![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5710104443c6c7628bf4ccb73c6841ae.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nA student from Yorkshire has avoided UK student loans and found a post-Brexit alternative to Erasmus by enrolling at a new university where she studies in a different European city every year, as she \u201cfelt like it was offering something that had been taken away\u201d.<\/p>\n
Grace Cerenko, 21, is in her third year of her Politics and International Relations degree at Forward College, where students study in Lisbon, Paris and Berlin over the course of their degree.<\/p>\n
Grace, who is originally from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, saw an advert for the university, which was founded in 2021 and operates as a Recognised Teaching Centre of the University of London, on TikTok.<\/p>\n
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Grace learned about Forward College on TikTok (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n
She had already completed her Ucas application and been offered a place at the London School of Economics, the top university in the UK according to The Times\u2019 UK University Rankings 2026.<\/p>\n
But she was enticed by the opportunity to study in three different European cities over the course of her bachelor\u2019s degree at Forward, which is also designed and directed by LSE.<\/p>\n
It was an idea she found so impressive she \u201cwasn\u2019t even sure if it was real at first\u201d.<\/p>\n
Having always been interested in studying abroad, and disappointed by the UK\u2019s departure from the EU\u2019s study abroad programme Erasmus+ in 2020 after Brexit, she said she \u201cdidn\u2019t feel like I was really risking anything by applying\u201d and wanted to seize the \u201camazing opportunity\u201d to study in Europe.<\/p>\n
![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1517fed12aeb1b1068991ff6c061238c.jpeg\"\/)
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Grace wanted to study abroad with Erasmus but the UK pulled out of the scheme after Brexit (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n
\u201cErasmus was definitely something that I did want to do previously. It\u2019s such a great experience to be able to live in a new place while you\u2019re young. I really felt like this was the time to try and do it,\u201d Grace told PA Real Life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat definitely did factor into my decision to want to go to Forward, because I felt like it was offering something that I previously felt had been taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK will rejoin the Erasmus study scheme from 2027.<\/p>\n
Grace was accepted on to Forward College\u2019s BSc politics and international relations degree after achieving her A-levels in politics, history and psychology, as well as an extended project qualification (EPQ), and decided to take the plunge.<\/p>\n
![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/80fcb7f7ab060c682d89b635f5b972f7.jpeg\"\/)
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Grace thought that living abroad \u2018was an amazing opportunity while I\u2019m young\u2019 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n
In 2023, she packed her bags and left Doncaster for Lisbon, where she would spend the first year of her degree course, before moving to Paris for her second year, and Berlin, where she currently lives, for her third, studying at Forward College\u2019s campuses in each city.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach year, you and your whole cohort will move to a different country, so you don\u2019t have to meet different people every year,\u201d Grace explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou all stay together, but you just move countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t had the experience of living outside the country before. I thought that was an amazing opportunity while I\u2019m young, and while I have the means to be able to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, with the degree that I\u2019m doing, politics and international relations, it would give me a unique insight I could take into future work.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/c3bdcc08060c4718f86cebee48a987dc.jpeg\"\/)
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Grace has lived in Lisbon, Paris and Berlin during her degree (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n
Fees are higher at Forward College than at UK universities, with tuition for the politics and international relations course now starting from 20,600 euros (\u00a317,800) per year, though the college offers scholarships and interest-free loans for students in financial need, of which Grace is a recipient.<\/p>\n
Student Finance England\u2019s student loans for undergraduates who started their course post-August 2023 currently carry an interest rate of 3.2%, and while tuition fees are currently capped at \u00a39,535 per year, the Government has announced that for courses starting in 2026 this cap will increase to \u00a39,790.<\/p>\n
Grace was \u201cvery excited\u201d to be accepted on to the international degree course, but said that the reality of moving countries did not set in until the week she was due to move.<\/p>\n
\u201cI almost couldn\u2019t even imagine it, because it was so different to the way I\u2019d been living before,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably in the week leading up to actually moving, suddenly reality set in, and I got very nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/904ff1f89fbe22267a009970d752acc3.jpeg\"\/)
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She was \u2018very nervous\u2019 about moving abroad but quickly settled in (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n
However, after two weeks of induction allowing her to settle into her new life in Portugal, with the college helping students find accommodation for each city and providing language classes to help them integrate into the new culture, Grace said she was truly excited by the opportunities her decision would bring.<\/p>\n
They included the opportunity to achieve Forward\u2019s bachelor\u2019s plus certificate in business and leadership, working within local communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cSettling into a new culture, new people, a new language every single year, I think has really helped me adapt and be resilient in the face of change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something that I hope I\u2019ll take with me going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The diverse student population predominantly comes from mainland Europe, so Grace has been able to make friends with people of differing nationalities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a massive melting pot of different people coming together, which has been really nice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Learning new languages, too, was a fresh opportunity that has \u201creally helped with the transition as well, feeling like you\u2019re not completely on the fringes of the community, because you can interact with people\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/e57899b34a578c69f9dd584445adf167.jpeg\"\/)
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\u2018I\u2019m so grateful for being able to live in so many different places and be immersed in so many different cultures\u2019 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Grace feels that her decision to study in multiple European cities has given her confidence to travel and work abroad in the future, but she is looking forward to some British home comforts after she completes her final exams.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiving away, at least for me, has made me appreciate where I\u2019m from even more, whether it\u2019s home sickness or nostalgia, there\u2019s just something very nice about being in a place that you know so well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so grateful for being able to live in so many different places and be immersed in so many different cultures, but it\u2019s also so nice to be somewhere where you know the customs so well, you know the people so well.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think for those reasons, I\u2019d definitely like to come back to the UK, at least for the next few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut because I love this experience so much, I definitely hope that whether it\u2019s just travelling, or living somewhere, or getting a job that\u2019s very flexible and has different postings, I really want to work somewhere internationally again.\u201d<\/p>\n