> I believe the lack of UK students in the Erasmus was something terrible and that was either a cause/consequence that lead to the Brexit.

Erasmus surely was underused by UK students but to make the connection to Brexit as a cause is quite the stretch, especially as students (apparently) overwhelmingly voted to remain part of the EU[1].

> research agency YouthSight found 87 per cent of eligible students at UK universities voted in the referendum. This was a higher rate of turnout than the general population of which, according to the Electoral Commission, 72 per cent showed up to vote amongst the overall confirmed electorate.

> Overall, 85 per cent of students who voted in the referendum chose Remain, meaning almost one million out of the UK’s 1.4 million full-time undergraduates voted to stay in the union.

I'm also not sure where you get tolerance as a factor. I don't see any far-right parties in the UK parliament but France and Germany have the Front National and the AFD both polling well over 10% and are often characterised by their opponents as far-right. I might as well ask you if that's because of greater Erasmus involvement, or just the attitude of continental students in general? Maybe it's because Erasmus will largely favour white people and put them into largely similar majority white cultures?

It would make little sense but I'd be in good company.

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/brexit-eu-referen...

>to make the connection to Brexit as a cause is quite the stretch

I did say either cause/consequence to express exactly that it's clearly not the lack of UK erasmuses alone that caused the Brexit. I believe though the lack of UK erasmus for the past decades is something that might be correlated with what caused the Brexit.

> Overall, 85 per cent of students who voted in the referendum chose Remain, meaning almost one million out of the UK’s 1.4 million full-time undergraduates voted to stay in the union.

I'm happy you shared that article with us and I'm happy to know once again many UK students wished to not leave the EU.

>Maybe it's because Erasmus will largely favour white people and put them into largely similar majority white cultures.

I think we can agree that people come in all colors and shapes, not just white and black. I can guarantee you there is already many permutations of colors and shapes of people in the Erasmus program. I wish more countries from Asia and Africa to join in more exchange programs in order to avoid for people of the similar color and shapes to cluster with each other. I wish the UK would have stayed and help. I don't have a problem with the UK having their own exchange programs. I have a problem with the UK leaving the Erasmus. I wish they would have stayed in the Eramsus program. The fact that the Alan Turing program is less tolerant to me is because is borned out of leaving the Erasmus program.

The vote was 85% for students while having low Erasmus participation - what change could you possibly expect from increased participation?

When I was studying prior to University, I don’t recall ever being given any information or told that it was even a possibility to enter a scheme like Erasmus & study abroad. It’s a shame.

I'm sorry too @trollied. If you meet university students tell them to go abroad with a student exchange. Whatever exchange is fine. For humanity to stay in peace and cooperation we need people to create direct friendship and bonds with people from other countries. This way when warmongering politicians will lash out at other countries each of us we'll remember the friend/lovers from the other countries and it will be easier to empathise with the other countries and stop the warmongering leaders. I remember my friend Peter from England and our good times in Rome when he was Erasmus and I think of him when Brexiters lash out on the EU.

I am lucky enough to have worked abroad for half of my adult life, so it's ended up OK for me. I wish the opportunities for younger people were there now.

> I'm sad to see the Alan Turing exchange program is somehow a less tolerant replacement for not being able to partecipate in a larger multi-cultural program like Erasmus+

How can this be true, students from the UK pick places like the US, Australia, Japan, Canada, etc isn't it just filling the need a bit more, how can it be less tolerant if it can be even more expansive than Erasmus is in terms of reach?

Please note that US, Australia, Canada are English speaking countries. I find for a UK student to go to another country speaking his/her own language less adventurous and enriching.

The Erasmus+ extends also outside of the EU. The UK could have brought in their relations with other universities and enlarge the network. I've been also in Hong Kong with exchange students and there was a significant larger percentage of UK students.

There is an asymmetry here, these locations are quite attractive as its easy to make friends, the language is the same but the culture is slightly different, etc.

While Erasmus+ extends outside the EU the scope is really weak and lots of people want to go to the same places with limited slots, that is what the problem is imo. I can understand the attraction of visiting an English speaking country from another EU country but for an English speaking country it is still culturally enriching to visit another country where you are past the language barrier to go a bit deeper.

I think the more choices the better. I'm not against the UK having their own exchanges. I'm against the UK leaving the Erasmus program. The UK already had exchanges programs to go to those countries that were not part of the Erasmus like Australia/Canada/Japan. The problem is cutting the Erasmus.

Also in my experience students that wants to go abroad will go nevertheless the location. When I applied for the Erasmus there was only 1 spot in the whole UK at the Glasgow University. A student with better marks than me got that one. I got my second choice which was Bergen, Norway. It was the best time of life. Leave the students the opportunity and let them know they have those opportunities