Student, 21, finds way to study abroad post-Brexit and has lived in three countries in three years with new European uni

A student from Yorkshire has avoided UK student loans and found a post-Brexit alternative to Erasmus by enrolling at a new university where she studies in a different European city every year, as she “felt like it was offering something that had been taken away”.

Grace Cerenko, 21, is in her third year of her Politics and International Relations degree at Forward College, where students study in Lisbon, Paris and Berlin over the course of their degree.

Grace, who is originally from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, saw an advert for the university, which was founded in 2021 and operates as a Recognised Teaching Centre of the University of London, on TikTok.

She had already completed her Ucas application and been offered a place at the London School of Economics, the top university in the UK according to The Times’ UK University Rankings 2026.

But she was enticed by the opportunity to study in three different European cities over the course of her bachelor’s degree at Forward, which is also designed and directed by LSE.

It was an idea she found so impressive she “wasn’t even sure if it was real at first”.

Having always been interested in studying abroad, and disappointed by the UK’s departure from the EU’s study abroad programme Erasmus+ in 2020 after Brexit, she said she “didn’t feel like I was really risking anything by applying” and wanted to seize the “amazing opportunity” to study in Europe.

“Erasmus was definitely something that I did want to do previously. It’s such a great experience to be able to live in a new place while you’re young. I really felt like this was the time to try and do it,” Grace told PA Real Life.

“That definitely did factor into my decision to want to go to Forward, because I felt like it was offering something that I previously felt had been taken away.”

The UK will rejoin the Erasmus study scheme from 2027.

Grace was accepted on to Forward College’s BSc politics and international relations degree after achieving her A-levels in politics, history and psychology, as well as an extended project qualification (EPQ), and decided to take the plunge.

In 2023, she packed her bags and left Doncaster for Lisbon, where she would spend the first year of her degree course, before moving to Paris for her second year, and Berlin, where she currently lives, for her third, studying at Forward College’s campuses in each city.

“Each year, you and your whole cohort will move to a different country, so you don’t have to meet different people every year,” Grace explained.

“You all stay together, but you just move countries.

“I hadn’t had the experience of living outside the country before. I thought that was an amazing opportunity while I’m young, and while I have the means to be able to do that.

“Also, with the degree that I’m doing, politics and international relations, it would give me a unique insight I could take into future work.”

Fees are higher at Forward College than at UK universities, with tuition for the politics and international relations course now starting from 20,600 euros (£17,800) per year, though the college offers scholarships and interest-free loans for students in financial need, of which Grace is a recipient.

Student Finance England’s student loans for undergraduates who started their course post-August 2023 currently carry an interest rate of 3.2%, and while tuition fees are currently capped at £9,535 per year, the Government has announced that for courses starting in 2026 this cap will increase to £9,790.

Grace was “very excited” to be accepted on to the international degree course, but said that the reality of moving countries did not set in until the week she was due to move.

“I almost couldn’t even imagine it, because it was so different to the way I’d been living before,” she said.

“Probably in the week leading up to actually moving, suddenly reality set in, and I got very nervous.”

However, after two weeks of induction allowing her to settle into her new life in Portugal, with the college helping students find accommodation for each city and providing language classes to help them integrate into the new culture, Grace said she was truly excited by the opportunities her decision would bring.

They included the opportunity to achieve Forward’s bachelor’s plus certificate in business and leadership, working within local communities.

“Settling into a new culture, new people, a new language every single year, I think has really helped me adapt and be resilient in the face of change,” she said.

“That’s something that I hope I’ll take with me going forward.”

The diverse student population predominantly comes from mainland Europe, so Grace has been able to make friends with people of differing nationalities.

“It’s been a massive melting pot of different people coming together, which has been really nice,” she said.

Learning new languages, too, was a fresh opportunity that has “really helped with the transition as well, feeling like you’re not completely on the fringes of the community, because you can interact with people”.

Ultimately, Grace feels that her decision to study in multiple European cities has given her confidence to travel and work abroad in the future, but she is looking forward to some British home comforts after she completes her final exams.

“Living away, at least for me, has made me appreciate where I’m from even more, whether it’s home sickness or nostalgia, there’s just something very nice about being in a place that you know so well,” she said.

“I’m so grateful for being able to live in so many different places and be immersed in so many different cultures, but it’s also so nice to be somewhere where you know the customs so well, you know the people so well.

“So I think for those reasons, I’d definitely like to come back to the UK, at least for the next few years.

“But because I love this experience so much, I definitely hope that whether it’s just travelling, or living somewhere, or getting a job that’s very flexible and has different postings, I really want to work somewhere internationally again.”

To find out more about Forward College, visit forward-college.eu.