EU Erasmus reality - why UK Remain-voting students should back Turing instead

The UK's eradication of Erasmus was the right thing to do, and here's why

Montage © Facts4EU.Org - The EU's Erasmus and the UK's Alan Turing OBE FRS, (codebreaker and inventor of the first stored program computer)

Facts4EU.Org’s simple explainer of why the UK left the EU’s expensive youth indoctrination plan

Yesterday we looked at the new Turing Scheme to replace the EU's Erasmus+. Today we look again at Erasmus+ itself, and why it was never right for the United Kingdom's needs. This report has been updated with new information since our last reports in January.

With the UK taking seven out of the ten top places in the Times’ list of “Best universities in Europe 2021”, it is clear that the EU needs the UK far more than the UK needs the EU, when it comes to student exchanges. No wonder the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reports that an astonishing 143,000 students from the EU27 were studying in the UK in the academic year 2018/2019. (Note: All figures for student numbers in this report are for the last year for which data is available - 2018/2019.)

We present the facts about Erasmus - the EU scheme to indoctrinate the youth of a continent

In this report we answer the following key questions

Is Erasmus+ a university student exchange programme?
How many UK students have actually benefited?
How much of the Erasmus budget did the EU actually spend on students?
How much has it cost the UK taxpayer?
What is Erasmus+ and why is it dangerous?
How many UK university staff have taken advantage of it?

Photo right: Former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was rather keen on his youth initiatives. Photo © EU Commission

1. Is Erasmus+ a university student exchange programme?

No, it is not. Here is how the EU Commission describes it:

“Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe.”
“It is open to school pupils, higher education and vocational education and training students, adult learners, youth exchanges, youth workers and sport coaches.”

This is not a description of an exchange programme, allowing students at UK universities to spend part of their degree courses at EU universities. It is a far wider programme, involving sport, youth and adult work, and other activities, and it is vastly expensive, costing billions. (See below.)

2. How many UK university students have benefited from Erasmus+?

This is the key question. How many students benefited for the billions the UK has spent with the EU on the Erasmus+ programme?

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

99.6% of UK students didn’t even use the EU’s youth system, while EU27 students benefited hugely

Erasmus+ was used by only 9,993 UK students in 2019 [Source: EU Commission]
That's less than 10,000 out of a total of 2,383,970 higher education students in the UK [source:HESA]
Only 0.4% of UK students in higher education used the EU's Erasmus+
99.6% of UK students did not even use it at all
This alone makes the costs completely unjustifiable

3. How much of the Erasmus budget did the EU spend on students?

A full two-thirds of the Erasmus+ budget isn’t for any form of exchanges for young people at all. It’s for “partnerships and reforms of the education and youth sectors.” Only one-third of the budget is for “learning opportunities abroad for young people”.

4. How much did it cost UK and EU taxpayers?

In 2019, the UK received only €87m (£79 million GBP) in grants for higher education students. This is out of a total EU budget for Erasmus+ of €16.4 billion over the period 2014-2020, an average of €2.34bn euros per year or £2 billion pounds per year. This includes the 'extras' which the EU spends for Erasmus+ outside the EU.

These already huge costs have already risen dramatically this year, as the Erasmus budget has just been increased by an eye-watering 74%. The new budget (including the extras) is €28.4bn compared to 16.38bn in the last budget.

The UK Government has now pledged £110m (GBP) for the new Turing Scheme to replace Erasmus. That is 39% more than the £79 million the UK received back for its students, from its contributions to the EU under Erasmus+.

The UK taxpayer has been funding Erasmus+ to the tune of approximately £266 million pounds per year.
Had the UK stayed in the EU, this would now have increased to approximately £463m per year.

We should also point out that €1.7bn of the EU’s budget went to other countries outside the EU, as part of the EU’s ‘External Action’ programme. This carried on throughout 2020, despite the UK having no say in how the money was spent.

5. So what really is Erasmus+, and why is it dangerous?

Erasmus+ is part of the “EU Youth Strategy” and the “European Education Area”. Here is what the EU Commission has to say about these.

“The EU Youth Strategy should contribute to realising this vision of young people by mobilising EU level policy instruments as well as actions at national, regional and local level by all stakeholders.”
“Erasmus+ doesn't just have opportunities for students… it has opportunities for a wide variety of individuals and organisations…. Erasmus+ also aims to promote the sustainable development of its partners in the field of higher education, and contribute to achieving the objectives of the EU Youth Strategy.”

In October 2020 the EU Commission announced that it will be completing a “European Education Area” by 2025, thereby moving one further step towards the homogenisation of the formerly independent nation states of Europe.

For years the EU has been achieving its goal by targeting young people with continuous propaganda and ‘initiatives’ as we have reported many times before. Here is what they said about their latest move:-

“The European Education Area is underpinned by six dimensions: quality, inclusion and gender equality, green and digital transitions, teachers, higher education, a stronger Europe in the world. Initiatives will inter alia look at ways to enhance quality, notably with regard to basic and digital skills and to make school education more inclusive and gender sensitive and improve school success. They will help strengthen understanding of climate change and sustainability, foster the greening of education infrastructure, support the teaching profession, further roll out European Universities and enhance connectivity among education and training institutions.
“The Communication sets out the means and milestones to achieve the European Education Area by 2025, supported by Europe's Recovery Plan (NextGenerationEU) and the Erasmus+ Programme.”

In short, Erasmus+ is not a student exchange programme. It is part of a concerted strategy from the EU Commission to indoctrinate the youth of Europe.

6. How have the teaching staff done out of Erasmus+?

Our analysis shows that the pro-EU and anti-Brexit teaching staff who are so in favour of Erasmus+ have benefited rather more than their students.

According to the EU Commission a total of 3,962 UK teaching staff used Erasmus+ in 2019. With HESA reporting total staff numbers of 217,065 this equates to 1.8% of the teaching body - a take-up of more than four times the proportion of their student population.

Perhaps this helps to explain the huge proportion of the teaching profession who voted to Remain.

UK teaching staff are massively anti-Brexit

75% of secondary school teachers backed Remain
Nearly 90% of university lecturers backed Remain

Above is how the teaching profession voted in the EU Referendum, according to the Times Educational Supplement survey at the time.

Observations

Believing in the young people of the United Kingdom

The Facts4EU.Org team believe strongly in the importance and power of education. When it comes to student exchanges, we believe these are hugely beneficial - both to the students concerned and to the effect these can have on mutual understanding and good relations between countries in the future.

In the long campaign we have waged against the EU's Erasmus+ we have been careful to stress that educational opportunities for British young people to study abroad are vital. We also value very highly the positive impact of large numbers of future world leaders and influencers who came to the UK as part of their studies when they were young.

To students and young people reading this

Our criticisms have been solely confined to the EU's Erasmus scheme: its ideological motives, its inefficient use of resources, and its huge spread into areas which have nothing to do with the basic premise of student exchanges. We would like to think that as the only Brexit organisation which has conducted a consistent campaign to inform MPs about the true nature of Erasmus, we made a difference. Certainly the U-turn by Government on this issue just before Christmas was unexpected by everyone, except perhaps us. It was the right decision.

It is early days for the Government's new Turing Scheme and no doubt there will be further announcements coming. We will apply our customary analysis to all of these, if we are still around to do so.

Yesterday we once again tried many times to speak to the Dept of Education about the new Turing Scheme and once again there was no-one available. All phones went to voicemail. We will make further attempts today but if there is still no response we will comment on this absence of communication from a major government department.

Can we and should we carry on?

Finally, we are struggling and we need your help. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We rely 100% on public donations from readers like you. Unlike the Remain/Rejoin camp, we do not have foreign billionaires to subsidise our work.

Covid measures have hit many people's incomes. The whole Covid thing has certainly hit the level of donations we receive, which were already less than we needed to survive. We are most grateful to readers who have donated in recent days, but we badly need more readers to do the same. We are a not-for-profit group (we make a loss) and unlike the EU Commission all monies go towards our work, not towards the cost of limos, nor lunch expense accounts, nor plush city offices.

If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you so much if you can help to keep us going in these critical months ahead.

[ Sources: EU Commission | Higher Education Statistics Agency | Times Educational Supplement | UK Dept of Education ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thur 05 Aug 2021

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Reader Comments 7

1. Nick , Thursday, August 05, 2021, 07:02:

It's always unwise and dangerous to give away any kind of education control to a foreign power, not just for the UK but for any country. Erasmus was never meant for UK students' needs and there was not a chance that it would ever really suit them. With the Turing scheme we finally have the opportunity to taylor it for our own students. Thank you for this useful summary.

2. Tom and Anna, Warks , Thursday, August 05, 2021, 09:43:

I hope students and young people will read this but I doubt many will. At least you've provided the facts so well done.

3. Jan Close , Thursday, August 05, 2021, 09:55:

EU INDOCTRINATION of students , who will advocate the Eu , Similar to all the eu flags and plaques around the UK to fool people and make them grateful for the money donated from the eu to enable various eu funded projects, for the fool's who advocate this ideology, it is the UK money being returned less the Eu cut , as the UK pays in more than it receives putting it simple Its your own money .

4. Donna / Berks , Thursday, August 05, 2021, 14:55:

A very good article although a little bit long. Like Tom and Anna above I wonder how many students will read it? I openly admit I didn't know just what a political project this erasmus programme was. Now I wonder why on earth we funded it for so long.

5. Martyn Owers, Co. Durham , Thursday, August 05, 2021, 15:06:

I don't think it's a coincidence than Erasmus specifically targeted academics for exchanges and they were the most militant supporters of the EU.
It reminds me of the exchanges with UK civil servants and officials as well.
Also, I've always thought the needs of UK students are going to different than those of continental Europeans because English is the global language of business, diplomacy, tourism etc. and we have historic and cultural ties to North America and Aus/NZ.
I'm glad to see the Turning scheme can be tailored for the UK.

6. Harry , Thursday, August 05, 2021, 15:08:

I take your point about the length Donna (comment 4) but I found the facts fascinating. Only 0.4% of students used the EU programme they keep going on about? That's important. More so is probably the ideological aspect as you said although this point is harder to get across. Let's just hope facts4eu can get lots of people reading this.

7. William , Wednesday, November 03, 2021, 17:06:

I'm currently a second year university student planning my third year abroad as part of my French and Japanese degree and I can firmly say that the Turing scheme will be far better than Erasmus would have been for me. This was something as plain as day simply from looking at what expenses it will cover and how it's paid before even taking into consideration the benefits to the tax payer.

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