Ambassador Llewellyn says return of UK to the Erasmus scheme will boost ties between Britain and Italy.
The British ambassador to Italy on Thursday welcomed the “excellent” news that the UK will rejoin the European Union’s Erasmus student exchange scheme in 2027.
Ambassador Ed Llewellyn said the return of the UK to Erasmus will open the door to Italian students to study in the UK as well as providing the opportunity for British students to study in Italy.
“This programme will strenghten the ties between our young young people, our citizens, and the friendship between our countries”, Llewellyn said in Italian in a post on X, hailing the news as a “Christmas present”.Erasmus – ottima notizia: il Regno-Unito rientrerà nel programma … #Erasmus pic.twitter.com/woqorS7Z9u
— Ed Llewellyn (@EdLlewellynFCDO) December 18, 2025
The youth exchange programme allows students to attend a foreign university in another European country for up to one year as part of their degree courses without paying extra fees.
The widely welcomed move, which will take effect from 1 January 2027, comes after the UK ended its participation in the EU-wide scheme in 2020 after Brexit.
The British government on Wednesday said that rejoining Erasmus was a “huge win” for young Britons, and will ensure that “everyone, from every background, has the opportunity to study and train abroad.”
The groundwork for Britain’s return to the scheme was laid during a summit between British and EU leaders in May, in which both sides agreed to “deepen our people-to-people ties, particularly for the younger generation.”
Launched in 1987, Erasmus is considered the most important educational community experience in the world and has sent millions of young people abroad to study throughout Europe.
Sofia Corradi, the Italian academic who founded the programme and was known as “Mamma Erasmus”, died in Rome two months ago aged 91.
