UK withdrawal from the European Union

From Anthony Manning, Dean for Internationalisation and Rory Murray, Kent Union President

Dear Students

As you will be aware, the government has recently taken forward additional steps, through the triggering of Article 50, which will lead to UK’s exit from the European Union. Given this situation, Rory Murray, Kent Union President, and I would like to reiterate the fact that the University of Kent remains committed to the values of international education. These values are, and will always be, a fundamental aspect of the University’s Internationalisation Strategy and are also central to the key principles which underpin the activities of Kent Union.

The University and the Union remain committed to supporting students and staff as further details linked to the implications or Brexit emerge.

To find out more about what we’re doing and what support and advice is available to you, please contact

In addition UUK has complied a series of FAQs which may assist you with queries that you have:

As the UK’s European university, Kent’s connections with Europe and the wider international world, in the form of students, staff, educational-provision and research, are of critical importance to the nature of our global impact.

This is why, since the outcome of the EU referendum, we have been proactive in supporting our community and highlighting the necessary ongoing importance of Europe and the wider international world for Kent the wider UK Higher Education sector:

Some of our activities to date have been summarized below:

  • Lobbying linked to key areas of Brexit-related impact for students and staff, with Universities UK (UUK), in line with the Brexit priorities document which is available here. This is very much with the support of our Vice-Chancellor, who is also the current national president of UUK
  • New agreements and associated meetings with European Universities to allow ongoing European student exchange
  • Development and support of European and other international partnerships to facilitate ongoing educational collaborations
  • Support through Human Resources for our staff who feel impacted by the impact of Brexit
  • Collaboration with UUK’s International division to inform governmental decision making linked to the future of Erasmus+
  • Communications with students and staff through the Internationalisation Forum, staff meetings and the forthcoming Europe Day
  • Student and staff communications through web and email via schools and professional service departments to clarify matters of concern as they have arisen, either in line with governmental information or the queries of individuals
  • International and cultural events across campuses

As a manifestation of our recognition of the importance of the many dimensions of our internationalisation, please see one or more of the video-inks below which demonstrate how, as students and staff at Kent, there are many ways in which #WeAreEuropean and that, one way or another, we are #ALLinternational:

Student WeAreEuropean Video
Staff WeAreEuropean Video
#ALLinternational Video
#Student#GlobalCitizenship Video

Anthony Manning (Dean for Internationalisation) deaninternational@kent.ac.uk

Rory Murray (Kent Union President), Union-President@kent.ac.uk