UK EU student exchange statistics show two different patterns: UK-funded overseas placements remained substantial in the 2024–25 academic year, while the number of EU-domiciled students receiving support in England fell sharply after 2019–20. The figures below distinguish planned and actual Turing placements, education sectors, EU destinations, placement duration and provisional migration measures.
Contents
- Turing Scheme scale and funding
- Participation by UK education sector
- Higher-education destinations in the EU
- Further-education destinations in the EU
- Destinations by UK nation
- Participant profile and placement length
- EU student mobility into the UK
Turing Scheme scale and funding
The Turing Scheme’s 2024–25 results separate what institutions planned from what was ultimately delivered. The scheme recorded 46,414 planned placements, including accompanying staff, compared with 37,975 actual placements including accompanying staff. Looking only at learners, there were 34,683 actual placements excluding accompanying staff. These are counts for the 2024–25 academic year, not a general total for every UK–EU exchange.
The funding figures follow the same planned-versus-actual distinction. Planned Turing funding for 2024–25 was £105,404,751.21, while actual funding provided was £79,949,983.96. The source also recorded 610 successful applications with actual results during the academic year. Together, these measures describe programme administration and delivery rather than a complete census of student mobility.
Participation included substantial numbers of learners who were identified as disadvantaged or as having special educational needs or disability. Learners from disadvantaged backgrounds accounted for 19,264 actual placements in 2024–25. Learners with special educational needs or disability accounted for 7,375 actual placements. The source’s categories should be read as programme reporting classifications, not as a measure of every learner’s personal circumstances.
These headline figures come from the UK government’s Turing Scheme funding outcomes for the 2024 to 2025 academic year. The report distinguishes planned allocations from actual outcomes, which is important when comparing expectations with completed placements.
Participation by UK education sector
Higher education recorded 16,871 actual placements including accompanying staff in 2024–25. Within that total, 9,252 placements involved learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, and 2,828 were placements for learners with SEND. Higher-education placements therefore formed one major part of the Turing activity, alongside shorter programmes in further education and school-level activity.
Further-education providers recorded 13,114 actual placements including accompanying staff. Further-education placements included 6,149 learners from disadvantaged backgrounds and 2,673 actual placements for learners with SEND. These figures are not directly equivalent to the higher-education figures in every respect because the source reports each sector using its own programme category and includes accompanying staff in the sector totals.
Schools recorded 7,990 actual placements including accompanying staff in 2024–25. School placements included 3,863 learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. The supplied results do not provide a SEND count for schools in the figures used here, so no school-level SEND total is stated.
| UK education sector | Actual placements including accompanying staff | Disadvantaged-background placements | SEND placements reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education | 16,871 | 9,252 | 2,828 |
| Further education | 13,114 | 6,149 | 2,673 |
| Schools | 7,990 | 3,863 | Not supplied |
The sector totals are reported in the Turing Scheme funding outcomes for 2024 to 2025. They should not be added to the learner-only total without accounting for accompanying staff and the way the report defines each measure.
Higher-education destinations in the EU
Spain was the leading listed EU destination for UK higher-education learners through Turing in 2024–25, receiving 1,505 learners. France was close behind with 1,448. Germany received 666, followed by Italy with 535 and the Netherlands with 371.
The next group of reported higher-education destinations was smaller but still geographically broad. Denmark received 155 UK higher-education learners, Portugal received 136, Belgium received 105, Austria received 103 and Czechia received 94. These counts refer to learners and the higher-education destination table, rather than all Turing placements in every sector.
| EU destination | UK higher-education learners through Turing |
|---|---|
| Spain | 1,505 |
| France | 1,448 |
| Germany | 666 |
| Italy | 535 |
| Netherlands | 371 |
| Denmark | 155 |
| Portugal | 136 |
| Belgium | 105 |
| Austria | 103 |
| Czechia | 94 |
The destination counts are from the UK government’s Turing Scheme funding outcomes 2024 to 2025: destinations – higher education. The figures retain the source’s sector definition and do not represent all UK students travelling to EU countries through other routes.
Further-education destinations in the EU
Further-education destinations show a different ordering. Spain received 1,961 UK further-education learners through Turing in 2024–25, making it the largest listed destination in this sector. Italy followed with 1,097, while Portugal received 609 and Malta 518.
France received 329 further-education learners. Greece received 237, Germany 209, Romania 133 and Finland 122. The spread includes southern, western, central and northern EU destinations, although the largest reported totals were concentrated in Spain and Italy.
The source for these figures is the UK government’s Turing Scheme funding outcomes 2024 to 2025: destinations – further education. The counts are reported for further education and should not be combined with the higher-education destination table as though they described one identical participant group.
Destinations by UK nation
The UK-nation figures show that the leading destination varied by nation. England sent 4,454 Turing learners to Spain in 2024–25, its top destination among the reported figures, and 2,650 to France. Scotland sent 352 learners to France, narrowly ahead of Spain at 351.
Wales sent 112 Turing learners to Italy, its leading listed destination. Northern Ireland sent 138 learners to Spain and 99 to Belgium. These counts provide national examples of destination patterns, but they are not totals for every destination or a complete ranking of all EU travel from each UK nation.
| UK nation | Destination and learners in 2024–25 |
|---|---|
| England | Spain, 4,454; France, 2,650 |
| Scotland | France, 352; Spain, 351 |
| Wales | Italy, 112 |
| Northern Ireland | Spain, 138; Belgium, 99 |
All figures in this section come from the Turing Scheme funding outcomes for the 2024 to 2025 academic year. The source’s nation-level counts are presented as reported and are not used here to estimate missing national totals.
Participant profile and placement length
Among actual Turing learner placements excluding staff in 2024–25, female learners accounted for 19,207 placements and male learners accounted for 13,701. The age profile included 15,634 learners aged 19–24 and 9,871 aged 16–18. These categories describe reported learner groups and are not intended to cover every possible age band in the article.
The programme also recorded 7,150 participants with a known disability or SEN, excluding staff. Disadvantaged participants numbered 18,694 excluding staff. The difference between these learner-only figures and the earlier sector totals reflects the distinction between participants, sector reporting, accompanying staff and the categories used in the source.
Placement duration varied considerably by sector. The median all-sector Turing placement lasted 23 days in 2024–25. The median higher-education placement lasted 92 days, while the median further-education placement lasted 15 days.
| Placement group | Median duration |
|---|---|
| All sectors | 23 days |
| Higher education | 92 days |
| Further education | 15 days |
These profile and duration statistics are reported in the Turing Scheme funding outcomes for 2024 to 2025. A median describes the middle reported placement, not the average duration and not the length of every exchange.
EU student mobility into the UK
Separate figures on EU-domiciled students in England show a longer-term change in support recipients. The number of EU-domiciled undergraduate and postgraduate students paid by the end of October rose from 24,100 in 2013–14 to 50,700 in 2019–20. Support paid to those students increased from £39.7 million to £117.3 million over the same period.
The number then fell to 46,600 in 2020–21 and to 25,100 in 2022–23. The 2022–23 figure was reported as a further 34.1% fall. For 2023–24, only 15,400 EU-domiciled students had been paid support by the end of October, an early view for that academic year, and support paid by that point was £38.0 million.
| Academic year or period | EU-domiciled students paid by end of October | Support paid by end of October |
|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | 24,100 | £39.7 million |
| 2019–20 | 50,700 | £117.3 million |
| 2020–21 | 46,600 | Not supplied |
| 2022–23 | 25,100 | Not supplied |
| 2023–24 early view | 15,400 | £38.0 million |
These figures come from Student support for higher education in England 2023. They cover applicants or recipients in the Student Loans Company’s administrative systems, not every EU student in the UK. The 2023–24 values are an early end-October view.
The Office for National Statistics also estimated that 27% of EU nationals immigrating to the UK in the year ending June 2023 came for study. In the same period, an estimated 21,000 EU nationals who had initially arrived for study emigrated from the UK. These are provisional migration estimates based on self-declared reason for migration; “study” is not identical to an exchange placement. The figures are from Long-term international migration, provisional: year ending June 2023.