13 October 2017
Scotland’s share of Erasmus+ funding is up by nearly €5m since last year.
New figures from the British Council and Ecorys UK, the National Agency delivering the European Union scheme in the UK, show that a total of €21m will be shared by 159 Scottish organisations working in a range of sectors.
- €11.4m goes to Scotland’s universities
- €2.3m goes to Scotland’s schools
- €4.75m goes to Scottish organisations working in vocational education and training
- €1.6m goes to Scottish organisations working in adult education
- €756k goes to Scottish youth work organisations
A full breakdown by organisation can be found on the Erasmus+ website.
The news comes at the same time as the launch of Shaping Futures - 30 years of Erasmus+, an online exhibition celebrating 30 years of the EU scheme.
Erasmus+ now reaches beyond Europe and in turn helps Scotland to do so. Last year the number of higher education students and staff exchanging with their wider international counterparts doubled to 544. This is due to institutions such as the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh securing funding for international partnerships with universities in countries such as Brazil, China and India.
Overall the new figures for 2017 mean that Scotland has benefitted from €60m of funding from the EU scheme across 700 individual projects since 2014.
The number of young people and students from Scotland, as well as staff in education, training and youth work benefiting from Erasmus+ is also up - from 4,975 in 2015, to 6,190 in 2016.
The number of students and young people in vocational education and training schemes gaining experience overseas has also doubled in that time.
Information sessions on how Scottish organisations can take part in Erasmus+ are being held in Inverness on 24 October and in Newcastle on 15 November. Bookings can be made on the Erasmus+ website.