This year, the UK Government has launched the new Turing Scheme as an alternative to the Erasmus programme for students to study and work abroad with partner international placements. The UK will no longer participate in Erasmus, an EU programme, due to leaving the European Union.
The University of Southampton will be remaining part of the Erasmus programme until the end of the 2021/2 academic year, although they are also launching their bid for the Turing funding available for the 2021/2 year.
The application for a share in the £110 million of funding available is being handled by Study Abroad & Exchange team in Global Recruitment & Admissions but will include input from other departments including Careers & Employment and the Humanities Student Office (representative of Modern Language students, the largest cohort of students who study/work abroad as part of their programme).
As exchange places have already been selected for the next academic year, the initial bid will focus on those exchange partners to ensure continuity between programmes. The International Office is in touch with European partners to ensure a smooth transition from Erasmus and priority is being placed on supporting students who have a compulsory placement as part of their degree programme.
While the University cannot guarantee Turing funding, those students who have already applied for Erasmus funding will still be supported. The outcome of the University’s Turing bid should be known by the 1st of August and the Study Abroad & Exchange team will contact students who have successfully received Turing funding support as necessary.
The amount of money available to students on placements will vary as to where they are going and for how long, but additional support will be available for disadvantaged students as required.
The Turing scheme aims to support travel around the world, not just in Europe, aiming to further the UK Government’s commitment to ‘Global Britain’. Universities minister Michelle Donelan said the Turing scheme would ‘enable up to 35,000 students throughout the UK to work or study across the globe.’
The Turing scheme was named after mathematician Alan Turing, himself an international student studying at Princeton University, USA.
For any queries relating to the University’s bid for Turing Scheme funding please contact the Study Abroad & Exchange team at studyabroad@soton.ac.uk
