School Exchange Partnerships

If your school wants to expand its international outlook, improve language learning through real life experience, visit eTwinning partners or start a new partnership with a European school, it’s now even easier to arrange exchanges of pupils and staff, through a streamlined application process.

Here are some details:

• Eligible schools can send groups of pupils on short-term exchanges, accompanied by staff, lasting from three days to two months excluding travel days. This is instead of the minimum five day period offered before. For long-lasting partnerships and bigger life experiences, schools can also offer long-term exchanges of between two months and a year for pupils over age 14.
• Schools can send staff on short-term joint training events of three days to two months, excluding travel days, and long-term teaching or training assignments of between two months and one year.
• Partnerships must involve a minimum of two and a maximum of six schools, from at least two programme countries.
• Funding is limited to €16,500 per school per year of the project.
• Projects will last between 12 and 24 months, except projects organising long-term exchanges of pupils, which may last up to three years.
• There is a new code for School Exchange Partnerships: KA 229.

To find out more read Tomás’ ‘Tips for your KA229 School Exchange Partnership Application’ on our blog.

Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices:

Strategic Partnerships funding allows schools to cooperate with each other or with outside organisations to run projects. These should directly focus on issues affecting school education, such as teaching standards, citizenship, improvement of basic or subject-specific skills, or the development of a new tool or system to improve school education. Projects are expected to develop, transfer and/or implement innovative practices. Project results must be shared with the wider community to encourage use of these methods, and make an impact beyond the organisations directly involved.

There are two project types: School Exchange Partnerships and School Education Partnerships.

Most types of Strategic Partnership need a minimum of three organisations from three different programme countries to be involved. For partnerships that involve a school collaborating directly with another school, or a school authority collaborating directly with another school authority, a minimum of two organisations from two different programme counties must be involved. There is no maximum number of partners, but funding for managing the project is capped at a level equivalent to ten organisations. Projects can last two to  three years.

NB: Irish schools and school authorities can participate as either ‘lead’ or ‘partner’ organisations. Only the lead organisation of a partnership applies for funding.

As projects can be large- or small-scale and can include a diverse range of partners, a very wide range of activities are possible. Possible activities include but are not limited to:

• Establishing exchanges of practices between schools
• Developing information, guidance, coaching or counselling capacity
• Promoting the development, testing or implementation of innovative practices in school education
• Developing learning, teaching or training tools, materials or approaches
• Training, teaching and learning activities, under certain conditions.

Register on the School Education Gateway to search for partnership opportunities.

For full details of eligibility criteria and possible project activities, please see the ‘Strategic Partnerships in the field of education, training and youth’ section of the Erasmus+ Programme Guide.

FUNDING

The maximum funding available is €300,000 for two-year projects or €450,000 for three-year projects. All projects can receive funding for project management and implementation; apart from these, eligible expenses depend on the types of activities in the project. See t ‘What are the funding rules?’ in the ‘Strategic Partnerships in the field of education, training and youth’ section of the Erasmus+ Programme Guide for detail.

BENEFITS

Strategic Partnerships help schools to better address the needs of their staff, learners and stakeholders. They foster the development of more attractive education programmes, and promote new approaches to current challenges. Participation also contributes to the professional development and motivation of the staff group and enables each school to operate successfully in a wider European arena.

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