THE UK government and the European Union came to an agreement on Brexit this morning, which signifies on the first stage of their negotiations has come to an end.
The negotiation document provides students "equal treatment" going forward regardless of whether they are from the EU. This is just the first stage of the negotiation process for which also sets out the future of citizens rights, the Irish border and the controversial financial settlement.
The agreement also confirms that the UK will remain part of the Erasmus + and Horizon 2020 programmes, however, this is only until the end of the current EU budget period. There has been no promise of the programmes continuing but the agreement means that both UK students and EU students will have equal rights to healthcare and higher education and training when residing across borders.
The agreement symbolises fair treatment for students after Brexit, finally set out on paper. The negotiations will now embark on the second stage of the Brexit process, trade negotiations. There is still uncertainty around how these negotiations will affect international education and the higher education sector overall.
The document did have further positives, including a lifetime right for family members of UK or EU citizens to join them as long as they are related on the date of UK-EU separation. This is particularly encouraging for mature students and academics to ensure that families aren't split up due to cross-border work or study.
