KA2 Strategic
Partnerships
Application advice –
What the Assessor
is looking for
Key Action 2 for schools
• Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnerships = School
Partnerships between 2 to 10 schools
• They can last 2 or 3 years
• Can focus on one specific field of education i.e. school
education or…
• Can promote cross-sectoral cooperation i.e. involve more
than one field of education
• Grant is not a lump sum for mobilities cf. Comenius but a
mix of flat rates ( called unit costs) and real costs
Selection and grant agreements
• One application per project, assessed by coordinating
National Agency
• School to school only SPs = individual Grant Agreements
as per current Comenius partnerships
• If schools partner with other organisations the applicant
organisation holds the grant agreement with their National
Agency and hence the funds and budget for the whole
partnership
What happens when you apply?
• a formal check is made to verify against the eligibility and
exclusion criteria
• a quality assessment evaluates how well the participating
organisations meet the selection criteria and the project
meets the award criteria
• Notification of result of application is within 4 months of
the submission deadline
Quality Assessment / Award Criteria
• Each application is marked out of 100
– Relevance of the project (30)
– Quality of the project design and implementation (20)
– Quality of the project team and the cooperation
arrangements (20)
– Impact and dissemination (30)
• A project must score at least 60 to be considered, AND
score at least 50% in each category
School priorities
• Improving the attainment of young people, particularly
those at risk of early school leaving (ESL)
• Improving the attainment of young people with low
basic skills in Maths, Science and Literacy
• Developing high quality and accessible Early
Childhood Education and Care services (ECEC)
• Revising and strengthening the professional profile of
the teaching professions
Education and training priorities
• developing basic and transversal skills, such as
entrepreneurship, digital skills and multilingualism
• enhancing Information and Communication Technologies
(ICT) uptake in teaching and learning
• promoting stronger coherence between different EU and
national transparency and recognition tools
• supporting the adjustment of funding and investment in
education and training to new needs and the development
of improved funding approaches for skills development
The ‘proportionality principle’
• There will be a fair and standard marking of applications,
no matter their size or scope
• The assessor will consider the size of the project and the
experience of the school when assigning marks, and will
adjust expectations accordingly
• in practice this will mean that you are not disadvantaged
by applying for a small project – the definition of ‘very
good’ will be different
• coherence of the grant request in relation to the activities
and outputs proposed will be checked
Relevance of the project – 30 points
The assessor needs to see that the project :
• matches the aims of Erasmus+, and the priorities for schools
• is based on a genuine and adequate needs analysis;
• has clearly defined objectives which are realistic and address issues
relevant to the schools , their staff and pupils
• is innovative and/or complementary to other initiatives already carried
out by the schools
• only has value and produces results because it is carried out with
other international partners
Quality of the project design & implementation – 20 points
• The work programme should be clear, complete and of good
quality
• It must include appropriate phases for preparation,
implementation, monitoring, evaluation and dissemination.
• The project objectives and proposed activities must be consistent.
• It must be cost-effective and allocate appropriate resources to
each activity.
• Where there are plans for training, teaching or learning activities,
they must be appropriate to the aims and involve the appropriate
number of participants.
• Learning outcomes should be clearly assessed and validated.
Quality of the project team & cooperation
arrangements – 20 points
• The schools involved bring the right mix of experience and expertise
to successfully deliver all aspects of the project.
• All partners are active contributors and tasks/responsibilties are
clearly assigned.
• Where possible newcomers are involved.
• It is clear what the channels of communication are for schools to
coordinate the project.
• If a ‘Partner Country’ is involved you must explain the necessity for
their inclusion, if not the project will be rejected.
Impact and dissemination – 30 points
The Assessor will consider how the potential impact of the project
is measured :
• on participants and schools, during and after the project lifetime
• at local, regional, national and/or European levels.
In addition:
• The quality of the dissemination plan
• The plans for ensuring the sustainability of the project after the project
finishes.
• If relevant, how the outcomes are made freely available. (opensource)
Applying
• Before anything else….
• Remember your PIC!
• Start at
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/onlineservices/pador/register_en.htm
The application eform
• Completed on-line only (no paper)
• You’ll need the most up-to-date version of Adobe
Reader
• To submit and complete in full, you will need to be
connected to the internet
• It must be saved to your desktop before starting
• There have been some reports of corruption when using
a USB stick with a .pdf application, so that should be
avoided
It should look like this
Basic form info
•
•
•
•
Grey is automatic – you can’t enter info
Red outline is mandatory
Blue with black outline is optional
Combination of drop-down menus and free
text boxes
• Hover over boxes to find character
maximums
• Section-by-section guidance online
Budget
•
•
•
•
•
Menu of different cost items
Most payments conditional on justification in application
Unit costs i.e. flat rates
Ceilings
2 cost items are common to any project:
Project management and implementation
Transnational project meetings
Application process
• Once you’ve completed the form, you should:
– Validate
– Print declaration
– Have it signed
– Attach the declaration
– Attach the time table of activities (Gantt chart)
– Submit the application online
E-Twinning
• Great opportunity to find partner
schools
• Protected space to share ideas
• Improved version coming soon
Finding out more
• www.erasmusplus.org.uk
– For application guidance,
– forms,
– deadlines,
– the programme guide,
– Links and guidance for ECAS and PIC,
– and everything to do with Erasmus+,
– including more links
• erasmusplus.enquiries@britishcouncil.org
• 0161 957 7755
Questions?