Funded European mobility for FE colleges
Turing for 2026/27. Erasmus+ from 2027. Programmes shaped around your learners, your curriculum and your funding — led by your staff, organised by us.
Two weeks working to a live brief in another country does something a classroom can't. Learners come home more confident, more employable and better at working with people who see things differently. We introduce partners, help you shape the programme, organise everything around it and stay on call while your staff lead the group — and you get evidence that stands up when someone asks what it achieved.
Two starting points, one partner
Turing runs for 2026/27, then makes way for Erasmus+. Most colleges are in one of two places right now.
You hold Turing funding for this year
Congratulations — now the planning starts. We'll help you turn your award into a programme your learners and staff can be proud of.
- A programme designed around the outcomes you committed to
- Partners, venues, accommodation and transfers arranged
- Risk assessments shared with your team for approval before travel
- Evidence gathered as you go, ready for your final report
You're aiming for Erasmus+ in 2027
If Turing didn't come through this year, this is your next route. The UK associates to Erasmus+ from 1 January 2027, and the first UK call is expected to open in November 2026, with deadlines in February and March 2027. Strong applications take months to build, so the groundwork starts now.
- Registration support as soon as UK organisations can register
- Introductions to partner colleges and training providers in your sector
- Activity ideas and indicative costs to inform your plan
- Review of your draft against the award criteria — the application stays your college's own
Whatever you teach, there's a programme in it
We start from the learning outcomes, not the itinerary. Here's what a programme can include in each area. Tell us yours and we'll build from there.
Creative media & arts
Live content briefs, studio and gallery visits, and work made on location.
Engineering & motor vehicle
Workshop practice and project work alongside learners at a partner college.
Construction & green skills
Sustainable building methods, retrofit and renewables in practice.
Hospitality & catering
Professional kitchens, front of house and the local food economy up close.
Business & digital skills
Live briefs, enterprise challenges and a pitch to working professionals.
Health & childcare
How care and early years services work in another country, from the people who run them.
Sport & leisure
Coaching, club structures and event delivery in a different sporting culture.
Travel & tourism
A working visitor economy, studied from the inside.
…and many more
Tell us your curriculum area and we'll show you what's possible.
One way a fortnight could run: the Digital Challenge Project
Teams of learners invent, build, brand and pitch a digital tourism platform for the city they're staying in, working to a live brief and a real deadline.
| Day | Theme | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Discover & define | Arrival, orientation, team roles, the live brief and research into the target audience. |
| 3–5 | Research & create | Competitor review, a brand workshop and a day gathering original content around the city. |
| 6–7 | Culture | Guided cultural visits and time to reflect before the build week. |
| 8–10 | Build & market | Building the platform, testing it with other teams and producing campaign assets. |
| 11–12 | Prepare & pitch | Pitch coaching, then a panel pitch with structured feedback. |
| 13–14 | Reflect & close | A final cultural day, then evaluation, evidence review, certificates and departure. |
What each team comes home with
A brand, a working platform, original content gathered in an unfamiliar city, at least two marketing assets, a rehearsed pitch, and a record of evidence for your own assessment and reporting.
This is one example, not a fixed package. The same rhythm adapts to construction, health and social care, hospitality, engineering and more.
Led by you. Organised by us.
Your staff lead the group and guide the learning. We take care of everything around them.
Start with your priorities
Tell us the curriculum area, the learners, the outcomes you want and when you'd like to travel. A 20-minute call is enough to begin.
Shape the programme
We suggest a balanced itinerary. Your curriculum and international teams decide what goes in, and we refine it until it fits.
Prepare with confidence
Your staff get a clear programme pack, confirmed bookings, risk assessments for approval and the option of a briefing call before departure.
Deliver and evidence
Your staff lead the group on the ground. Our named coordinator stays on call for venues, transport and anything unexpected, while learners build evidence of what they've learned.
Six reasons colleges work with Global Horizons
Evidence that holds up
Learning programmes, learner reflections and impact records gathered as you go, ready for your self-assessment, your funder and your governors.
Mapped to your courses
Activities linked to the units and standards your learners are working towards, with careers learning that supports the Gatsby Benchmarks.
Inclusion from the first conversation
EHC plans, access needs and learners with fewer opportunities planned for at the start, not patched in later.
Safe & compliant
Every member of staff working with learners holds an enhanced DBS with barred-list check before any trip runs — alongside safeguarding-trained leaders and full risk assessment packs.
A reason to choose your college
A funded programme abroad gives open evenings, prospectuses and employer partners something real to talk about.
Less load on your staff
We handle partner introductions, bookings, transfers and logistics, so your team can stay focused on the learners.
Real placements. Real employers. Real outcomes.
International work experience
- Sector-specific employer placements: hospitality, creative, engineering, health, digital
- Live employer-led project briefs with real deliverables
- Job shadowing with European partners and SMEs
Wider skills development
- Cross-cultural communication and confidence in unfamiliar settings
- Problem-solving, teamwork and leadership under pressure
- Digital portfolios, language exposure and sustainability literacy
- Peer mentoring and learner-voice leadership opportunities
Every learner, not just the confident ones
The learners who gain most from time abroad are often the least likely to put themselves forward. We plan for them from the start: EHC plans, mobility and sensory needs, worries about travelling, and learners who have never been abroad before.
Both schemes recognise this. Turing pays enhanced grants for disadvantaged learners, and Erasmus+ offers inclusion support for participants with fewer opportunities, including the extra costs of support staff who travel with them. Our founders have spent years working with learners who face these barriers, and that experience shapes how every programme is designed.
Your policies, our preparation
Safeguarding accountability stays with your college. Your staff lead and supervise the group throughout, under your own policies and procedures. Before anything is booked, we agree the practical framework with you — curfews, headcounts, meeting points and emergency contacts — and share the risk assessments for your designated safeguarding lead to sign off.
- A risk assessment pack for every programme, covering transport, activities, accommodation and country-specific risks
- Accommodation checked against our standard, with the record shared before travel
- A 24/7 duty phone answered by a senior member of our team, and a documented emergency plan for every trip
- Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office for data protection (ref. ZC157179)
Three ways to take learning abroad
Erasmus+ funds three main kinds of mobility in vocational education and training (VET), and one project can combine them.
Group mobility
A group of learners travels with your staff and spends 2–30 days learning alongside peers at a partner VET provider abroad. It's the format our two-week programmes are built around.
Individual placements
A learner spends 10–89 days abroad — or 90 days to a year through ErasmusPro — on a placement with a strong work-based element and a learning programme of their own.
Staff mobility
Teachers, trainers and support staff job-shadow, teach or train abroad, then bring new practice home.
Professional mobilities for staff →How group mobility works under Erasmus+
Under Erasmus+, every activity is hosted by an organisation abroad whose staff lead it. For group mobility, that's a partner VET provider that designs the learning with your college, and your learners learn alongside its learners. Your staff travel with the group and guide the learning. Cultural visits can support it, but they can't be the main event. We introduce suitable partners and organise the practical side around the programme you agree together.
Two ways in for colleges
The right route depends on how much mobility you want to run, and how often. For most colleges starting out, a short-term project is the realistic first step.
A short-term project (KA122-VET)
The simplest route. One application covers a single project lasting 6–18 months, with up to 30 participants — accompanying staff aren't counted. A college can receive up to three short-term projects in any five call years.
Erasmus accreditation (KA120-VET)
For colleges planning regular mobility over several years. You set out a longer-term Erasmus Plan, then apply for funding to deliver it through accredited projects (KA121-VET). No previous Erasmus+ experience is needed, but accreditation takes longer to secure, and later calls depend on the UK's participation in the programme after 2027.
Based on the 2026 Erasmus+ Programme Guide. The 2027 guide is expected around November 2026; check erasmusplus.org.uk for the current rules before you apply.
Before you get in touch
No. Erasmus+ opens to UK colleges from the 2027 call, which is expected to open in November 2026. A Turing bid gives you a head start: you already have a project idea and a clear view of your learners' needs. We'll talk you through the Erasmus+ route and introduce partners who fit.
No. Vocational education and training is one of the programme's main fields. Learners in construction, engineering, hospitality, health and social care, digital and many other areas can take part, and placements with a strong work-based element are central to what it funds.
It helps to have one named lead, but it doesn't need to be a full-time role. We take on partner introductions, the practical planning, bookings and logistics, and support your team through registration. The application, and the decisions in it, stay your college's own, written by the people who know your learners.
Yes. Training and apprenticeship providers are usually eligible for vocational mobility in the same way as colleges. Adult education is a separate Erasmus+ field with its own actions, also open to UK organisations from the 2027 call. Tell us what you deliver and we'll point you to the right route.
Now, if you're aiming for the 2027 call — partnerships, project design and registration take months, not weeks. If you hold Turing funding for 2026/27, tell us your travel window and we'll work back from it.
Further reading
Looking for schools or sixth forms? For Schools · Youth or sport organisation? Youth & Sport Organisations
Based in Europe and want to send learners to the UK? European colleges & lycées →
Last reviewed: 10 October 2026. Confirm current calls, deadlines and eligibility at erasmusplus.org.uk and gov.uk before acting.
Let's get your college's first trip funded.
A 20-minute call is all it takes to see if we're a fit.