The British Council has announced that in 2010/11 the number of UK students participating in the Erasmus programme was the highest it has been since the programme was launched in 1987. Read more(September 15, 2011)

Three out of four business chiefs fear that the UK will be left behind by emerging countries unless young people learn to think more globally, according to an ICM business poll released today. (December 8 2011). Another new report showed that less than half of the students polled by YouGov (48 percent) thought that an international outlook benefits their work prospects. The research, commissioned by the British Council and Think Global, was launched at the British Council in London at an event addressed by the Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Read more.

A Europe-wide survey among employers shows that, when it comes to graduate recruitment, 'soft' skills are just as valued as sector-specific and computer skills. Significant numbers of employers questioned said that the ability to work well in a team (98%), to adapt to new situations (97%), communication skills (96%), and knowledge of foreign languages (67%) were important when recruiting for their companies. Almost 50% of companies with considerable international business identified knowledge of foreign languages as the most important skill for the future. Read the EU press release and download the full report here.

A student from Cardiff University, Kate Samways, and a staff member from Robert Gordon University, Julia Kennedy, have been selected to be the UK student and staff ambassadors for the EU's 25th anniversary celebrations of the Erasmus Programme in 2012. Kate and Julia will take part in a series of activities which the European Union is planning to celebrate this milestone of the Erasmus Programme.

The European Commission has today (November 23 2012) released its proposal for the successor programme to the Lifelong Learning, International and Youth in Action Programmes. The new programme, provisionally called ‘Erasmus for All’, will run from 2014 to 2020. You can read the European Commission’s proposal here

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