Some details about the #turingscheme as a replacement for #Erasmus are now out. Here are my initial thoughts, from an institutional and education perspective more than costs. /1
First, setting up a scheme to run in 2021 is difficult and especially for those already in degree programmes who were due to go on Erasmus placements (language students in particular). Setting up non-Erasmus agreements with Universities takes many months of bureaucracy. /2
I know because I've done this: whilst some Unis can move quickly, getting an agreement from a Uni in, say, the USA is tricky. Why? Needs to be interest from other side to receive *and send* students, which there may or may not be. Bespoke contract, Uni committees etc. /3
Second, Erasmus and non-EU links work on the basis of an exchange, and usually reciprocity in numbers. The UK might be an attractive destination, but also a costly one and the visa rules for students are off-putting. /4
Third, it seems Turing will *not* cover incoming students, so there is little financial incentive. This differs from the Swiss experience when they left Erasmus and set up their (more expensive) replicated scheme, though it allowed exchanges to continue. /5
Fourth, if existing Erasmus relationships in Europe are to be 'converted' to Turing ones, there is less incentive for EU unis to continue unless their students going to the UK can self-fund or get money from the govt (unlikely?). /6
Fifth, getting agreements with non-EU unis is complex. Credit transfers, agreeing on what help to give re accommodation/welfare, availability of English-language classes, semester dates (an issue for Aus/NZ) for both sides and costs. /7
Sixth, Uni staff like myself are very conscious that we are sending (mostly) young people aged 19-21 for very often their first lengthy stay abroad. There is a duty of care to ensure that there is adequate support and any issues (e.g. lack of student housing) are foreseen. /8
Seventh, costs. Erasmus and other exchanges are usually on a no-fee basis, i.e. fees are waived by the Unis to visitors. This does have financial consequences for Unis, esp when there is an imbalance in numbers. Getting such agreements through Uni admin can be fun (!). /9
In short, exchanges sound easy but can actually be tricky and short lived, leading to a lack of certainly (especially when marketing opportunities to A-level/Highers students). Erasmus was guaranteed for all participating students, not clear if Turing funding will be. /10
The above points speak mainly to the need to have agreements between Uni X in the UK and Uni Y overseas. Is a prior agreement always need, or could a student just say 'X uni are willing to take me for a year, can I get funding'? These are called 'free movers'. /11
Sometimes this is possible BUT difficult to see why a Uni would take someone without paying a fee. I cannot imagine the £100 million allocated would also include paying fees to the overseas Uni - if so, the budget is far too small. /12
Which means the risk is that the funding will only go to students able to self-finance to a great degree, and not to all students including those less well off - as Erasmus has done. /13
The amount of Uni bureaucracy created is enormous, and requires a lot from academic as well as administrative staff. At the same time as existing pressures. /14
Finally (lost track of the numbered points), *where* are students from Global Britain going to go? Here are some observations about *my experience* (for others it may vary) in setting up these kinds of arrangements, which do not apply very much in Europe/Erasmus: /15
USA - quite tough to get agreements due to the sensitivity around costs and resistance to fee waivers. US students often prefer summer courses they can use for credit, rather than a semester/year abroad if they still have to pay fees at home. /16
Canada - a popular choice for UK students but a limited number of Unis to partner with, and Canadians often prefer non-English speaking destinations. /17
Singapore/Hong Kong - these are great for UK students to experience Asia and the British Council has sometimes funded exchange scholarships. But few Unis in both due to size and no guarantee that UK is the prime destination for their students to go on exchange. /18
Japan/Korea/China - (disclosure: I went to Japan as a graduate exchange student). Clearly where the govt wants more UK students to go *but* unless already proficient in the national language, then very difficult due to lack of English-language provision. /19
Latin America - possible for those who speak Spanish or Portuguese, though costs much higher than Spain. Limited English language teaching except for private Unis (refer to costs point above - would the Turing scheme cover tuition fees? Likely not). /20
India - I would like nothing more than to exchange students with Indian Unis and worked hard to establish links. Main issue was the costs for Indian students to come to the UK and the punitive costs and conditions for getting student visas. /21
There are just a few thoughts on the difficulties associated with setting up #turingscheme with such little notice. Erasmus is 30 years old and took many years to establish itself, but brought down transaction costs and ensuring that Unis were able to work more closely. /23
My fear is that the scheme will either not work, or that its limitations mean that Universities will struggle to institutionalise the means for students to participate. And the losers will be students (present and future), UK HE and UK 'soft power' /END
Thank you for all the RTs and replies. My research article of the academic benefits of study abroad (Erasmus and beyond) is here: researchgate.net/publication/33…

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More from @Cardwell_PJ

27 Dec
Lots more to say on #Erasmus and 'replacement' #turingscheme. Students in Northern Ireland may still have access thanks to the Irish government. What about Scotland or Wales? Some considerable barriers here to think about. /1 independent.ie/irish-news/nor…
Erasmus is an EU programme. It is established by a Regulation: a law covering the scope, how the programme works, funding etc over a 7 year period (2014-20). Higher Ed exchanges and Jean Monnet are the best known but also vocational training etc. /2 eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/…
Participation from non-EU states is possible (Art 24). Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein are in the European Economic Area; Switzerland needs a bilateral agreement. I assume UK would need to be listed similarly to Switzerland in the new Regulation if it wanted to be in. /3
Read 11 tweets
24 Dec
Lots of discussion on #Erasmus, and rightly so. It is close to my heart, as a former participant (Lille, France), and the coordinator of a Uni department that expanded to take full advantage for our students (22 countries, 100+ going each year). /1
It was always a risk it would be lost, even with assurances by Johnson as recently as this year (see @AlexTaylorNews). May's 'red line' on free movement set the tone: Erasmus cannot be fully separated. I wrote as much in 2017. /2 timeshighereducation.com/blog/uk-studen… @timeshighered
As the risk of 'no deal' loomed in 2017, I returned to this theme. On both these occasions, I faced Brexiter criticism for (a) suggesting that it would/could end (b) it is not that important and (c) 'Global Britain' means students can go elsewhere. /3 prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/what-wou…
Read 7 tweets
24 Dec
As @AndrewSparrow at the @guardian points out, Johnson led Vote Leave and then wrote the following in the Telegraph after the referendum result. Line by line analysis of the key part?: /1 theguardian.com/p/fptqf/stw
"I cannot stress too much that Britain is part of Europe, and always will be."

Well, he can't change geography, but the centre of gravity in politics and economics in Europe is not in the UK, and the UK is relegated to the periphery with a very limited relationship to the EU. /2
"There will still be intense and intensifying European cooperation and partnership in a huge number of fields: the arts, the sciences, the universities, and on improving the environment."

No: no partnership and none will intensify. Env only because EU insistence on LPF? /3
Read 9 tweets
15 Dec
I have sent many students on exchange to all these countries, and to about 20 European countries covered by ErasmusPlus. A worthwhile experience for all but the idea of replacing #ErasmusPlus exchanges with Aus/NZ/Canada comes with problems: /1
First, an 'exchange' is reciprocal. So you need approx same numbers of students coming in coming as you do in going out. NZ/Canada/Aus all smaller than UK: so for this to work, all those students interested in an exchange must want to come to the UK over anywhere else. /2
Likely? Not so much. Many will want to go to non-English speaking destinations, including in Europe and Asia. UK often seen as too 'obvious' a choice in my experience. So the UK is going to be limited in scope for partnerships. /3
Read 10 tweets
11 Dec
Short thread need. To be clear - getting agreements, even continuity ones, is good news for the UK and an achievement for those who have worked on them in such a short, pressured period of time.

But to claim, as Steve Baker does, that this is a UK strength is false. /1
First, it hardly needs to be said that a continuity agreement is not the same as a new agreement from scratch. The current EU agreements were negotiated with the UK as a Member State, so the UK's interests were already built in. /2
The proof of this can be seen by comparing agreements (eg. the new Japan-UK and EU-Japan) side by side. The differences are often due to the lack of need of details such as what the equivalent of 'lawyer' is in 24 official EU languages. /3
Read 13 tweets
20 Oct
Amongst the noise about what the UK govt now says are great opportunities in an 'Australian-style deal' (i.e. no deal), bear in mind that the gov't in 2012 already looked at what the costs and benefits of being in the EU were. Anyone remember the Balance of Competences review? /1
The BoC ran 2012-14 and looked at 32 areas of EU activity, inviting evidence from politicians, thinktanks, businesses, academics, NGOs, EU institutions etc on how close EU/UK interests are, and the relative costs and benefits of EU membership. /2 gov.uk/guidance/revie…
It did not consider impact of leaving the EU (not on the cards at the time) but was supposed to answer the question of whether EU membership was worth it. All reports concluded that on balance, the UK gets more than enough out of membership to offset the costs. /3
Read 15 tweets

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