While the SNP’s 2021 Programme for Government set out the ambition for an education exchange programme to offset the effects of leaving Erasmus, it wasn’t until last September that one launched – in a frantic and, some would say, undercooked pilot phase.

Applications are now open for a second year of pilot projects for the Scottish Education Exchange Programme (SEEP), with the same budget of between £1,000 and £25,000 per grant. While it may seem unambitious that the programme remains in pilot mode for a second year, rather than being more fully rolled out, it’s good that it’s returned in some form given the strains on the public purse in Scotland. Even relatively small pots of money can be converted into interesting mobility initiatives through the hard graft of international office staff.

It’s probably fair to say that last year’s “test and learn” initiative didn’t hit the heights envisaged for it. A presentation from the programme’s project manager in June looks to confirm that, of the £1m budgeted for last year, just under £300,000 was allocated in 2023–24, to 20 projects.

The key thing that’s being done right this time around, which very much was not the case last year, is that institutions are able to apply at the start of August, rather than the end of September. We know from higher education minister Graeme Dey’s remarks in Holyrood back in January that “if there was any criticism” it had been that the “timescale is pretty tight” which contributed to the “not particularly high” level of project proposals. The original application deadline had to be extended.

Universities Scotland last year welcomed the “modest funds” for the pilot and looked forward to an expanded programme the following year – which was always the government’s stated aim. As Dey told MSPs:

First, pilot projects are run to identify their worth. Most projects are Europe-based, but there are others—for example, in South Africa. I recognise that we need an assessment of that fairly quickly.

If an evaluation has been conducted from the first “test and learn” round, it’s not been made public. Indeed, minutes from the International Education Strategy (IES) governance group now note that “thorough analysis will be carried out at the end of the next round of funding” – that is, after a second year of piloting in 2024–25.

On the question of the Scottish IES, released (after a substantial delay) back in February 2024, it’s worth noting that the corresponding implementation plans which will flesh out the detail have still not been released, and there aren’t any funds attached. Nevertheless, applications to SEEP this time around must evidence how they will support at least one of the ten actions in the IES.

We also saw last year that, despite the stated intention, all the projects were led by universities, with no colleges putting themselves forward for bids. In the latest round, this has metamorphosed into an objective: “maintain, as far as possible, the Erasmus+ approach, with projects being led by Scotland’s higher education sector.”

The desire for SEEP was always to put together something like Taith in Wales, a chunky pot of money for both outbound and inbound mobility, for staff and students at different educational levels (though Taith has just suffered a budget cut of almost 20 per cent in the Welsh government’s 2024–25 budget).

We are still quite a long way from this at the moment, and there’s the risk that SEEP rather draws on the worst parts of the UK government’s Turing scheme, namely unpredictable funding availability governed by one-year bidding rounds. Hopefully by the end of this second year of piloting, there will be the appetite – and the budget – for something more long-lasting.