Erasmus+ Key Action 1 is all about mobility. Take a look at our presentation for more information about applying for Key Action 1 funding in 2019. This presentation was first delivered during our autumn Information Sessions. For more information visit our website: https://www.erasmusplus.org.uk/apply-for-funding
2. Three types of decentralised project
Key
Action 1
Key
Action 2
Key
Action 3
Key Action 1: Mobility
Largest part of the programme
with just over 72% of UK budget
allocated; all fields can apply
Study, train, volunteer abroad
4. What can you do?
Higher Education
Student mobility
• Study Placements
• Traineeships
Staff mobility
• Teaching
• Training
• Combined teaching and training
5. What can you do?
Vocational Education & Training
Learner mobility
• Short-term traineeship
• Long-term traineeship (ErasmusPro)
Staff mobility
• Teaching/training assignments
• Staff training
• Advanced Planning Visit (ErasmusPro only)
6. What can you do?
School Education
• Teaching assignments
• Staff training – through structured courses and job
shadowing/observation
7. What can you do?
Adult Education
Staff mobility
• Teaching/training assignments
• Participating in structured courses or training events
abroad
•Job-shadowing
8. What can you do?
Youth
• Youth exchange activities
• Training and professional development activities for
youth workers
• Advanced Planning Visits (for youth exchanges only)
9. European Solidarity Corps
• New European Union initiative
• Aims to provide placements where young people are
most needed
• Builds on the success of European Voluntary Service
• Two different strands of funding:
• Volunteering strand
• Occupational strand
• Address solidarity-related topics
10. Objectives
• To promote solidarity as a value, mainly through volunteering
• To enhance engagement of young people and organisations in
accessible and high quality solidarity activities
• To strengthen cohesion, solidarity, democracy, and citizenship in
Europe, whilst responding to specific societal needs, with particular
effort to promote social inclusion
• To ensure participation of young people with fewer opportunities
through a range of special measures
• To contribute to European cooperation relevant to young people and
raising awareness of its positive impact
12. How does it work?
• General principles are the same across all
mobility projects
• There are important differences depending on
your target group:
• Overall project duration
• Type of mobility activities and their duration
• Funding
• Pre-qualification
13. How does it work?
• Organisations make a funding application to
send participants on mobility activities abroad
• Project durations vary depending on the field
and type of activity
• Mobility activities within a project can last from 2
days to 12 months depending on the field and
type of activity
14. Field Activity Duration
Higher education Student Mobility:
• Study
• Traineeship
Staff Mobility:
• Teaching
• Training
• Combined
• 3 months to 12 months
• 2 months to 12 months
• 2 days to 2 months
Vocational education and
training
Learner Mobility:
• Short-term traineeship
• Long-term traineeship
(ErasmusPro)
Staff Mobility:
• Teaching/training
assignments
• Staff training
• Advanced Planning Visit
• 2 weeks to under 3
months
• 3 months to 12 months
• 2 days to 2 months
• 3 days maximum
Activity Durations
15. Field Activity Duration
Schools • Teaching/ training
assignments
• Structured courses or
training events
• Job-shadowing
• 2 days to 2 months
Adult education • Teaching/ training
assignments
• Structured courses or
training events
• Job-shadowing
• 2 days to 2 months
Youth • Youth Exchanges
• Mobility of Youth
Workers
• Advanced Planning Visit
• 5 days to 21 days
• 2 days to 2 months
• 2 days maximum
Activity Durations (continued)
16. There are two different budget types:
• Unit Costs - where funding is calculated on a
per participant basis, with set rates for different
elements
• Actual Costs - where funding is specified by
you and justified within the application and for
which you will need to submit receipts
Budget
17. KA1: Budget
Budget Item Description Funding Type
Organisational
Support:
Implementation of mobility activities (e.g.
preparation, monitoring, validation of learning
outcomes, dissemination)
Unit costs
Travel: Return travel costs of participants, including
accompanying persons
Unit costs
Individual
Support:
Subsistence of participants, including
accompanying persons
Unit costs
Course fees
(schools and
adult education
only):
Cost of enrolment or participation in a
course
Unit costs
18. KA1: Budget (continued)
Budget Item Description Funding Type
Linguistic
Support:
Costs linked to support offered to improve
learners’ knowledge of the language they
use to study or receive training during their
activity
Unit costs (may
be applicable)
Special Needs
Support:
Costs directly related to participants
with disabilities and accompanying persons
(including travel and subsistence, if justified
as long as not already requested)
Actual costs (may
not be
100%
Exceptional
costs:
1. Financial guarantee, if requested by the
2. Expensive travel costs
Actual costs (may
not be
1. 75%
2. 80%
20. Quality Criteria
• Award criteria for each Key Action are outlined in
the Programme Guide
• Refer to these as you prepare your project
• To be funded an application must score:
• At least 60 points overall; and
• Meet minimum required score per criteria
• Detailed scoring guidance published on the
Erasmus+ website
21. Hints & Tips
• Choose partners carefully
• Access NA support and guidance
• Refer to quality, eligibility and budget rules
• Ensure partners are aware of requirements
• Include all key information in the application form
• Ensure your project will be achievable
• Start early and aim to submit before the deadline
22. • Register on the Participant Portal via EU Login (formerly
ECAS) to obtain a unique reference code for your
organisation
• Refer to NA Guidance for Applicants as you complete
your application
• Contact our Helpline for support
• Complete and submit the online application form before
the deadline
How to Apply
23. 2019 Deadlines
Key Action Field Deadline(s)
KA1 • Higher Education
• Schools
• VET
• Adult Education
5 February 2019
KA1 • Youth 5 February 2019
30 April 2019
1 October 2019
All deadlines are at 12:00 Brussels time
This means 11:00 UK time
24. Contact Us
For general enquiries you can contact either the
British Council or Ecorys UK as follows:
British Council
T: 0161 957 7755
erasmusplus.enquiries@britishcouncil.org
Ecorys UK
T: 0121 212 8947
erasmusplus@ecorys.com
25. Erasmus+ is the European Union programme for education, training, youth and sport.
The Erasmus+ UK National Agency is a partnership between the British Council and Ecorys UK.
Find us online
www.erasmusplus.org.uk
@erasmusplusuk
ukerasmusplus
erasmusplusuk
Notas del editor
Hello and welcome the key Action 1 workshop. My name is XX from the National Agency. My colleague X is also with me today. We’ve got about 1 ½ hours to talk about the Erasmus+ funding opportunities available under the Key Action 1 (KA1) decentralised funding stream across all five fields (HE, VET, Schools, AE & Youth)
During this session we will:
Go through the funding available under KA1, briefly discussing what types of activities you can carry out for each field.
Hear from a beneficiary regarding their KA1 experiences
We’ll also explore some of programme rules and requirements
And finally we would like to make you aware of aspects to help you submit a high quality application
Although 1 ½ hours seems a lot of time we will be unable to provide you detail regarding the 5 fields and the intricacies of the eligibility criteria. We do however hope that by the end of today that you will have a good idea about whether KA1 funding is for you and along the way we will sign post you to where you can find more detailed information.
Quick show of hands – who has applied for KA1 before?
Thank you, for those who have not applied before this Action is all about providing opportunities for individuals to improve their skills, enhance their employability and gain cultural awareness.
It is possible to apply for funding to run mobility projects that offer structured study, work experience, job shadowing, volunteering, training and teaching opportunities to staff and learners. Your staff and learners will be able to spend a period of time in another participating country gaining valuable experience of life, study and work with the aim of increasing the opportunities available to them in the future.
Key Action 1 is the largest part of the programme and in 2018 just over 72% of the UK budget was allocated to this type of project. Roughly 121.8 million Euro was allocated to KA1 projects across the 5 fields.
Organisations from all fields can apply for this type of project, although it’s important to note that the rules do differ between fields.
Mobility projects are the easiest way to get started in Erasmus+.
This slide covers the activities available for learners and staff within Higher Education.
Under Key Action 1 HE there are opportunities for student and staff mobility opportunities for:
HE Students
Recent Graduates and
Staff of Higher Education Institutions (HEI)
to undertake mobility to Erasmus Programme and Partner Countries.
Student mobility
Students can undertake mobility in two different ways
As a study placement in a University overseas
As a traineeship
Note: Students wishing to undertake a study placement must have completed 1 year of undergraduate study whereas those wishing to take part in a traineeship can do so in any year, including the first year after completing an undergraduate degree.
Staff Mobility
Staff are eligible for three types of mobility:
Teaching in an overseas institution
Training activity
Combination of both teaching and training.
Note: Teaching and non-teaching staff, including administrative and other staff, employed by an HEI holding the Erasmus+ Charter for Higher Education accreditation may undertake Erasmus+ mobility for training.
Under Key Action 1 VET there are opportunities for:
Learners (students, trainees, apprentices) including graduates provided that the placement takes place within 1 year of graduation of a VET course; and
Staff of VET providers
A VET Learner is anyone undertaking a course of initial vocational education and training (IVET) or, someone undertaking continuous vocational education and training.
IVET includes full time students, part time students and anyone undertaking an apprenticeship. Recent VET graduates are also covered by this strand of the programme so long as they undertake their placement within 12 months of graduating.
CVET includes participants involved in any form of education or training (undertaken outside of their initial education and training, or after their entry into working life) with the aim of improving or updating their knowledge and/or skills; or enabling participants to continue with their professional development.
VET Learners – on both IVET or CVET – can undertake a traineeship abroad in either a VET institute a company abroad or a combination of both activity types depending on their needs.
Learner mobility
A new element introduced from the 2018 call onwards is ErasmusPro, which is aimed at increasing long-term VET mobility placements abroad and increasing the employability of VET learners through long-term work placements abroad. ErasmusPro is the term given to longer mobility placements of 3 to 12 months, and applications incorporating ErasmusPro are assessed against additional award criteria which has been outlined in the Programme Guide.
Learner mobility activities can take the form of full work placements with learners hosted in a company or other relevant organisation, or at a VET provider (a school, institute or other organisation providing vocational education and training) offering a combination of school based learning and work placements. Vocational study alone is not permitted.
In the case of ErasmusPro, while the receiving organisation can be a VET provider, the activity should have a clear work-based learning component in the form of a work placement in a company. To ensure the quality of the placement, it is recommended the receiving organisation hosts all or part of the vocational placement, rather than sourcing it out to another organisation.
As part of the European Commission’s drive to improve the quality of mobility experiences and safeguard vulnerable learners, it is now compulsory to include accompanying persons for VET learner mobility projects and we recommend that you include a minimum of 1 accompanying person per 10 learners.
Staff mobility
Staff can also choose to undergo training themselves either as part of a teaching/ training assignment or by undertaking work shadowing or observation of their peers.
Teaching/training assignments – where staff deliver teaching or training in a VET organisation abroad; since 2016 this also encompasses hosting a trainer or teacher from a partner organisation to deliver structured training at the applicant organisation or its consortium partners; or
Staff training – where staff undertake a work placement or job shadowing experience in an enterprise or any other VET organisation abroad.
Advanced Planning Visits – projects that involve ErasmusPro long-term mobilities can also include an Advanced Planning Visit to allow the participating organisations to better prepare for the visit and facilitate better cooperation. Only 1 APV per hosting organisation can be carried out and only 1 staff member can attend.
Projects can be made up of both VET learners and staff mobility, but you must demonstrate how the two activities fit with the wider objectives of the project.
KA1 for Schools - UK Schools can apply for staff mobility funding to support the professional development of teachers, school leaders and other school education staff under Key Action 1. Mobility funding allows staff engaged in education to undertake professional development activities in another country. This allows them to increase their knowledge and skills, stimulate their love of learning, and bring new approaches and enthusiasm back to their organisations.
Each project can last either 1 or 2 years (though the duration of the mobility ranges from 2 days to 2 months) and schools can apply for funding to support any of the following mobility activities:
- Teaching assignments abroad
- Staff training abroad, which could be things like structured courses and training events, job shadowing and observations in a partner school
Funding can be used to support school staff engaged in both teaching and non-teaching roles
Staff can also choose to undergo training themselves either as part of a structured training course or by undertaking workshadowing or observation of their peers. Non-teaching staff can get involved in this type of activity.
Examples of the type of activity eligible under KA1 include:
German Language Training
Teacher to attend intensive language training course in Germany in order to introduce 2nd MFL to the school
Job Shadowing at Denmark SEN specialist school
Funding to job shadow and observe creative outdoor play. Funding to visit Denmark and gain insight into good practice.
Sending staff to conference tackling school dropouts
- Aim to reduce young people's non-completion of upper secondary vocational education
KA1 for Adult Education offers opportunities for adult education staff to participate in mobility activities abroad.
It’s important to note that adult learners are not eligible to take part in transnational mobilities, as the emphasis is on making an impact on the practices and training offer of the participating organisations. Participating staff are best placed to spread good practices in order to do this.
‘Staff’ can include adult education trainers, teachers, and/or individuals who look after the strategic development of their organisation and would benefit from experiencing how other organisations in Europe work. Volunteers can also be eligible to take part in a KA1 AE mobility project, where relevant.
So, what can Adult Education staff do on a KA1 mobility abroad?
Staff can undertake professional development activities in another country to increase their knowledge and skills and to experience new ideas and approaches which they can bring back to their organisations.
Specific activities that staff can undertake are:
Teaching/training assignments, where staff can deliver teaching or training activities at a partner organisation abroad;
Staff can also undergo training themselves either as part of a structured course or by undertaking work shadowing or observation. This is the most appropriate type of activity for non-teaching staff.
Under Key Action 1 Youth there are four types of activity:
Youth Exchanges:
This is an exchange activity where young people, aged between 13 and 30, from at least two different countries meet and live together for up to a maximum of 21 days.
Activities can include workshops, debates, role-plays, outdoor activities, arts and crafts related activities. Tourist or holiday activities, festivals and performance tours are not eligible youth exchange activities.
Young people must be supported and supervised during the exchange itself by Group Leaders aged 18 or over from the participating organisations.
Multiple exchanges within the same project are possible, allowing for reciprocal exchanges.
The project can involve organisations from both Erasmus+ Programme Countries and Partner Countries Neighbouring the EU (please refer to the Programme Guide or our website for the list of countries that fall under this category)
The exchange must have a minimum of 16 participants and a maximum of 60 in total, excluding Group Leaders.
Each country involved in the project must put forward a national group of participants for the exchange. This must have a minimum of 4 young people and 1 Group Leader.
Mobility of Youth Workers:
This provides funding opportunities for the professional development of youth workers through their participation in training courses, seminars, contact-making events, study visits and job-shadowing/observation in an organisation active in the youth field.
The project can involve organisations from both Erasmus+ Programme Countries and Partner Countries Neighbouring the EU.
Each mobility of youth workers activity can have no more than a maximum of 50 participants. Multiple activities in the same project are possible.
Advanced Planning Visits:
Projects that include youth exchange can also apply for funding for an Advanced Planning Visit. The visit is intended to allow the project partners to meet to discuss the practical arrangements of the activities and carry out site visits to where they will take place.
Must take place in the country where the youth exchange or volunteering activity will be carried out.
Only 1 participant per partner can attend. Additional participants can attend only if they are young people – please refer to the Programme Guide for the specific criteria as it differs for youth exchanges and volunteering projects.
The European Solidarity Corps is a new European Union initiative intended to bring young people together to build a more inclusive society, supporting vulnerable people and responding to the challenges facing society across the continent. The initiative offers an inspiring and empowering experience for young people who want to help communities, learn and develop their competencies by funding a range of opportunities across a broad range of areas, such as integration of migrants, environmental challenges, prevention of natural disasters, education and youth activities or measures to prevent radicalisation to name a few.
What’s different about this initiative is that lot of emphasis has been placed by the European Commission on building a community of young people, who have been, currently are or would like to engage in solidarity activities across Europe. For example, the Corps app, Facebook page and My House of European History website – all offer a great platform to young people to interact and share their experiences.
The European Solidarity Corps has two strands of funding – a volunteering strand and an occupational strand - with separate application forms and slightly varied rules and eligibility requirements. The volunteering strand is largely based on the 20 years of experience and development of quality standards of the European Voluntary Service.
The Corps projects must address solidarity-related topics such as:
Inclusion
Citizenship and democratic participation
Disaster prevention and recovery
Environment and natural protection
Health and wellbeing
Education and training
Reception and integration of refugees and migrants
This list is not exhaustive, and could be amended or added to as the initiative is developed.
On the screen you have the main objectives of the European Solidarity Corps
To promote solidarity as a value, mainly through volunteering
To enhance engagement of young people and organisations in accessible and high quality solidarity activities
To strengthen cohesion, solidarity, democracy, and citizenship in Europe, whilst responding to specific societal needs, with particular effort to promote social inclusion
To ensure participation of young people with fewer opportunities through a range of special measures
To contribute to European cooperation relevant to young people and raising awareness of its positive impact
As you can see, young people, and in particular young people with fewer opportunities are at the heart of the Corps.
PARTICIPANTS: young people between 18 and 30 years of age
APPLICANTS:
Any public or private organisation (some restrictions apply)
An informal group of young people (Solidarity Projects only)
Please check specific eligibility criteria before you apply
All mobility projects across the different fields of higher education, vocational education and training, schools, adult education and youth work on the same general approach – this will be explained in the next slide.
However, it’s extremely important to note that each field has its own specific conditions and criteria – not all activities for learners or staff are offered across all fields as you will have briefly seen when we went through the various activities for each of the fields. Where they are similar durations and funding levels can differ so you must always read the information for the field you intend to work in.
It’s very important also to note that for some fields there are some pre-qualifications that need to be held:
HEIs must hold an Erasmus Charter for Higher Education which is subject to a separate application round each year which is run by the European Commission. Deadlines are normally in May.
The EC has also introduced a VET Charter which is optional for VET organisations. Being awarded this accreditation allows accredited organisations to access funding in a simplified process. The VET Charter is obtained through a separate application process and is covered in a separate call to the general 2019 Call. Deadlines are normally in May.
Information on all charters and accreditation can be found on our website.
The basics of how it works is that an organisation applies for funding to send learners or staff to another country to undertake their activities.
In order to receive funding, you will need to fill out the official KA1 application form for the relevant field(s) you wish to apply for. Applications are released by the European Commission and the UK NA will provide guidance, via our website, to support you with the specifics for the field your applying for in addition to guidance on completing the application form.
The number of applications you can submit within a field is different and therefore it is important to respect the specific rulings which you are interested in applying for. Under some fields it is possible to submit an application as an individual organisation or as part of a consortium. Again you must check the specific requirements for the field you plan to apply for.
Project durations vary in length across the fields. Your project duration will cover all aspects of the project and does not reflect mobility activity durations. During the length of your project you will carry out activities associated with the selection and preparation of participants prior to a period of mobility and following mobility activities associated with evaluation and dissemination must be carried our within the project term. Projects within the fields of AE, VET and Schools can last 1 or 2 years however Youth projects can be from 3 to 24 months. Within HE projects involving mobility between Programme Countries can last 16 or 24 months and mobility between Programme and Partner Countries can last 16 or 26 months. It is important that you choose the appropriate project duration at the application stage based on the objectives of the project and on the type of activities planned over time. Only in extreme circumstances can a project duration be changed during the life time of the project.
Mobility activities within projects also have varying durations depending on the field and activity type which we will briefly discuss now…..
It is important that mobility durations meet the needs of the participants but are also in line with the minimum and maximum activity durations indicated for the field and activity.
HE
Student mobility:
Minimum duration for a Study placement is 3 months, the maximum is 12 months
Minimum duration for a Traineeship is 2 months, the maximum is 12 months
Staff mobility:
Minimum duration for staff mobilities is 2 days (programme countries) or 5 (partner countries), the maximum is 2 months
VET
Learner mobility:
Learner mobilities last between 2 weeks (i.e. ten working days) and 12 months. It is important to note that the minimum learner mobility placement duration is 2 weeks (i.e. ten working days), excluding travel time.
For VET learner mobility opportunities you will see that there are opportunities for short term and long term opportunities. The EC would like to see more longer term mobilities in VET which you may have heard referred to as ErasmusPro. ErasmusPro refers to mobilities which last from 3 to 12 months, excluding travel time. [ErasmusPro does now feature in the 2018 programme guide however longer term mobility isn’t something new which the programme offers. – additional info for 2019?]
Staff mobility:
staff mobilities have a possible length of between 2 days and 2 months. Again the minimum duration excludes travel time.
Advanced planning visits are a maximum of 3 days and are only eligible where applications include ErasmusPro learner mobilities.
Schools:
Staff mobility activities can last from 2 days to 2 months, excluding travel time, and the chosen duration must be consecutive.
Adult Education:
As with schools, staff mobility activities can last from 2 days to 2 months, excluding travel time, and the chosen duration must be consecutive.
Youth:
Youth exchange activities must last a minimum of 5 days up to a maximum of 21 days, excluding travel time.
Mobility of youth worker activities must last a minimum of 2 days up to a maximum of 2 months, excluding travel.
Advanced planning visits must last no more than 2 consecutive days, excluding travel.
Financial support varies by field and participant type but could cover:
Travel and Individual Support
Organisational Support
Linguistic Support
Course Fees (if applicable)
Additional funding for participants with specific needs
There are two different ‘funding types’:
Unit Costs - where funding is calculated on a per participant basis, with set rates for different elements
Actual Costs - where funding is specified by you and justified within the application and for which you will need to submit receipts
The funding under KA1 VET is a contribution to the costs of delivering the project.
There are no upper or lower limit to the numbers of participants or funding.
There are seven different ‘budget items’:
Organisational Support:
Determined by the number of participants and covers the organisational and management work needed to successfully complete a mobility project, like preparation, monitoring, validation and dissemination.
Travel:
Determined by the distance between the sending and hosting city, using the official EU distance calculator online.
Individual Support:
Covers the day-to-day expenses of mobility participants while on mobility, including accommodation, food and local transport. You can also request individual support for one travel day before and one after the mobility.
Course Fees:
Provides a contribution towards course fees for staff training within schools and adult education projects and is paid at a flat rate per day. Please note that this is capped at a maximum of 700 euro per participant.
For reference:
The amount of Organisational support applies to all projects and is a fixed amount multiplied by the number of participants within the project. This budget heading is meant to cover the organisational and management work needed to successfully complete a mobility project, like the preparation and monitoring of participants, the validation of learning activities and dissemination of results.
Individual support again applies to all projects and covers the day-to-day expenses of participants while on mobility, including accommodation, food and local transport. You can also request individual support for one travel day before and one after the mobility. The individual support needs to be spent on the participants in full.
Linguistic Support:
For VET only - In cases where the required language is not yet covered by the EC’s Online Linguistic Support toll applicants can request linguistic support. This budget category is only available for mobilities of 19 days of length or longer.
Special Needs Support:
Support for specific needs and exceptional costs are based on actual costs and need to be justified within the application.
Exceptional costs:
Include funding for Financial Guarantees (VERY rare) and expensive travel costs, which includes any expensive domestic travel costs and travel to and from outermost regions and overseas territories and countries. Please note that expensive travel costs can only be claimed for travel between Erasmus+ Programme Countries only, and only in cases where applicants can demonstrate that a standard Erasmus+ travel grant will not cover at least 70% of the overall travel costs. This cost will replace with standard travel grant.
Each application will be assessed against the European Commission’s published award criteria for the Key Action/field you are applying under. The award criteria and scoring guidance are included in Part B of the Programme Guide and these give you a good indication of the elements you need to consider when planning your project in order to improve your chances of being successful. You should refer to the award criteria throughout the process of planning your project and completing your application form, not just at the end! It is important to remember that if you application is successful you will be expected to deliver it as outlined in the approved application, so you need to design the project to meet the award criteria and to be achievable in practice.
The application process is competitive and only high scoring projects will be funded. It is therefore important to refer to the scoring requirements for the Key Action/field you are applying under.
For KA1 projects you must score 60 points or above overall and at least half of the available points for each individual award criterion in order to have a chance of being funded.
In addition, the detailed quality assessment criteria used by assessors is published on the Erasmus+ website once it’s released by the EC, so it’s a good idea to look out for this.
These are some hints and tips to help you develop a good quality application.
Firstly, choose your partners carefully – you may be working closely with them for up to 26 months, depending on field, and a strong and reliable partnership is the foundation of any successful project. Exploit your networks and seek recommendations from organisations you may have worked with in the past. If you are looking for new partners, you are encouraged to use platforms such as EPALE (Adult Ed) or eTwinning (Schools) or have a look at the organisations involved in previous projects on the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform.
Access NA support – after the Call is released, the NA produces detailed guidance for applicants and application support webinars. Keep an eye on our website or sign up for our newsletter for information about these.
Refer to the eligibility, quality and budget rules – we have mentioned this several times already because it is really important! You need to refer to these from the early planning stages of your project and throughout the application process. They are explained in more detail in the NA Guidance for Applicants. If you still have queries, contact us on our Helpline for advice.
Make sure partners are aware of the requirements – involve your partners in the planning and design of your project to ensure they are clear about their involvement and fully committed. Make sure they understand the rules and requirements which apply to them. For example, make sure they have a PIC number, as this will be needed in order to complete the application.
Include all the key information in the application form – it seems obvious but make sure you answer the questions in the application form fully and provide as much relevant detail as possible. Cross-refer with the quality criteria to ensure these are being addressed. Don’t assume that anything is obvious – make it clear. Avoid errors or inconsistencies and make sure the application form itself includes all the key information about your project.
Make sure your project is realistic and achievable – remember that if you are successful you will be expected to deliver the project as outlined in the approved application, so you must make sure your plans are realistic and achievable bearing in mind the make up and capacity of your partnership. Think about quality over quantity – more is not necessarily always more.
Finally, start your planning as early as possible and aim to submit your application in good time before the deadline. Allow time for final proof-reading and to deal with any unexpected technical glitches.
Please check carefully the deadline for applications and also the time – this is usually given in the Call document and the Programme guide as Central European Time, so here in the UK you’ll need to submit the application at the latest one hour before the stated time.
If you have not already done so for previous Erasmus+ applications, you must obtain a unique reference code called ‘PIC’ for your organisation from the Commission’s EU Login system, which has until recently been called ‘ECAS’ .
When preparing your application, please go through the eligibility and quality assessment criteria which you can find in the Programme guide, and make sure your application addresses all the points well.
Finally, when you are happy, you can submit your application. For some actions the application may be online and for some it may be an eform.
The NA is here to provide support and advice on making an application. You can sign up to our newsletter via the website to make sure you receive the latest programme information.
Links to application will be available from our website when they become available under ‘Apply for funding’ and we will produce step-by-step guidance documents to help you complete the applications. We will also hold application support webinars for each different project type and again these will be published on our website and promoted via our newsletter.
For any question you may have on your project feel free to contact us at the National Agency, and I’ll give you the details towards the end of the presentation.
So finally for the deadlines.
You will see for 2019 all fields with the exception of Youth have one application round. If you are interested in applying for KA1 projects within HE, Schools, VET or Adult Education the application deadline is usually in February, exact deadline will be announced when the Call is released.
For Youth in 2019 there are three application deadlines:
Usually in February, April and October.
For all deadlines, regardless of field and round please note the application deadline is indicated in the Programme Guide as Brussels time therefore the application deadline with the UK is 11am!
Contact the BC for queries relating to:
Higher Education
Schools
Youth KA2/3
Contact Ecorys for queries relating to:
VET
Adult Education
KA1 youth
Here are all our contact details so you can keep in touch with us!