Our dropout rates have significantly reduced and all our key target groups have benefitted tremendously. Students with difficulties became engaged. Teachers, who used to feel that they only served as an educator, now see themselves as role models.
Andrew James, Head of Training and co-ordinator of Computing & ICT Shooters Hill Sixth Form College
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Life cycle
2014-20
Country/Region
Europe and UK
Client/Partner
European Union
Vision
To give students, young people and education staff the chance to study, work, train and volunteer abroad to boost their skills and employability.
Situation
The UK needs a globally skilled workforce to negotiate, connect and engage internationally and capitalise on new opportunities and markets. Erasmus+ is crucial to achieving this, offering international opportunities for UK participants from every walk of life. As a lead partner in the Erasmus+ UK National Agency, we leverage our long-term international relationships and institutional links to deliver the programme. The Erasmus+ budget 2014-20 totalled €14.7 billion, of which around €1 billion was reserved specifically for projects led by UK-based organisations.
Implementation
In higher education, we manage the delivery of grant funding to support students and higher education staff working, training and studying abroad, as well as institutional partnerships. In the schools' sector, we manage funding for schools partnerships, pupil exchanges, and staff mobility, as well as managing the eTwinning platform (a free online community for schools across Europe to collaborate on projects). The scale and scope of the programme has led to additional learning and best-practice in areas of programme governance, operating with a commercial partner, flexible resourcing, project management training, quality assurance in delivery, and communications in new sectors.
Impact
From 2014-18, Erasmus+ funded 4,846 projects, with over 128,000 UK participants and awarded over €679 million to UK organisations. Students and young people who take part are less likely to be unemployed and more likely to hold managerial positions.
In schools, 83 per cent of school staff who took part in the programme adopted new teaching approaches and 80 per cent of pupils improved their sense of initiative and entrepreneurship. With over 670,000 registrations across Europe, eTwinning is promoting a huge number of international connections between schools, benefitting thousands of pupils of all ages and abilities.
'Erasmus+ changes people’s lives. It opens up new learning experiences, provides insight into different cultures, and, most importantly in such turbulent times, nurtures the concept of global citizenship amongst our staff and students.' Isabell Majewsky Anderson, Head of Go Abroad, Edinburgh University.
Mutual benefit
Through Erasmus+ we promote international mobility and partnerships, both of which are core to our values. This is our largest contract, demonstrating our expertise in large-scale programme delivery and enhancing our reputation as an attractive partner to our long-standing trading partners.
UK organisations have led over 870 strategic partnerships worth €184.7 million via the programme; to foster innovation, share best practices, and forge stronger links between the worlds of work and education. In terms of mobility, each year over 41,000 UK students and young people go abroad to study, train, volunteer, undertake a work placement or experience life. Likewise, each year, over 10,000 UK education and youth professionals teach or train abroad.