"The United Kingdom will participate in the European exchange programme Erasmus+ again. This was agreed upon by the EU and the UK on Monday. Negotiations are still needed to iron out the details." Erasmus Magazine 20th May 2025.

"Brussels and London appear to be edging towards a deal that would allow the UK to rejoin the Erasmus+ student mobility scheme, in what would be a further step towards repairing research and education relations damaged by Brexit". Science/Business 22nd May 2025

The noises are pretty clear: the UK will rejoin Erasmus+. 

It has become obvious that the gap between Britain's apathy and other European countries' enthusiasm for international education is damaging the long term prospects of the country. The previous British government set up its own version of international academic cooperation in the form of the Turing Scheme with all the flaws that stemmed from selecting Capita, the London Congestion Charge firm, as the administrators!. The Labour government has signalled its ambition to redress the situation by joining the Erasmus+ programme.

It is a political development we have been hoping for ever since the diabolical decision to leave the European Union and the subsequent decision to withdraw from the Erasmus programme (which wasn’t necessary given its wider appeal beyond the European Union).

Pilgrims was fortunate to be part of the OISE organisation that operates schools in other EU countries: we were therefore able to domiciliate Pilgrims in another European country: France became the legal entity to run Pilgrims. In parallel, we were able to provide the Pilgrims Teacher Training courses in the OISE school in the lovely city of Segovia in Spain. 

So, why is the news regarding Erasmus so significant for Pilgrims? From its year of foundation in 1974 until 2020 Pilgrims was based in Canterbury; it will therefore be exciting for all those involved with Pilgrims to return to Britain to deliver the teacher training courses again. Moreover, despite the fact that a Pilgrims programme carries the same depth wherever it is delivered, some trainees chose not to avail themselves of a Pilgrims course because they wanted the experience of attending a teacher training programme in the birthplace of the language.

We have often pointed out in this column that the English language spoken in the world is a variation on the pure British English, but a variation that has nonetheless taken a strong foothold in the UK itself! As and when Pilgrims training can resume in England, teachers will be confronted with the dilemma as to which English should underpin the content of the courses. It is unrealistic to believe that there is an option: the language has moved on, it is the world lingua franca and should be taught as such: it would do a great disservice to the trainees’ pupils in their schools not to accept that reality.

For Pilgrims, it will open a number of avenues to cement its future: let’s hope the politicians make it a priority!

Coming soon! Please check the Pilgrims in Segovia Teacher Training courses 2026 at Pilgrims website.

Please check the Pilgrims f2f courses at Pilgrims website.