Scheme website on 28 February 2022, along with the programme guide and application guide for this year. The Turing Scheme website is available here: www.turing-scheme.org.uk.
The Turing Scheme is a genuinely UK-wide scheme. There is no proportioning of funds between nations; all will be considered on a competitive basis, as set out in the programme guide.
Fee waivers for Turing Scheme participants are managed on an institutional level.
The Erasmus+ UK National Agency publishes information on the amount of funding received by institutions for Erasmus+ projects from the UK National Agency and the European Commission. Data for each institution, across academic years 2014/15 to 2020/21 is available here: https://erasmusplus.org.uk/funding-results.html. Figures on Erasmus+ student participation will also be published here: https://erasmusplus.org.uk/statistics.html.
At the above statistics website, selecting “Project Mobilities & Outputs”, Table 2 of the file “2014-2019 Higher education mobility statistics” contains the number of outgoing Erasmus+ students by country of provider for academic years 2014/15 to 2018/19. Data for academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21 is not published.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding did Welsh universities receive under the Erasmus scheme in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20 and (d) 2020-21; and how many students from Welsh universities studied overseas under that scheme in each of those years.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Turing Scheme is providing funding for 372 eligible organisations who successfully applied for the 2021/22 academic year, with over 41,000 expected participants. Of these, 13 organisations were Welsh, and these were provided with £5,170,829 of funding. Data on expected participant numbers at these Welsh institutions is not currently available. More details of the funding provided for the 2021/22 academic year is available here: https://www.turing-scheme.org.uk/project-community/funding-results/.
Regarding the number of educational establishments in Wales receiving Turing Scheme funding for 2022/23 and student numbers for 2022/23, we have no data on this yet as applications for the 2022/23 academic year have yet to be made. Data on this will only be available after bids are considered and results are known.
The timetable for applications for Turing Scheme funds for the 2022/23 academic year will be published on the Turing Scheme website on 28 February 2022, along with the programme guide and application guide for this year. The Turing Scheme website is available here: www.turing-scheme.org.uk.
The Turing Scheme is a genuinely UK-wide scheme. There is no proportioning of funds between nations; all will be considered on a competitive basis, as set out in the programme guide.
Fee waivers for Turing Scheme participants are managed on an institutional level.
The Erasmus+ UK National Agency publishes information on the amount of funding received by institutions for Erasmus+ projects from the UK National Agency and the European Commission. Data for each institution, across academic years 2014/15 to 2020/21 is available here: https://erasmusplus.org.uk/funding-results.html. Figures on Erasmus+ student participation will also be published here: https://erasmusplus.org.uk/statistics.html.
At the above statistics website, selecting “Project Mobilities & Outputs”, Table 2 of the file “2014-2019 Higher education mobility statistics” contains the number of outgoing Erasmus+ students by country of provider for academic years 2014/15 to 2018/19. Data for academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21 is not published.