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Erasmus+ Programme Guide

The essential guide to understanding Erasmus+

Need a quick overview?

This guide is a detailed technical description of the Erasmus+ programme. It is mainly intended for organisations applying for funding.

If you are looking for a quicker overview, please read how to take part.

What is a mobility project?

Organisations active in the fields of education, training and youth will receive support from the Erasmus+ Programme to carry out projects promoting different types of mobility. A mobility project will consist of the following stages:  

  • Planning (including defining the learning outcomes, activity formats, development of work programme, schedule of activities)
  • Preparation (including practical arrangements, selection of participants, set up of agreements with partners and participants, linguistic/intercultural/learning- and task-related preparation of participants before departure);
  • Implementation of the mobility activities;
  • Follow-up (including the evaluation of the activities, the validation and formal recognition - where applicable - of the learning outcomes of participants during the activity, as well as the dissemination and use of the project's outcomes).

The Erasmus+ Programme reinforces the support offered to the participants of mobility activities in improving their foreign language competences before and during their stay abroad, including reinforced linguistic support grant for participants in long term mobility in VET, adult education and school education fields. An Erasmus+ Online Language Support (OLS) service provides the participants in mobility activities with the opportunity to assess their knowledge of languages as well as to follow online language courses to improve their competences.

A third important element of innovation and quality of mobility activities is that Erasmus+ participating organisations have the possibility to organise mobility activities within a broader strategic framework and in the medium term. Through a single grant application, the coordinator of a mobility project will be able to organise several mobility activities, allowing many individuals to go abroad to different countries. As a consequence, under Erasmus+ the applicants will be able to conceive their project in line with the needs of participants, but also according to their internal plans for internationalisation, capacity building and modernisation.

Accreditation schemes play an important role in ensuring high impact of Key Action 1. The Erasmus Charter for Higher Education, the Erasmus accreditation for higher education mobility consortia and the Erasmus accreditations in the fields of VET, school education, adult education, and youth allow organisations to benefit from Key Action 1 on a continuous basis, letting them focus on longer-term objectives and institutional impact.

Depending on the profile of participants involved, the following types of mobility projects are supported under Key Action 1 of the Erasmus+ Programme:

In the field of Education and Training:

  • Mobility projects for higher education students and staff 
  • Mobility projects for VET learners and staff
  • Mobility projects for school pupils and staff 
  • Mobility projects for adult education learners and staff

In the field of Youth:

  • Mobility projects for young people - Youth exchanges
  • Mobility projects for youth workers
  • Youth participation activities
  • DiscoverEU Inclusion Action

In the field of Sport:

  • Mobility of staff in the field of sport

The sections below provide the detailed information about the criteria and conditions applying to each type of mobility project.