Youth groups call on government to back Erasmus programmme

The National Youth Agency (NYA), alongside bodies such as the National Union of Students (NUS) and YouthLink Scotland are lobbying the government to continue its commitment to Erasmus+ once the UK leaves the EU in April 2019.

The move follows months of uncertainty over the European exchange programme which has helped around 600,000 UK participants to study, work, volunteer, teach and train abroad since it began 30 years ago.

NYA said the aim of the Keep Erasmus+ campaign was for the UK to find its own unique model of participation in the programme such as countries like Iceland, Norway and Turkey - currently not EU members - who still participate as partners.

It added that Erasmus, which was relaunched as Erasmus+ in 2014 after joining together with other European educational programmes, funds various educational activities in different settings, including schools, youth exchanges and cultural projects.

It estimates that the programme will have delivered £800m of benefits to the UK over the six-year period from 2014 to 2020.

Emily Beever, European campaign lead, YouthLink Scotland, said: "We would like to see the Prime Minister make a commitment to the continuation of Erasmus+, a programme that already involves non-EU members, including Iceland and Norway. This funding has given life-changing opportunities to young people from some of our most disadvantaged communities."

The NUS said the campaign supported one of its core aims for the UK's Brexit deal which was to maintain student mobility.

"Leaving the EU will threaten our continued participation in the Erasmus+ programme and limits the transformational experience of studying and working abroad to those that can't afford it," it said.

Last year, MPs began an investigation into the impact Brexit will have on opportunities for young people and youth work professionals to train and study abroad.

It followed calls from political parties such as the Liberal Democrats that the UK should continue to participate in Erasmus+ after Brexit.

The Lib Dems said it would be "utterly unfair" for young people to be deprived of the opportunity to study abroad because they had "overwhelmingly" voted to remain in the EU.

The education select committee, which invited responses from university leaders, academics and students on the threat to Erasmus+, has since published the results of its inquiry.

You can sign up to the campaign here and follow it on Twitter via #keeperasmusplus