CollegesWales International leads on delivering personal and professional development opportunities overseas for further education learners and staff. Erasmus+ was one of the main funding sources from 2011-2020. Since leaving the EU, CollegesWales International now applies for funding through the Welsh Government overseas exchange programme, Taith, and the UK Government mobility programme, The Turing Scheme.
Learners
CollegesWales International applied for Erasmus+ funding on behalf of the FE colleges in Wales through its pan Wales consortia applications. These applications provided opportunities for learners and apprentices to undertake two-week work placements across Europe. The work placements were compatible with the qualifications being studied by the learners in Wales and offered life-changing experiences to young people who may never have considered employment opportunities outside Wales.
Between 2014 and 2020 (the final Erasmus+ round of applications available to UK organisations), CollegesWales International successfully applied for €6.9m that provided overseas training and work opportunities for close to 3,000 learners and apprentices across Wales.
Learners and staff on the benefits of work placements in Europe
Staff
CollegesWales International also applied for funding to support CPD opportunities overseas for FE lecturers, leaders and support staff. These visits recognised the value of learning from others and the participants were able to gain insights into good practice and new ideas from other EU countries.
Between 2014 and 2020, CollegesWales International was successful in applying for €209,000 that supported 151 FE staff to participate in 9 pan Wales staff visits to the following countries:
- 2014 – Helsinki, Finland (Improving literacy and numeracy in a vocational setting)
- 2015 – Basque Country, Spain (Innovation in VET and supporting SMEs)
- 2016 – Catalonia, Spain (Multilingualism and employer engagement)
- 2017 – Sonderborg, Denmark (Higher level skills in an FE setting)
- 2018 – Helsinki, Finland and Pistoia, Italy (Internationalisation in VET)
- 2019 – Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany (Digitalisation of VET)
- 2020 – Vienna, Austria and Oslo, Norway (The dual-professionalism of VET staff)
In addition to FE college staff, representatives from Estyn, Welsh Government, Education Workforce Council (EWC) and Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) have taken part in these overseas visits which have provided opportunities to gather evidence, ideas and good practice from abroad to support strategic-level improvements to Wales’ vocational education and training structures.
Further Information
To find out more programmes replacing Erasmus+ in Wales, visit Taith or Turing Scheme.
Siân Holleran, Project Manager
Sian.Holleran@ColegauCymru.ac.uk
Vicky Thomas, Project Officer
Vicky.Thomas@colegaucymru.ac.uk
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