AS a student I have seen first-hand the effects of Brexit on my exchange year.

The first step is to apply through the Erasmus programme. I could tell only from there how confusing Brexit had made the situation.

Scotland was not even a part of the agreement with my university and when they finally managed to join we had all already submitted our applications. It was later on that I was contacted by one of my teachers and agreed to go to Glasgow for my exchange year.

This year of the in-between and unknown not only impacted students like me – it also impacted universities that seemed to be kept in the dark on every little constraint that Brexit had added to the process. They were as confused as students.

The whole procedure of going abroad was made more complicated. I had to do a huge amount of research only to find out that it was going to cost me significantly more money than I had imagined. The UK has made it so that students have to open their wallet every step of the way.

The part of the process where I felt that the situation was not only expensive but also really unfair is when I had to pass an English test in order to apply for a visa which obviously is charged as well.

The test is called IELTS Academic. It must be passed in specific centres that are only available in certain cities and sometimes only in some countries – that does not sound like equal opportunities to me.

The test costs a lot of money in itself, but then, you have to add the expenses to get to Paris or Marseille – the only two cities where it was available in France. The transportation can cost as much money as the test, which is completely ridiculous.

But that’s not even the worst part of my experience. When registering to pass the test, I entered my passport as my ID, but presented myself at the exam with my ID card (an official ID document recognised in France and the EU) which contains the exact same information as my passport. They refused to let me in. They even told me that the test could be passed with a simple student card as long as it was the document with which we had registered. And there I was with my official ID, not able to sit the test.

I had to pay £200 once again to pass it a month later – other students there were also the victims of this remarkably cynical situation.

Once that is done, applying for a visa is the next step. This, strangely, appeared to me to be the easiest step, although not the cheapest. I paid more than £300 for a visa and £400 again for insurance that will not even cover all the medical requirements. Which means subscribing to private insurance is necessary.

Before Brexit, all of this would have been free.

The average wait to get a visa is around two months. I got lucky and my application was accepted two days after I sent it – but that was not the case for everyone. Many French people, including students, had been waiting for months to get an answer.

This year was a draft year, coming after Brexit. It was a year in which students from Europe felt ripped off by the system.