At the end of April, EURYDICE published the third edition of the Mobility Scoreboard - Higher education background report, covering the years 2022-2023. This is the last report responding to the mandate given by the Council of Ministers in 2011, under the ‘Youth on the Move’ Recommendation, inviting member states to implement structural reforms to remove obstacles to learning mobility, and to monitor the progress made by European countries in facilitating learning mobility. The most recent study tracks the advancements European countries have achieved in enhancing and eliminating obstacles to mobility in higher education studies, feeding into a new European learning mobility framework (for more details, see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, February and May 2023).

Following-up to the 2018/19 study, the report provides updated information on six scoreboard indicators in the areas of: information and advice, language preparation, portability of grants and loans, involvement of disadvantaged students, recognition of learning outcomes through the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and recognition of qualifications.

The analysis is based on data on top-level policies and measures in tertiary education which was provided by the Eurydice national departments operating in 27 EU member states, as well as in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkey and Iceland.

Amongst the key findings are the following:

• Nearly half of European education systems lack a comprehensive online portal that provides critical information for outgoing students.
• While personalized advice on studying abroad is widely available in universities, only ten countries systematically monitor the quality of these services.
• Additionally, only around half of the countries leverage the experiences of students and graduates who studied abroad in public initiatives and programmes to promote study mobility.
• Restrictions regarding the transferability of grants for credit mobility exist in one third of the countries included in the analysis.  
• State-guaranteed student loans are available in less than two-thirds of higher education systems. 
• While most European countries offer financial support for study abroad to disadvantaged students, monitoring of their participation in mobility programmes is rare.
• The indicator showing the greatest need for enhancement is support for disadvantaged students in mobility programmes.
• The original ambition to award ECTS credits automatically within Europe has not yet been fully fulfilled.

Download the Mobility Scoreboard: Higher education background report – 2022/2023 here.