Erasmus marks 30 years of new opportunities

Funded by the EU, its aim is to give opportunities to Europeans to study, train, volunteer, or gain professional experience abroad.

When it started in 1987 it aimed to find places for 3,200 higher education students in 11 participating countries...today it is a seven-year Erasmus+ programme with a €1.47billion budget and aims to give opportunities to four million people in 33 countries.

Erasmus+ has been running since 2014 and this programme continues until 2020. It covers not just students but also young people under 30 with or without qualifications, older people such as teachers and trainers, apprenticeships and internships, volunteer schemes, youth exchanges and sports events. Individuals cannot apply directly for a grant but do so via one of the recognised organisations such as a university or partner group.

Statistics show students who have taken part are twice as likely to have a job one year after graduation compared to their non-mobile peers and that a third of Erasmus trainees will find work in the company where they carried out their internship.

For higher education students, the Erasmus+ grant is a contribution related to living and transport costs and the amount varies according to country. Latest figures available (for 2014-2015) show it averages €281 a month. It is not means-tested.

It is available for any subject area and any study level and students can do traineeships in any organisation or company abroad. Students who spend time abroad find it widens their horizons, improves language skills and helps them to mature.

In total, more than 5,000 institutions in the participating countries are signed up to provide Erasmus funding and these include both private and public organisations. The countries included are the 28 present EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey and Macedonia.

A spokesperson at the European Com­mission told Connexion that as long as the UK is an EU member, it will continue to be subject to the same rights as a member state. She added: “We cannot speculate on what the future relationship with the UK will be.”

Lowri Ellcock, 20, Exeter University

Lowri spent a year in Paris as a year abroad was part of her curriculum. Being an Erasmus student was a way to learn about different aspects of culture and other ways of teaching and she found it “both challenging and rewarding”.

However, she found it quite hard to socialise with French students as her language was “not the same kind of French my fellow students speak” – plus she did not like all the paperwork and bureaucracy.

She has no regrets as she knows she might never have such an opportunity again: “The chance to throw myself into a different culture, meet new people, improve my language and travel made it worth it.”

Maud Lascaze, 20, Brive-la-Gaillarde

Not all students use Erasmus to sign on at a university and some go for work experience.

Maud Lascaze is French and studying for a management and business degree in Brive-la-Gaillarde, Corrèze. For her course she spent three months in an English-speaking country to improve her language.

She worked on the social media and websites of a music shop in Dublin. It was unpaid, but she managed to support herself with a grant from her mairie and aid from Erasmus: “Thanks to this experience I improved my English so that when I came back I managed to get a job as an export assistant in a French company.”

Maud said: “I have many good memories of Ireland. I lived with a really friendly host family and I loved the Irish culture; the Celtic music in the pubs and the Irish food. Dublin is a dynamic city and I travelled around Ireland every week. I hope to go back soon.”

Louisa Becker, 21, Foreign Language Institute, Munich

Louisa Becker is from Germany and the Munich institute where she is studying has a partnership with the University of Strasbourg.

As she is passionate about the French language she decided to take up the opportunity to go to Strasbourg for six months and immerse herself in French culture.

One month in, she said she was loving it even though she has problems with the language sometimes and cannot yet speak it fluently.

“The French students are very open and the university offers many programmes to help us develop our French. It also introduces us to French students so we can have someone to speak to and practise.”

Louisa thinks she made the right decision to go to France even if it is not always easy: “It is not only the language but I do miss my family and my boyfriend in Munich but, even so, I could easily imagine myself staying in France even longer than planned.”