Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy has called on the British government to improve a grant scheme which was meant to replace the Erasmus programme post-Brexit.

Latest figures have revealed that nearly four in five universities had difficulties with applications to the new Turing scheme.

The party’s higher education spokesperson said:

“The Turing scheme has fallen well short of expectations, and fewer students are benefitting from support previously available on the EU’s Erasmus scheme, which provided support for students studying abroad.

“Last month, I told the Department for Economy both Queen’s University and Ulster University had only received a small amount of the funding they had applied for through the new Turing scheme.

“Most university students felt the funding covered less than half of their costs.

“The British government must improve the Turing scheme and Sinn Féin will continue to lobby the British government and the Department for Economy.”