European Commission

Erasmus Student Mobility for Placements

What are the objectives of student placements?

To help students to adapt to the requirements of the EU-wide labour market;
To enable students to develop specific skill including language skills and to improve understanding of the economic and social culture of the country concerned in the context of acquiring work experience;
To promote cooperation between higher education institutions and enterprises;
To contribute to the development of a pool of well-qualified, open-minded and internationally experienced young people as future professionals.

Who can benefit?

Students registered at a higher education institution holding an Extended ERASMUS University Charter can benefit from this action.

Duration

Students can do a placement between 3 and 12 months or at least two weeks for students in short-cycle higher vocational education.

Where do placements take place

Host organisations for student placements may be enterprises, training centres, research centres and other organisations including higher education institutions in one of the 31 participating European countries.
Excluded are European Union institutions, organisations managing EU programmes (in order to avoid possible conflict of interests and / or double funding) and national diplomatic representations (embassies etc.) of the country of the student.

What arrangements are made for the students?

The period must be covered by a placement agreement (grant agreement/contract) between the student beneficiary and his or her home higher education institution.

Prior to their departure, students are provided with:

A "Training Agreement" regarding his or her specific programme for the placement period; this agreement must be endorsed by the home higher education institution and the host organisation;
A "Quality Commitment" setting out the roles and responsibilities of all the parties relating to the placement.
The Erasmus Student Charter setting out the rights and obligations of the student.

At the end of the period abroad:

Full recognition must be given by the home higher education institution for the period spent abroad as agreed in the Training Agreement, preferably by using ECTS credits.
In the particular case of a period of placement that is not part of the curriculum of the student, the sending institution shall provide recognition at least by recording this period in the Diploma Supplement.

Will financial support be provided?

Students may be awarded an ERASMUS grant to help cover the travel and subsistence costs (including insurance costs) incurred in connection with their placement period abroad.
Students may get a financial contribution or a contribution in kind by the host enterprise/organisation

Are language courses provided?

An ERASMUS student may follow, if offered, an ERASMUS Intensive Language Course in the host country before the placement period, for which a grant may also be awarded.

Who can apply?

The student applying must be registered at a higher education institution which holds an Extended ERASMUS University Charter.
The student must be a citizen of one the participating countries or be recognised as having an official status of refugee or stateless person or permanent resident according to national legislation.
In case the placement is organised by a consortium, the placement consortium must hold an ERASMUS consortium placement certificate.
At least the sending or the receiving country must be an EU Member State.

How to apply?

The interested student has to turn to the international office and / or ERASMUS office of his or her higher education institution. The office will inform her or him of the modalities to get an ERASMUS student placement and to receive an ERASMUS grant for it.

Students with special needs

See information on specific arrangements in the case of special needs.

ERASMUS success stories in the field of student placements

Lifelong Learning ERASMUS Award in Silver 2009 – Student Mobility
University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy - Improving job opportunities with Erasmus

- The University of Calabria, founded in 1972, is one of the few campus universities in Italy. Against a background of high youth unemployment in Calabria - over fifty per cent – the university has particularly focused on the opportunities for work placements in the Lifelong Learning Programme. The services that the university’s International Relations Unit has successfully developed for exchange students are now also helping to promote work placements, and a database has been created for European enterprises, organisations and other intermediaries willing to host students for quality placements.