British Council to run Erasmus+ as UK and EU formalise deal

The British Council has been chosen to run the Erasmus+ student mobility scheme when the UK rejoins next year.

As the UK and European Union (EU) officially signed the legal text formalising Britain’s return to Erasmus+ on 15 April, it was announced the British Council will become the national agency operating the initiative.

The council had previously held this role for six years from 2014, in which period it awarded about £1 billion to UK organisations and worked with more than 580,000 participants on 8,000 projects.

It was also initially given the role of running the UK’s replacement for Erasmus+, the Turing Scheme, from its launch in 2021 after the UK government opted against associating with the EU-run Erasmus which was deemed “drastically more expensive”.

However, the running of Turing was then handed to Capita Business Services from March 2022 to December 2023 on a £6 million contract lasting 23 months, with the Association of Commonwealth Universities as the principal partner. In 2024-25 that scheme has been delivered directly by the Department for Education.

The news follows confirmation in December 2025 that the UK would rejoin the Erasmus scheme from 2027 at a cost of £570 million a year, more than five times more than the £110 million awarded to the Turing Scheme each year, which sought to send 28,000 students from 120 universities overseas annually.

Scott McDonald, chief executive of the British Council, said it would “work closely with the Department for Education, the devolved governments and the European Commission to make the most of the opportunities of the programme for the UK”.

“Erasmus+ has a proven track record in changing lives, opening up learning experiences, providing insight into cultures, and nurturing global citizenship, not only among higher education students and staff, but across non-formal education, schools, technical and vocational education and training, and sport,” he said.

Announcing the formal ratification of the Erasmus+ deal, skills minister Jacqui Smith said more than 100,000 people were likely to benefit from the scheme in its first year, including apprentices on placements and school groups on cultural exchanges.

“From learning a language to building confidence and work experience, Erasmus+ offers transformative opportunities to enhance young people’s life chances,” said Smith.

“Generations of people have benefited from the opportunities working and studying abroad offers, and I’m so pleased that today’s students, apprentices, educators and young people can experience all Europe has to offer,” she added.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com