Schools, colleges and universities can now apply for funding from today (Friday 12 March) to allow students to study and work across the globe as part of the new Turing Scheme.

The programme, backed by £110 million, replaces the Erasmus+ scheme in the UK and will fund 35,000 global exchanges from September 2021, including university study, school exchanges, and industry work placements.

The new scheme aims to improve social mobility, targeting students 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 British Council and Ecorys will be targeting disadvantaged parts of the country to promote the scheme to improve take up.

The Turing scheme offers benefits to students that they would not have under the previous Erasmus+ programme, with university students from disadvantaged backgrounds set to receive a maximum of £490 per month towards living costs (currently worth around 573 euros compared to 540 euros under Erasmus+), alongside travel funding, and other forms of additional funding to offset the cost of passports, visas and insurance.

Unlike Erasmus+, which is EU-focused, the Turing Scheme is a truly global programme and every country in the world is eligible to partner with UK universities, schools and colleges.

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said:

The Turing Scheme is a truly global programme with every country in the world eligible to partner with UK universities, schools and colleges.

It is also levelling up in action, as the scheme seeks to help students of all income groups from across the country experience fantastic education opportunities in any country they choose.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

This is a landmark step in delivering on our promise to level up a truly global Britain, strengthening our ties across the world and providing students with the skills they need to thrive.

The programme’s focus on social mobility and value for money will open up more opportunities for international education and travel to all of our students, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds who were less likely to benefit from the previous EU scheme.

I urge all universities, schools and colleges from all corners of the UK to start their applications and partner up with countries worldwide.

Universities Minister, Michelle Donelan said:

The Turing scheme will support our levelling up agenda by opening up the world to young people and children from all backgrounds with exciting global opportunities.

The scheme will enable up to 35,000 students throughout the UK to work or study across the globe.

As part of the UK-wide launch, education ministers are visiting the devolved nations today to highlight the advantages of the Turing scheme and ensure wider participation for all students across the UK.

In support of the launch, Universities Minister Michelle Donelan will visit Cardiff University and Edinburgh University to discuss the bidding process including how to demonstrate widening access to more disadvantaged students as part of the application process.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb and Apprenticeships Minister Gillian Keegan will visit educational settings in areas that have not previously benefitted from Erasmus+. Applicants from schools and colleges are encouraged, with funding levels and eligibility set out in programme guides available to help inform applications.

UK organisations are encouraged to form partnerships across the globe, not just the EU. The Turing website includes the programme guide, funding levels and eligibility, and details of webinars available to help inform applications.

Successful applications will receive funding for administering the scheme and students taking part will receive grants to help them with the costs of their international experience. The benefits of the exchanges will be assessed and the findings used to build on future schemes. Funding decisions for subsequent years will be subject to future spending reviews.

£110m of funding will be available to support projects and activities during the 2021/2022 academic year. This is enough to fund similar levels of student exchanges under the former Erasmus+ scheme.

Programme guidance, including information on the application process, has also been published on the Turing Scheme website.

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Ine thank you so much, it’s cold and snowy outside, certainly even for us Brits, but a very warm welcome. Thank you so much for your hospitality and I think above all for Norway’s friendship. We really value it and I believe we can do even more in the months and years ahead.

As Ine said, I had a meeting with Minister Ulstein, we’re looking forward to the roundtable with Nordic Foreign Ministers later on this afternoon. Again, the different areas of collaboration I think are really exciting for us. We’ve obviously got a long-standing partnership across many areas, from the ‘force for good’ work we do within aid and development through to security collaboration.

We are fellow NATO members. UK armed forces have trained in Norway with your brilliant troops for over 50 years. I think one of the most professional partnerships we have – certainly very prized on our side.

We stand shoulder to shoulder with you in defending the North Atlantic and countering threats in the region. And now I think it’s fantastic having you on the security council – so many areas of common interest – but more importantly common values.

Norway, the incredible contribution you are already making, whether it’s on climate change or the recent initiative we worked together on to allow COVID-19 vaccinations to take place in conflict zones, so having a ceasefire moment in conflict zones for that vaccination.

Your lead on humanitarian issues in Syria is also I think laudable and something that we respect to learn from and also want to support. We are also building a new economic partnership. I think the negotiations on the new Free Trade Agreement with EEA EFTA members are going well.

Of course, there are always issues we will haggle on but for us the political imperative of a win-win deal is extremely important. And of course it builds on the agreement we signed last year to make sure we’ve got full rights for UK citizens living in Norway, and also Norwegians living in the UK. Just to say that we think the contributions Norwegians make in the UK is brilliant, they are always welcome and always valued.

So, as I said, our partnership is one of shared values, as champions of democracy, human rights and the international rule of law. We want to get the vaccine delivered obviously at home but also to the poorest and most vulnerable countries around the world.

We are pursuing sustainable development, we want to bounce back economically from this terrible pandemic in a more sustainable and greener way. All areas where we’re working together and, of course, with the UK hosting the COP26, in wanting to switch the dial on climate change, we couldn’t have a better partner than our Norwegian friends in making sure that we are ambitious, that we are getting other countries locked into a deal which can really serve as a step forward.

We are delighted to sign the memorandum of understanding on increased cooperation in the Polar Regions. Because after all we’re not just North Sea neighbours, we are also neighbours in the Antarctic. And, of course, the Polar Regions are the fastest warming places on the planet and that has implications for all of us because of the impact on sea levels.

So I’m delighted today that we’ve committed to work on scientific research and also for advocating increased protections for the Arctic and the Southern Oceans which again Norway leads on and I know that your Prime Minister is really committed to as well.

Above all, there’s a huge amount of interest for our citizens in all this collaboration, whether it’s on trade or security cooperation and I think the scope for Norway and the UK being an even stronger force for good in the world in the weeks, months and years ahead is enormous and I’m very optimistic that that relationship will go from strength to strength.