Third year abroad and no deal Brexit

[bevelino]

I didn’t want to hijack “the year abroad- like freshers but worse”.

Does anyone know what will happen to Erasmus and similar schemes if there is a no deal Brexit? Also anyone’s dc studied at the University of Bologna? Dd is hoping she can go there for part of her third year abroad in 2019. Any advice would be gratefully received by dd.

Nobody knows the answer to your question. That's what no deal means.

It's not just Erasmus, but EU students studying in the UK, EU funded research (all promises about continuing them under their completion are moot in the case of no deal), the status of EU academics working in UK universities etc.

No deal is a big problem for the higher education sector.

See my posts on Bologna on the other thread.

If you have specific questions, I can ask DD if you pm me.

Basically don’t expect too much. There is no accommodation for Erasmus students but plenty of landlords welcome students for one semester. Just look at adverts and reply. We paid for DD to stay in a hotel while she looked at possible rooms. She liked the first one she saw but be prepared for looking around and there isn’t much time if you move to Bologna from your first semester elsewhere.

DD found making Italian friends difficult but her friend, a year later, had no problems. Also it will really depend on who is on your courses and how friendly others wish to be. She made friends with others in the flat and other Erasmus students so really enjoyed that part of the stay.

Bologna university has 88,000 students and 5,000 Erasmus students. It’s large! It’s a great place to travel from to other cities. The university is chaotic and you have to put your organised uk university habits to one side. There are frustrations to overcome. However it’s all good for the cv.

No two students will have the same experience and there is no guarantee any university in Italy is better. None are truly world class. Dd has recently been to Milan and feels this would also have been a good university city. Bologna has the best food though!

I have googled and found this government publication.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/erasmus-in-the-uk-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/erasmus-in-the-uk-if-theres-no-brexit-deal

That publication highlights the uncertainty:

``If discussions with the Commission to secure UK organisations’ continued ability to participate in the programme are unsuccessful, the government will engage with member states and key institutions to seek to ensure UK participants can continue with their planned activity.''

It seems pretty unlikely the latter (if needed) could be done on a timescale that allows exchanges in 2019/2020, particularly because the UK would have far more urgent issues to resolve.

Bubbles thank you for your helpful post.