South West College Awarded €1 million Erasmus+ Funding
25 Oct 2016
South West College (SWC) has successfully secured €1 million of Erasmus+ funding in this year’s funding round. The College, which has a strong history of European exchanges and partnerships, is now positioned as one of the UK’s leading organisations in Erasmus+ projects achieving funding under all three key actions covered by the programme; Higher Education, Vocational Education, and Youth Development. As a result of this success the College has been awarded the prestigious Erasmus+ Vocational Education and Training (VET) Charter. This Charter recognises the College’s excellent track record of managing student and staff international mobility projects. SWC also hold the Erasmus+ Higher Education (HE) Charter providing full recognition for the quality of HE student and staff mobility.
Erasmus+ is the European Union programme for education, training, youth and sport, and as a result of this funding package SWC staff and students will have exciting opportunities to study, work, volunteer, teach and train across Europe through an programme entitled ‘International student and staff mobility.
This programme will give students the opportunity to carryout work placements with world-leading employers in Iceland and France and give staff the opportunity to undertake teaching exchanges in Russia, USA and Canada in the areas of Civil Engineering, Mining and Hospitality. The Colleges InnoTech Centre is also involved in the development and implementation of innovative practices with partners across Europe, sharing best practice and knowledge exchange services.
Dr Jill Cush, Head of Business Development, said "An important strategic objective in South West College is to encourage an international outlook and awareness so that students and staff have the confidence to operate in a global environment. The Erasmus projects will enable more students and staff than ever to spend time abroad to broaden their horizons and improve their skills. For students this is key to boosting employability and career prospects.”
Securing this funding will allow SWC further strengthen its international relationships working with high calibre education providers and industry in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain who will collaborate to develop new curricula for students and industry, training resources and teacher training programmes for STEM subjects.
Liam Curran, Head of Higher Education, said; “South West College and its International team have a long and strong history of running international mobility placements and projects for staff and students under the former Leonardo da Vinci Lifelong programme and now we are delighted to be operating at such a high level through Erasmus +. The College has now been awarded the Erasmus + Vocational Education and Training Charter from the national agency ECORY’s. This quality kite mark will allow us to have a more streamlined approach to project applications and enable greater numbers students and staff to benefit from work placements across Europe. The Charter is also recognition that South West College manages quality funded projects in accordance with European Commission regulations and provides students a staff with a well planned European work experience.”
For further information or to arrange an interview contact:
Elaine Hawkes – South West College PR Officer
Tel: 0845 603 1881 ext. 3640, E-Mail elaine.hawkes@swc.ac.uk