The government said it is committed to maintaining the UK’s membership of the Erasmus+ programme, which funds opportunities for young people to train and study across Europe, despite shooting down an attempt to make its membership a priority in EU withdrawal negotiations.

A Liberal Democrat-backed amendment to the withdrawal agreement bill, requiring the government to seek continued participation in Erasmus+, was defeated by Conservative MPs, raising fears that the UK could abruptly withdraw from the programme.

Supporters of the Erasmus exchange, which each year involves around 16,000 British students travelling to more than 30 countries, including non-EU members such as Norway and Serbia, defended it on social media.

Tanja Bueltmann, a professor of migration and diaspora history, tweeted: “Erasmus made me who I am. It allowed me, a working class student with no other means to enable a year abroad, to study at the Univ of Edinburgh. It’s where I got interested in Scottish history and migration. Without Erasmus, I’d not be doing what I do today. This breaks my heart.”

Q&A How will Brexit affect UK students wanting to study abroad on the Erasmus scheme? Show The Erasmus programme (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) is an EU funded programme that organises international student exchanges. In 2016-17, more than 16,500 UK students used the scheme to study abroad, while some 31,000 EU nationals made the journey in the opposite direction. Around half of UK university students who study abroad currently do so through the Erasmus scheme. In January 2020, British MPs voted against an amendment to the European Union Withdrawal Agreement Bill which would have obliged the government to seek full membership of the programme after the UK leaves the EU. Several countries, including Iceland, Norway and Serbia participate in Erasmus despite not being EU members. This leaves the situation unclear for the future of UK participation in the scheme. While this academic year’s programme remains funded, the nature of the UK’s future involvement with the scheme will now have to be determined by the government during negotiations. The Erasmus programme was started in 1987, and in the first year 3,244 students took part. By 2006 around 1% of the total European student population were taking part in the scheme. More than 9 million students have participated in the programme since its creation, and more than 4,000 higher institutions from 37 countries take part. Martin Belam

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “The government is committed to continuing the academic relationship between the UK and the EU, including through the next Erasmus+ programme if it is in our interests to do so. The vote last night does not change that.

“As we enter negotiations with the EU, we want to ensure that UK and European students can continue to benefit from each other’s world-leading education systems.”

Chris Skidmore, the minister for higher education in England, took to Twitter to damp down speculation about the government’s position:

Last night’s vote- game playing by opposition parties- does not end or prevent the UK participating in @EUErasmusPlus after leaving the EU. We remain open to participation and this will be part of future negotiations with the EU- we highly value international student exchanges — Chris Skidmore (@CSkidmoreUK) January 9, 2020

“Erasmus+ participation is protected under the withdrawal agreement and we are open to participation in the new Erasmus successor programme from 2021 – this will be part of future relationship negotiations with the EU once the scheme has been finalised,” Skidmore added.

The Liberal Democrat amendment would have inserted a clause in the withdrawal agreement bill requiring the government to seek continued participation in Erasmus+ on existing terms after Brexit, and to report on the progress of negotiations to parliament. But on Wednesday MPs voted down a second reading of the amendment, by 344 to 254.

The Erasmus result followed a similar defeat for an amendment that sought to keep protections for unaccompanied child refugees in the withdrawal agreement by guaranteeing their right to be reunited with family members in the UK after Brexit.

DfE officials have been asked by Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, to consider plans for a replacement exchange programme in the event of the UK failing to remain in Erasmus+.

In a speech to vice-chancellors in September, Williamson said: “I want to reassure you that my department is open to continuing to be part of schemes like Erasmus+. But we have to prepare for every eventuality and it is sensible to consider all options. As such I have asked my officials to provide a truly ambitious scheme if necessary.”

As well as facilitating student exchanges since it began in 1987, the revamped Erasmus+ scheme also funds schools and colleges for work placements, staff development and collaboration with international partners.

The Association of Colleges, representing further education and sixth-form colleges, estimates that 100 colleges have been awarded about €77m (£66m) to fund more than 30,000 placements between 2014 and 2020.

The AoC said the government “should pursue every avenue to stay in the Erasmus+ programme” or risk losing vital training and placement opportunities.