Scotland's share of Erasmus+ EU funding is up by more than €1m since last year. This means that a record total of €22.3m will be shared by 172 Scottish organisations working across a range of sectors:
€14.1m for universities and higher education institutions
€5.9m for organisations working in vocational education and training
€865k for youth work organisations
€832k for schools
€614k for organisations working in adult education
With further funding results for 2018 yet to be announced, and 2019 calls due to open, the figure will again rise.
Erasmus+ enables people from the UK to go abroad to study, train, or volunteer and is delivered in the UK by the British Council in partnership with Ecorys UK.
Most of the new funding is for projects between Scotland and European countries. But Erasmus+ also reaches beyond Europe and in turn helps Scotland to do so.
€3.8m of this year’s figure is shared between ten higher education projects, which will connect Scottish universities and colleges with their counterparts in the USA, South Africa, India, Israel, Palestine, China, Canada, Mexico, amongst many other countries.
Overall Scotland has benefitted from €90.6m of Erasmus+ funding across some 840 individual projects since 2014. This demonstrates a huge appetite across Scotland’s education, youth and voluntary sectors for international exchange, collaboration and partnership.
Additional funding awarded directly by European Commission will also be announced in due course.
Looking to the future of Erasmus+, the UK Government announced in August 2016 that it would underwrite the payment of awards for UK applicants for successful bids to EU funding. This covers all successful bids for Erasmus+ funding submitted before the UK exits the EU, including from the upcoming 2019 Call for Proposals, which are due to be published this month, where planned projects can continue.
In July 2018, the UK Government also announced an extension of this underwrite guarantee for certain EU programmes, including Erasmus+, covering funding applied for after the UK’s exit, provided that the terms under which UK organisations could be eligible for post-exit participation are agreed.
Given that Erasmus+ funding remains available to UK organisations as noted, we are keen to get the message out about upcoming funding rounds. So please spread the word to any orgnaistion you think should be applying for funding, and keep an eye on our social media channels for the next round of application dates.
One of the quickest and easiest ways to find out about Erasmus+ is to attend an information session. These events provide an overview of the programme as well as the funding opportunities available in 2019, and are primarily intended for newcomers to the programme. Find out more and book your place.
