Spain, Germany and the UK are the most popular destinations for students to study, train or volunteer abroad through Erasmus+, according to new data from the European Commission.

The shows that Spain received 42,537 students through the programme in 2014 and 2015, while Germany took 32,871 and the UK claimed 30,183.

France was the top sending country, with 39,985 of its students studying, training or volunteering abroad, followed by Germany (39,719) and Spain (36,842).

The figures refer to students who went abroad in 2014 and 2015 through projects that were funded in 2014.?Overall, 290,000 students went abroad during this period.

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Top 10 receiving countries through Erasmus+

Although the UK is still one of the most popular Erasmus+ destinations, Michael Arthur, president of University College London, told the Education Committee on 25 January that applications from EU students for places at UK universities had dropped by more than 7 per cent this year.

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According to the Erasmus+ data, France (7,663), Germany (5,269), Spain (4,381), Italy (2,704) and the Netherlands (2,021) are the top five countries of origin of students who come to the UK via Erasmus+.

More than a fifth (21 per cent) of the students who went to Spain were from Italy.

Top 10 sending countries through Erasmus+

Preliminary results show that traineeships are growing in popularity, accounting for 27 per cent of all study mobility in 2015.

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Overall students were satisfied with their Erasmus+ experience, with 94 per cent stating that they felt integrated at the receiving university and 97 per cent feeling that they were treated equally to home students.

However, just 48 per cent of the students who responded to this question reported receiving information about how grades would be converted before the mobility, and only 58 per cent said the course catalogue of the receiving institution was available in time for the preparation of their learning agreements.

ellie.bothwell@tesglobal.com?