The Turing Scheme, which was designed to be the UK’s replacement for the European Union’s Erasmus+ scheme, was run by British Council until December – until Capita reportedly “undercut its bid” to the government, with the contract listed at £6.27m, and was appointed to take over.

Capita’s role will be to promote, administer and process grant payments to support students participating in the scheme – and such a role has now become active as organisations can now begin “planning applications to secure funding”.

“The opening is a key milestone in the application process for the 2022/23 scheme,” said Costi Karayannis, managing director and client partner for Education and Learning at Capita.

“We are delighted to be working with the Department for Education and our education partners to help students from all backgrounds access global work and education opportunities,” he continued.

At the time it was announced that it was losing the funding, the British Council said it was “continuing to work through the implications of the decision”.

Amid the updates, it also told stakeholders that the company was going through “significant organisational change” and “refocusing our work to ensure international higher education and the recruitment of international students are even more central to our mission”.

The invitation to register ahead of the application submission window is currently open, and applications will be available to submit from March 31 to April 29.

The offered funding will enable “students, learners and pupils – including those from disadvantaged and non-traditional backgrounds – to undertake study or work placements around the world”.

“The Turing Scheme is delivering our vision of a truly global Britain, by creating life changing opportunities for students from schools, colleges and universities in every region and nation of the UK to take up placements in countries all over the world,” said UK government minister for skills Alex Burghart.

Capita is also offering webinars post registration, where applicants can find out more about the application process.

Leading the assessment of applications and support with monitoring and evaluation is the Association of Commonwealth Universities, taking the role of principal partner.

“The Turing Scheme is delivering our vision of a truly global Britain”

“We look forward to drawing on our decades of expert knowledge and experience in delivering international mobility schemes,” said chief executive and secretary general Joanna Newman.

“[These include] managing the UK government’s Chevening, Commonwealth, and Marshall Scholarship schemes, and the multilateral Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships, to help deliver transformative educational opportunities,” she continued.

“I am proud the government has extended the scheme – backed next year by £110m – and urge every provider to consider registering to apply on the Turing Scheme website now,” Burghart added.