A WhatsApp group I belong to, made up of British Council ambassadors, eTwinners, modern foreign language teachers and similar advocates, is always a place for shared positive posts about international education.

But last week was the icing on the cake as we joyously shared an announcement most of us believed would never happen. The UK and the European Union have agreed that the UK will be joining Erasmus+ from 2027.

Over many years, I have seen the transformative benefits of Erasmus and eTwinning on school communities in the UK and Europe, and on individual teachers and pupils, being joined by this programme, as we were for many years prior to the UK leaving the EU on New Year’s Eve 2020 as part of Brexit.

A wealth of opportunities

Since 2021, the Turing scheme has gone some way in providing funding and opportunities in a similar way, but it was never reciprocal; the funding was not so good, and the bureaucracy seemed very cumbersome.

The Welsh Department for Education and Skills has also had success with its ”Taith” scheme, based on the Erasmus/eTwinning model.

However, bringing the UK back to Erasmus+ opens up a wealth of opportunities for young people and educators to “learn, train and explore” with our near neighbours in Europe but also the Erasmus+ countries around the Black Sea, the Middle East and North Africa.

It was never about the political EU, a point now understood by most.

For university students, apprentices and young people, it means the incredible opportunity to study and work in the wider European region. Giving them skills, life opportunities and experiences that take them beyond the UK, as the scheme always did.

The thousands of successful alumni beneficiaries in all walks of life speak volumes. It is a real investment in young people again. It also gives back the open-faced mindset that UK education lost a little this past decade.

Benefits for all schools

It means reciprocity with pupils and educators in Europe, being able to work, study and contribute to the life of the UK. Bringing skills we need and connecting us again.

For UK schools, it means the outstanding reciprocal eTwinning programme. One of the most successful partnership collaborations and cooperation schools network ever seen in UK schools’ international education development.

It is hard to think of a UK or a European school that didn’t start its international education work through the eTwinning platform.

It’s an approach that has allowed schools ranging from small rural primaries to large inner-city sixth forms to find and engage with other schools across nations and lift learning and engagement for everyone involved.

From Moldova, my former schools run eTwinning projects with Finland, Croatia, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, Greece and Italy - and did so with the UK before Brexit.

The topics ranged from shared heritage, responsible consumers, friendships, heart heroes and social responsibility.

In Prague, at my school now, the primary MFL department is working with French and Czech schools around wellbeing, as well as training new colleagues how to set up eTwinning projects. The success is exponential, meaningful and sustainable.

The impact of soft power

The tragic loss of funding and structural support for schools across the UK coming out of Europe was one of the real tragedies of Brexit, and now to know it is returning is a real moment of celebration.

This is the news my colleagues in so many networks have been waiting for.

Finally, to have the British Council, one of the best examples of “soft power” for nine decades around the globe, flying the flag for the UK in everything from art and education to culture, appointed as the national agency for Erasmus+ is a wise decision.

It also means a strong UK strand between the four home nations that rarely exists in education these days.

It’s a divisive world in so many ways at present, so it’s wonderful to see an example of collaboration and community within education return and give young people across the world the opportunity to make connections with one another.

Rob Ford is executive headteacher of Perrott Hill British Schools in Prague