Erasmus+ for schools
Basic information
For organisations in the school education field, including early childhood education and care and vocational education and training (VET), the main elements of the programme are:
- Staff and learner mobility (Key Action 1): This allows teachers and trainers (including student teachers) and other school staff to attend training courses and take part in job shadowing or teaching assignments in another country. Learners can participate in individual mobility activities, group or class exchanges, and learn new skills (in the field of VET).
- Partnerships for cooperation (Key Action 2): This allows schools to work with other schools and organisations to improve teaching and learning approaches, enhance education quality, and make education more relevant. It offers:
- Small-scale partnerships featuring newcomers and grassroots organisations.
- Cooperation partnerships that seek to achieve more substantial project results.
The main sources of information are the Erasmus+ website and the Erasmus+ Programme Guide, as well as the websites of the National Agencies. That is where application deadlines and other updates are published every year.
- Erasmus+ Programme Guide
- List of Erasmus+ National Agencies
- Factsheet on the 2021-2027 Erasmus+ programme
Guidance and tools
Erasmus quality standards for mobility projects: Organisations implementing mobility activities must adhere to a common set of Erasmus quality standards. They comprise basic principles and good management practices, ensuring quality standards and support for participants, as well as including guidelines for sharing results and knowledge about the programme.
Networking/Partner finding: If you are planning mobility activities as a participant or a host, you can find project partner announcements here, or even post your own.
Course catalogue: The course catalogue includes onsite and online courses targeted at teacher professional development. The onsite courses are provided by independent course providers and have not been pre-approved or validated by any authorities.
Self-paced learning materials: These materials offer basic information about the programme and can be used anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace. The materials are available in English at the EU Academy (where an EU Login is required):
- Erasmus+ funding opportunities for schools (general overview of KA1 and KA2)
- Erasmus Accreditations
- Erasmus+ individual pupil mobility in school education
Erasmus+ National Agencies
The EU works with National Agencies to bring the Erasmus+ programme as close as possible to participants.
The National Agencies are based in the Erasmus+ Programme countries and their role involves:
- providing information on Erasmus+,
- selecting projects to be funded,
- monitoring and evaluating Erasmus+,
- supporting applicants and participants,
- working with other National Agencies and the EU,
- promoting Erasmus+,
- sharing success stories and best practices.
Erasmus+ awards and labels
European Innovative Teaching Award: The European Innovative Teaching Award (EITA) highlights innovative teaching and learning practices, developed as part of European cooperation projects in the fields of school education and initial VET. The initiative is built upon the Erasmus+ programme. The Erasmus+ National Agencies are responsible for the selection of winning projects through direct selection of awardees, shortlisting of potential awardees, or publishing an open call.
Each year, up to four awards per Erasmus+ Programme Country are given, one for each of the following categories:
- early childhood education and care
- primary education
- secondary education
- and vocational education and training (VET) schools.
European Language Label: The European Language Label is an award encouraging the development of new techniques and initiatives in the field of language learning and teaching, as well as the enhancement of intercultural awareness across Europe. It is awarded to Erasmus+ funded projects and other initiatives from all fields of education and training.
Erasmus Accreditation Excellence Label: As part of the Erasmus accreditation scheme in the programme’s Key Action 1, the best performing accredited organisations in the fields of adult education, vocational education and training, and school education are awarded excellence labels for implementing high-quality mobility projects. As part of the yearly Erasmus+ calls for proposals, excellence labels are awarded to accredited organisations that have achieved an average score of at least 85 points in the evaluation of their last two completed mobility projects. Awarded excellence labels are valid for three years.