Pupil and student mobility
As the European Union programme for education, training, youth and sport, Erasmus+ had a budget of just less than Euro 14.8 billion. The programme was designed – in support of the aims of the Europe 2020 strategy – to improve competences and employability, and advance the modernisation of the education, training and youth work systems. In the programming period over 4 million people in Europe – particularly pupils, students, trainees, teachers and young volunteers – received grants and subsidies for a stay abroad for learning purposes.
A new seven-year generation of Erasmus+ programmes started in 2021. The total volume of programme funding has been increased to around Euro 26.2 billion. Erasmus+ aims to promote lifelong learning, enable sustainable growth, strengthen social cohesion and European identity, and drive innovation. The programme focuses on the closely interlinked themes of inclusion and diversity, digitalisation, civic education and sustainability.
In the school sector, Erasmus+ promotes the mobility of pupils, teachers, head teachers and pedagogical staff in schools and pre-school institutions (job shadowing, in-service training, etc.) under Key Action 1 – Learning mobility of individuals, Short-term Mobility Projects. In addition to short stays abroad, long-term stays abroad of up to a whole school year are also possible. Under Key Action 2 – Cooperation among organisations and institutions – smaller partnerships or larger cooperation partnerships of institutions from the school sector or pre-school institutions are funded, which focus on European cooperation and the development of high-quality materials and concepts for the school sector.
The National Agency for Erasmus+ in the field of school education is the Educational Exchange Service (Pädagogischer Austauschdienst – PAD) of the Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder (Sekretariat der Kultusministerkonferenz). On behalf of the Länder, the National Agency for Erasmus+ School Education (NA-PAD) is responsible for programme management, advising applicants, organising information events and evaluating project results. NA-PAD is also the National Coordination Point for eTwinning, a digital platform for networking and digital collaboration between schools in Europe and, via eTwinning Plus, with other countries outside Europe, provided by the European Commission as part of the Erasmus+ programme. More information about Erasmus+ school education is available and at Facebook and Twitter. https://twitter.com/etwinning.de and https://www.instagram.com/kmkpad/.
In vocational education and training, the National Agency Education for Europe (Nationale Agentur Bildung für Europa) at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung – BIBB) supports stays abroad by trainees in the dual system, pupils under state law and all learners at vocational schools in accordance with the definition catalogue of the Standing Conference.
Personal contact is essential in deepening understanding of other cultures. Therefore, exchanges have been carried out for decades, often as part of school partnerships or cross-border regional cooperation programmes, which are carried out at Länder level, as well as coordinated Educational Exchange Service of the Standing Conference with funding from the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) and the European Union, respectively, or other sponsoring bodies (e.g. foundations, youth organisations).
In 2023, almost 40,000 pupils took part in PAD exchange programmes, including around 9,000 in school partnership programmes funded by the Federal Foreign Office. As part of these school partnership programmes, pupils visit their partners in Germany or abroad and attend school together. For many years, the Federal Foreign Office has provided funding for partnerships with the United States, with countries in Eastern, Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe, and with Israel. Since 2008, the Federal Foreign Office's ‘Schools: Partners for the Future’ (PASCH) initiative has provided grants for exchange programmes with schools in many parts of the world.
After the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to hold exchange activities in person in 2020 and 2021, schools were able to resume them in mid-2022. By 2023, most programmes had seen application numbers approaching those seen before the pandemic. In 2024, schools in Germany and abroad continued to show increasing interest in organising international encounters. However, due to the significantly reduced budget funds in the programmes funded by the Federal Foreign Office, it was not possible to meet this interest. Further development will depend, on the one hand, on the financial resources and, on the other hand, to a large extent on world political events (including the war in Ukraine, developments in the Middle East, and cooperation in the transatlantic context).
In addition, as part of the bilateral government initiative UK-German Connection, school partnerships with the United Kingdom have been supported by Germany since 2005 with funding from the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt – AA). Since August 2023, there has been a German office at the PAD for the school sector in addition to the existing UK-German Connection office in London. Schools can apply to UK-German Connection for funding for German-British school partnerships and exchange visits.
Furthermore, the European and international dimension has also been promoted by the Deutschland Plus programme, which has been run by PAD on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office since 1959. In this programme, foreign pupils in national groups spend between two and three weeks in a host family. During this stay they receive special lessons in German as a foreign language, sit in on lessons with their host brothers and sisters and undertake excursions. Afterwards, they spend several days in Berlin. In 2024, 382 students from 26 nations, accompanied by 35 foreign teachers, took part in ‘Deutschland Plus’. The sister programme “International Prize Winners' Programme to Promote the Training of Foreign Students in the German Language “ (‘Internationales Preisträgerprogramm (IPP) zur Förderung der Ausbildung ausländischer Schülerinnen und Schüler in der deutschen Sprache’), which has also existed since 1959, was discontinued in 2024 due to cuts in the federal budget.
An agreement has been in place with France since 1986 on a medium-term individual pupil exchange incorporating a two to three-month stay in the partner country with a return visit from the exchange partner (BRIGITTE-SAUZAY Programme). In addition, the one-year exchange programme (six months in Germany, six months in France) VOLTAIRE has been in existence since the school year 2000/2001.
Additionally there are further individual exchange programmes at Länder level which are carried out together with partner schools abroad.
Periods of learning and study abroad for pupils in the upper secondary level lasting between at least six months and up to one year (this minimum duration does not apply to stays in the EU or Switzerland) are supported with up to Euro 632 a month, depending on the parents’ and the pupil’s own income through the Federal Training Assistance Act (Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz – BAföG). If, however, the period of learning and study abroad takes place within the scope of a cooperation agreed with the vocational education and training that is attended, a shorter period of at least twelve weeks is also eligible for support. A supplement of Euro 250 each way may additionally be paid for outward and return travel if the place of training is in Europe, or Euro 500 each way outside Europe. Financial support through the BAföG for pupils is a grant which does not have to be paid back.
Trainees have the opportunity to spend limited periods of their vocational education and training abroad. The period abroad is treated legally as part of the vocational education and training, provided it serves the objective of the training.
Within the framework of Erasmus+, the National Agency Education for Europe is supporting mobility projects for learners and teaching staff in the field of vocational education and training. For the learners, the acquisition of international qualifications and linguistic and intercultural competences helps develop an international vocational expertise which is of growing importance to the labour market and individual career planning. The average length of training placements abroad is between two and five weeks. In 2023, 25,259 grants were awarded within the framework of projects to trainees and pupils at Berufsschulen (part-time vocational schools).
In 2023, 785 companies and VET institutions have received accreditation for the Erasmus+ programme, which allows them to benefit from simplified procedures when applying for and implementing projects. Based on the 2023 call, a maximum of 100 additional institutions will be accredited in the following year. The accreditation certifies that the institutions have developed a plan to implement high-quality stays abroad as part of a comprehensive organisational development effort.
Periods of study and learning abroad by trainees as well as trainers in countries that do not participate in the Erasmus+ programme can also be supported via the support programme “Vocational Training Worldwide” (‘AusbildungWeltweit’) of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung – BMBF). The BMBF has commissioned the National Agency at the BIBB to carry out the programme. "Vocational Training Worldwide” enables training companies, chambers, vocational schools and other organisations to extend and flexibly organise learning stays in partner countries outside the EU. From 2018 to October 2024, around 3,300 stays abroad in over 60 countries were approved. On the website of the National Agency all necessary information on application and project implementation as well as reports on the experiences of former participants and training officers can be found.
The bilateral exchange programmes of the BMBF in vocational training are aimed at cooperative measures that go beyond the EU programmes with partner countries of particular importance to Germany. The exchange measures are generally embedded in longer term partnerships between training companies, vocational schools, chambers and other professionals in vocational training and, in addition to the promotion of mobility of trainees and those responsible for vocational training, are also aimed at the development and testing of innovative vocational training models.
Since 1980 the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has been promoting, together with the French education ministry and ministry of labour, ProTandem, the German-French Agency for exchange in vocational education and training with the aim of intensifying cross-border collaboration in the field of vocational education and training. By establishing permanent cooperation structures and simultaneously strengthening cooperation between vocational education and training actors, vocational education experience is supported during vocational training. In 2024, the programme supported around 1,300 participants from 35 professional fields in 53 group exchange measures. Since 1980, a total of just less than 112,500 people have taken part in exchange measures.
The German-Israeli Programme on Cooperation in vocational education and training is a co-operation between the Israeli Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the BMBF. The programme gives vocational education and training experts as well as trainees from different vocational fields the opportunity to learn professionally from each other, to experience the different everyday reality and thus deepen an understanding of each other. The programme is carried out the BIBB on behalf of the BMBF.
Teacher mobility
With regard to the European and international dimension of teaching, within training, further training and in-service training of teachers special importance is attached to experience acquired abroad. A large number of teacher training students are taking up the opportunity of spending a period of study abroad, whether as part of the Erasmus+ programme, which not only enables periods of study abroad at higher education institutions, but also placements abroad at host schools or through the programme for the exchange of foreign-language assistants operated by the Educational Exchange Service of the Secretariat of the Standing Conference, in which aspiring foreign language teachers are exchanged.
In this oldest international exchange programme in the school sector, foreign language assistants (FSA) have been promoting the acquisition and dissemination of the German language among foreign pupils since 1905. As Germany's language and cultural ambassadors, the assistants support the teachers at the host schools in German lessons as well as in other subjects and extracurricular activities. The FSA programmes are intended to awaken the joy of learning foreign languages, perfect the speaking skills of participating students from partner countries or from Germany, support them in their personal development and contribute to the professional qualifications of the participants. The PAD places German students at schools and also institutions of higher education in partner countries. In return, foreign students are placed as FSAs at schools in the German Länder. The PAD currently runs the FSA programme with 13 countries worldwide, including France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the 2025/2026 exchange year, which also marks the 120th anniversary of the programme, an FSA programme with Taiwan will be offered for the first time. For the FSA placement in France, in addition to students of the teaching profession, students of all other degree programmes who are interested in a paid school placement in France are also eligible for the PAD's online application procedure.
In the 2024/2025 programme year, around 960 German and foreign students are taking part in the PAD's FSA programme. A global trend of declining numbers of applicants can be observed.
Due to severe funding cuts by the German Federal Foreign Office, the PAD induction seminars for foreign FSA in Germany can only be offered online, even after the end of the COVID 19 pandemic.
Since 2019, the DAAD has been supporting the internationalisation of teacher training in Germany with its newly launched "Lehramt.International" programme. The guiding objectives of the "Lehramt.International" programme are as follows:
- Prospective teachers and lecturers at institutions of higher education acquire intercultural, linguistic and (professional) practical skills. Scholarships for school internships enable particularly less mobile groups among the teacher training students to gain concrete experience abroad. The scholarship offers are intensively advertised to the target group.
- Participating institutions of higher education establish and expand international cooperation and offer internationalised teacher training programmes.
- Creation and provision of expertise on internationalisation in teacher training programmes.
- Initiation of improvements in the (higher education) policy framework for the internationalisation of teacher training.
Within the framework of Lehramt.International, a total of 1,022 prospective teachers were supported with a scholarship for a school internship in 85 countries in 2023 and 2024. The model projects at 36 German higher education institutions with teaching posts maintain cooperation with 220 partner higher education institutions in 53 countries worldwide.
The further and continuing education of teachers and other educational staff in the school sector is served by various bilateral work shadowing and exchange programmes under the auspices of the Educational Education Service of the Secretariat of the Standing Conference, which are currently being carried out with Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and the United States. Moreover, as part of the initiative “Schools: Partners for the Future” (‘Schulen: Partner der Zukunft’ – PASCH) of the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), for example, further training measures and work shadowing programmes are implemented in Germany for foreign German teachers from Africa, Asia, Latin America as well as Eastern and Southern Europe. Teachers from all school types and levels can participate in these programmes. After the number of German and foreign participants in the PAD's job shadowing and training programmes increased significantly from 350 participants in 2022 to around 430 teachers in 2023, the number of participants fell to around 260 teachers in 2024. This decline in the number of participants was due to severe funding cuts by the German Foreign Office, which led to no PASCH further training courses being advertised in 2024 and fewer places being offered in the job shadowing programme than in the previous year.
Furthermore, the German Länder and the federal government have been financing the continuing training programme of the Standing Conference for local teachers at German schools abroad and DSD (German Language Diploma) schools for over 50 years: Until 2022, around 30 local teachers a year took part in this programme. In the following years, the number of applications fell, so that in 2023 and 2024, around 20 local teachers came to Germany under this programme and spent a year observing and teaching at a German school. The aim of the programme is to immerse participants in everyday life and the school system in Germany, to promote language, cultural studies and didactic knowledge, and to update the programme participants' image of Germany. Many of the teachers who have enjoyed this kind of continuing training then assume more responsible tasks in their home schools.
Other further training measures for German teachers abroad or foreign teachers in Germany are available under programmes offered by the European Union (Erasmus+) and through bilateral courses such as the German-French qualification programme for teachers at schools with bilingual teaching or through the BMBF-funded programme ”Europe meets school" ('Europa macht Schule'), in which European guest students participate in lessons in a German school class and present their home country through a special project.
Other exchange programmes for teachers also exist at Länder level.
Vocational training staff play a key role in the internationalisation of vocational training in Germany. Through the LEONARDO DA VINCI sub-programme of the European Union’s Lifelong Learning Programme (2007–2013), therefore, the National Agency Education for Europe also supported training placements abroad for persons active in vocational training. Many vocational training institutions use the funding opportunities in this area in order to support the necessary staff development measures as part of their increasingly international orientation.
In addition to the target group of learners, the Erasmus+ programme also supports periods spent abroad by VET staff under the key action 1 "Learning Mobility of Individuals". The aim is the individual further training of staff and the promotion of the internationalisation of training departments and vocational training institutions. On average, the stays last less than a week. In 2022, 5,028 stays abroad were approved for VET specialists as part of mobility projects.