Post-Brexit student mobilities
Post-Brexit student mobilities
Publication date: 24 March 2026
This book, by Rachel Brooks and Johanna Waters, investigates how cross-border movement into and out of the UK has been transformed in the wake of Brexit. Drawing on extensive empirical data (including interviews with international office staff and other stakeholders, and analysis of policy documents, HEI websites and statistics on student flows), it explores changing mobility patterns, the rise of new infrastructures and the politics surrounding schemes like Turing. It critically examines how government policies and stakeholder responses are redefining international education. In particular, it shows how student mobility is the UK has been ‘rescaled’ with new actors (such as the devolved nations of the UK, and various ‘third party providers’) having become more closely involved in the provision mobility opportunities.
As the UK rejoins Erasmus+, this book provides important new insights about the student mobility landscape in the UK in the years following Brexit.
Rachel Brooks
Rachel Brooks is Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford, editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Sociology of Education, and co-editor of the ‘Research into Higher Education’ book series (published by Routledge). Rachel’s research focuses primarily on the sociology of higher education. Particular areas of expertise include international student mobility (and processes of internationalisation and Europeanisation in higher education more generally); student politics and protest; and ensuring equity in access to and outcomes within higher education.
Johanna Waters
Key findings of the research:
- The shift from Erasmus to Turing brought about many problems for the UK higher education sector – particularly related to the late notification of funding and the burdensome administrative processes. Staff were also concerned about the message this shift would send to European partners - believing that it would (erroneously) signal a lack of interest on their part in continuing working closely with colleagues in Europe.
- Nevertheless, mobility opportunities for disadvantaged students have expanded, thanks to the strong widening‑participation focus of the Turing Scheme (and the Taith scheme in Wales), as well as the introduction of very short‑term mobility options. These are important lessons to consider as the UK prepares to rejoin Erasmus+. It will be essential to ensure that the progress made in widening participation under the UK schemes is not lost in the transition.
