Erasmus Plus KA1 > How Does it Work?

What Mobility projects for staff and learners Courses, job shadowing, pupil mobility and invited experts.

Who Schools, VET providers and education organisations Working in eligible Erasmus+ sectors.

How Apply through Erasmus+ Accreditation Or a short-term KA1 project.

Being the most funded Action in the Erasmus+ programme, Key Action 1 provides thousands of individuals with a unique opportunity for international mobility every year.

If you’re involved in an organization working in the field of education, training, youth or sport, you can apply for Erasmus+ funds and take part in a meaningful experience abroad.  

Let’s discover the main opportunities in the sectors of school education and vocational education and training (VET) and how to make the most of them. 

KA1: Opportunities for Schools

Teachers and all staff in charge of school education in primary schools, secondary school and higher education (also vocational education and training, schools for adult education and youths) can apply for funding to run mobility projects to offer training and/or teaching opportunities to staff and learners.

🧑‍🏫 Staff Mobility Teacher training & development

🎒 Pupils Mobility Group, short-term & long-term

🎓 Invited Expert Training & support at your school

Staff Mobility

One of the most common opportunities under Erasmus+ Key Action 1 is staff mobility, which allows teachers, school leaders and other school education staff to take part in professional development activities abroad.

These activities can include job shadowing, teaching assignments and courses and training in another Erasmus+ Programme country. Through staff mobility, teachers and school staff can improve their professional skills, discover new teaching methods, exchange good practices with colleagues from other countries and bring fresh ideas back to their school.

This is one of the most accessible ways for schools to use KA1 funding, especially when they want to invest in teacher training and long-term school development.

🔗 Check out our 500+ training courses for teachers in the most beautiful European cities.

Pupils Mobility

If you want to provide your pupils with an exciting experience abroad, you can choose between three kinds of learner mobility:

Moreover, all physical mobility activities can be blended with virtual ones.

🔗 Are you looking for a host partner for your pupils’ mobility?
Check Europass Student Academy — we will help you plan an amazing experience abroad for your students.

Invited Expert – Training Course and Support

Under Erasmus+ KA1, schools can also use funding to invite an expert from another EU Member State or third country associated with the Programme. Invited experts can be trainers, teachers, policy experts or other qualified professionals who support the development of teaching and learning at the receiving school.

This activity can be useful when a school wants to provide training directly on site, involve several staff members at the same time, introduce new teaching methods or receive tailored support on a specific educational need.

However, schools should plan this activity carefully. Erasmus+ funding for invited experts is based on the Programme’s standard grant categories, such as travel, individual support and organisational support, rather than on a full-cost reimbursement system. This means that the available grant may not always cover all real costs involved, especially when travel, accommodation and expert fees are high.

For this reason, invited expert activities can be a valuable option for schools, but they are often more suitable when the expert’s costs are limited, when the activity is part of a broader KA1 plan, or when the school is able to provide additional co-funding.

KA1: Opportunities for Vocational Education and Training

Not only can schools and universities apply for students and staff mobilities, but providers of vocational education and training (VET) can also participate in staff and learners’ mobility. If your organization aims to prepare young people and adults for specific occupations or the job market in general, you can apply within the VET sector.

👩‍🏫 Staff Mobility Professional development & study visits

🏫 Learners Mobility Group, short-term & long-term

Staff Mobility

Among KA1 activities, there are also professional development courses for teachers/trainers and invited experts.

We have implemented some courses regarding the vocational and training-based education of several European nations. These VET courses are designed to become more specific according to participants’ needs and requests.

• VET: The German System (Study Visits in Berlin)
• Finland VET System (Study Visit in Helsinki)
• The Croatian Educational System (School Visits in Split)
• The Irish Education System (Study Visits in Dublin)

Learners Mobility

VET learners have the same mobility opportunities as school pupils:

VET learners (together with staff, mentors, or experts if needed) can also take part in VET skills competitions (1-10 days): international sectoral events aimed at promoting and recognizing professional skills, know-how, and technological innovations in VET.

Erasmus+ Accreditation & Short-term Applications

There are two different procedures through which you can access Erasmus+ KA1: the accreditation or the short-term project application. Let’s see the difference.

Award Criteria: How Applications Are Evaluated

Not every application gets funded. Erasmus+ National Agencies evaluate every proposal against a set of award criteria, assessing them out of a total of 100 points. To be considered for funding, it’s not enough to reach a good overall score: you also need to score at least half of the maximum points on each individual criterion (three criteria for short-term projects, four for accreditation). This means a strong showing in one area can’t compensate for a weak one elsewhere — your application needs to hold up across the board.

🛡️ Erasmus+ Accreditation

Accreditation applications need at least 70/100 overall, evaluated against four criteria that assess your organisation’s multi-year Erasmus Plan:

🎯 Relevance 10 pts	How well your organisation’s profile and experience fit the field and the purpose of accreditation, and how well your proposal reflects EU values. If you’re applying as a consortium coordinator, this also covers whether your planned members fit the consortium’s purpose and add real value.
🧭 Erasmus Plan: Objectives 40 pts	Whether your Plan is aligned with the goals of accreditation, addresses your organisation’s real needs, and sets objectives that are realistic yet ambitious enough to have genuine impact — with concrete ways to track progress.
🗓️ Erasmus Plan: Activities 20 pts	Whether the scale of mobility activities you’re proposing is proportional and realistic for your organisation’s size, experience and objectives, and whether it involves participants with fewer opportunities where relevant.
⚙️ Erasmus Plan: Management 30 pts	Whether you’ve clearly allocated tasks and resources in line with the Erasmus quality standards, secured genuine buy-in at management level, planned for continuity if staff change, and mapped out how you’ll embed mobility results in your organisation’s everyday work.

📝 Short-term Project Applications

Short-term project applications need at least 60/100 overall, evaluated against three criteria:

🎯 Relevance 20 pts	How well your school or organisation’s profile fits the field, how your project matches the action’s objectives and EU values, and whether it addresses priority areas such as supporting newcomers, participants with fewer opportunities, or (for schools) long-term learning mobility of pupils / (for VET) ErasmusPro activities.
📐 Quality of project design 50 pts	Whether your objectives and activities are well matched, your logistics are appropriate and cost-effective, and your project builds in sustainability and digital tools (e.g. eTwinning, EPALE).
🔄 Quality of follow-up actions 30 pts	How clearly you’ve planned to embed the results in your organisation’s regular work, evaluate the outcomes, and share them (also publicly), while properly acknowledging EU funding.

In practice, a short-term project is judged on how well you’ve designed one concrete initiative, while accreditation is judged on how solid and realistic your organisation’s longer-term commitment to mobility is — so it’s worth choosing the route that matches where your school or organisation actually stands today.

Costs covered by KA1 grants

Here you will find the main budget categories for KA1 projects. Some amounts depend on your National Agency, but this overview will give you a clear idea of how the funding works.

Travel Distance	🌿 Green Travel	✈️ Non-green Travel
10 – 99 km	€56	€28
100 – 499 km	€285	€211
500 – 1,999 km	€417	€309
2,000 – 2,999 km	€535	€395
3,000 – 3,999 km	€785	€580
4,000 – 7,999 km	€1,188	€1,188
8,000 km or more	€1,735	€1,735