More than 40,000 students will be able to study and work in places as far away as the Falkland Islands, Iraq and the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu under the government’s post-EU Turing exchange scheme.
Ministers will announce this week that deals have been done with universities in 150 destinations, including the US, Canada, Japan and popular European countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
The scheme will give university students wider opportunities than the Ersasmus+ scheme run by the EU, which Britain left after Brexit.
More than 120 universities, as well as schools and further education colleges across the UK, will be awarded grants from the £110 million Turing scheme this week.
Students will be able to go on higher education exchanges to places such as Azerbaijan, Zimbabwe, Cuba, India, or even Mongolia and the Palestinian territories.
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The scheme is named after Alan Turing, the cryptographer who is widely regarded as the father of modern computing for his work on machines to crack the Nazi codes at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.
The announcement will be hailed by the government as proof that post-Brexit Britain is embracing a global role, with its citizens learning, working and trading “well beyond Europe’s frontiers”.
The scheme has also been designed with the aim of improving social mobility by targeting disadvantaged pupils and those from areas which had seen lower uptake of the Erasmus+ programme. That includes the so-called red wall areas across the Midlands and north of England, which the Conservatives are wooing after gaining a swathe of seats there at the 2019 general election.
Measures to improve access to the programme include funding for travel and expenses such as passports and visas, as well as a grant for living costs, to tackle the barriers some students face to studying overseas.
A final comparison of the numbers who will benefit is not possible because the Erasmus+ figures count staff placements that are not yet included under the Turing scheme. However, in higher education, the Turing scheme will fund 28,000 placements this year, more than the 18,300 who went on Erasmus+ funded placements in 2018-19.
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A government official said: “We can be confident that we are expanding, not reducing, the opportunities open to students.”
Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, said: “The chance to work and learn in a country far from home is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which broadens minds, sharpens skills and improves outcomes.
“But until now it has been an opportunity disproportionately enjoyed by those from the most privileged backgrounds. The Turing scheme has welcomed a breadth of successful applications from schools and colleges across the country, reflecting our determination that the benefits of Global Britain are shared by all.
“By strengthening our partnerships with the finest institutions across the globe, the Turing scheme delivers on the government’s post-Brexit vision, and helps a new generation grasp opportunities beyond Europe’s borders.”
