Through this project, we will offer 300 VET-SHORT and 40 VET-PLONG mobilities. Our target group are young people, aged 16-25, who are often disadvantaged and have had limited/no previous opportunity to travel or live independently. The mobility provides an opportunity to push them out of their comfort zone and broaden their horizons and perspectives, developing their confidence in a supported environment. We have a strong understanding of the needs of our participants and can offer a range of placement and accommodation models, appropriate support mechanisms and strong training model to meet these needs. Our flexible approach will support us to achieve our European Internationalisation Strategy (EIS) goal; to increase the volume and breadth of young people we engage. At REY Europe, we offer young people employability training, with a mobility placement embedded as an integrated component of the course. Using non-formal training methodology, we aim to support young people to develop their confidence and readiness to enter the labour market. Project delivery is staggered throughout the year and we work in partnership with a number of UK organizations who have large volumes of participants who can be signposted to our projects. These partnerships are a key component in our model of recruitment, engagement and support for young people. One of our EIS goals is to diversify our UK partnerships. In this context, we plan to engage local youth employment organisations, as well as FE Colleges and we will invest resource in mapping out and developing this work. We offer our employability course to vocational learners, up to Level 3, who are studying in the following areas; Hair & Beauty, Computing, Business, Travel & Tourism, Catering, Sport and Construction. Our placements are located in Greece, Spain, Czech Republic, France and Portugal. Students are offered the employability course as an enhancement of their vocational qualification and the mobility activity is open to all students enrolled on the course. . The course offers unique benefits in terms of vocational, employability focused and soft skills development. Placements are aligned to each student’s vocational course of study, giving them a chance to simultaneously develop their technical and soft skills, whilst considering aspects such as communication in the workplace, interview techniques and self development. Participants will be joined by an accompanying person (AP) for the first and last week of their placement, at a ratio of 1:10. As our participants will have little, if any experience of travelling abroad or living independently, the AP will provides a crucial function in supporting participants to settle into their host country and accompanying participants whilst they are travelling. Our proposed VET-PLONG activity will be our first offer of longer terms placements to learners. We will offer 40 x 3 month placements to Level 3 graduates of VET construction courses (in Seville) VET business courses (in Prague) This is an opportunity for students to develop their industry standards, knowledge and experience within the sector, as well as developing their soft skills and confidence in a work place environment. We have included, as an Annex, a more detailed plan for the roll-out of our VET-PLONG placements. We have effective quality management and due diligence processes in place to ensure that our European partners meet our minimum standards and offer high quality, structured, well supported and safe placements for participants. Through regular face to face and remote contact and a clear quality assurance framework, we have set the tone for strong, productive working relationships with European partners. The impact on participants is that they gain professional and personal skills, that will enhance both their employability and their technical aptitude in their vocational area. At a local level, this leads to improved motivation and workplace readiness amongst participants, and ultimately, increased employment and better employment opportunities for participants. Through the project, we will put participants in the strongest position to obtain employment, either locally or regionally. We aim to inspire staff and, more widely, other VET training providers to get involved in mobility activity. We will encourage collaboration, good practice sharing and joint training events for participants and staff across different organisations. Host organizations will benefit from a clearer framework for effective partnership working, a better understanding of the UK vocational sector, and more experience of working with our target group, including safeguarding and support requirements. Capturing the impact of our work is one of our EIS goals and we are exploring ways to diversify the way we gather and present our impact, so that we are presenting our work in a way that is meaningful and relevant to our audiences.

This project has provided an opportunity to build on Barking & Dagenham College's (BDC) existing KA1 projects. It has contributed to the College's steady increase in the breadth of vocational areas and the volume of international placements that we can offer our learners. Through the project, we were able to provide 181 BDC learners with a European work placement lasting between 2 - 3 weeks, during the 2018/19 and 2019/20 academic years. The project also provided professional development opportunities for staff acting as Accompanying Persons within the project; A total of 33 BDC staff members benefiting form these developmental opportunities during the project cycle. Unfortunately, we were only able to send around 55% of the students projected, as the majority of the groups scheduled for year 2 of the project were cancelled due to the COVID 19 pandemic and travel restrictions associated with this. Nonetheless, we were able to offer mobility opportunities in the vocational areas of: - Business - ICT - Accounts - Construction - Hair & Beauty - Health & Social Care - Hospitality & Catering - Creative Industries - Engineering - Sports Coaching for our Football and Rugby Academies Participants and APs were sent to work within Hosting Organisations in France, Spain, the Czech Republic, Portugal and the Greek island of Crete. By participating in a Mobility, participants had the opportunity to build on the training that they have received in BDC as part of their vocational course of study. The placement provided participants with a number of benefits that include: gaining the opportunity to gain real work experience within a professional environment, increasing their personal and soft skills as well as the independence and confidence that come from living in a foreign country. All participants had gained key knowledge, skills and competences from their college qualification; the mobility experience served to add value to the learners' studies through the provision of a practical element that has increased their employability and significantly improved their chances of obtaining sustainable employment at the end of their studies. All of the mobility opportunities that we have offered have lasted between 2 - 3 weeks. This has been a realistic and attainable time frame for each group to gain valuable work experience; it has also enabled course tutors to structure course delivery accordingly, so that participants didn't miss out on valuable classroom time, which was required in order for them to fulfil their vocational qualification. All participants worked with their tutor to address a specific unit from their course; the units were divided into Learning Outcomes and recorded within a Learning Agreement, which was referred to throughout the mobility and guided the participants' learning objectives. All participants received preparatory training in the UK before they travelled which included some practically focused elements to help to manage the learners expectations effectively, as well as assisting them with advice on suitable items to pack, such as suitable clothing. Participants were encouraged to access the OLS course to support the development of their linguistic skills. The mobility project also benefited BDC staff, enabling them to increase their teaching competences as well as gaining a better understanding of the needs of employers, at European level.

This project will target learners from three vocational areas within Leicester College: - Construction - Hospitality & Catering - Travel & Tourism We have identified lead staff within each vocational area, who will recruit, support and prepare their learners to undertake an international mobility placement in Spain or Portugal. This project builds on the success of our previous mobility projects, where we have seen significant impact on our learners, staff and course delivery as a direct result of participation in the mobility. The Mobility project will provide the learners with on-the-job work experience, in a placement that is releavant to their vocational course of study. The skills that learner acquire during their work placement will be transferred back to Leicester college, and we will use the ECVET framework to validate specific units of the learners’ vocational qualification. In addition to gaining sector specific work experience, the learners will have the opportunity to develop their soft skills, such as team working, cross cultural communication and self assurance, in a structured and supportive setting. Each learner will have a line manager at their host organisation and will also be joined by a College tutor, who will act as an Accompanying Person, providing an additional layer of pastoral support to learners. The project will recruit a total of 370 learners, which is a significant upscale of our mobility activity, meaning we can offer opportunities to a much wider range of learners within the College. Our learners are typically aged between 17-19, and many face economic and social barriers. For the majority of learners, this will be their first opportunity to work and and travel abroad, and we have designed our recruitment, preparation and support models to reflect this. We will send 24 flows of learners, in groups of 10-20, to placements in Spain and Portugal over a 24 month period. The project gives us an opportunity to consolidate existing relationships with current host partners and expand our work by developing new partnerships. This will be the first time we are sending learners to Portugal. We have ensured that a process of due diligence has been followed when engaging new partners. We are also enlisting the support of a UK partner, REY Europe, who will support some of the central coordination functions, the project set up and the logistical arrangements. The placements will last for 2-4 weeks, depending on the vocational area and the profile of learners. We consider this timeframe to berealistic and attainable for each group to gain valuable work experience, allowing a sufficient period for learners to adjust to life in a new country as well gain a meaningful experience with the host organisations that will enable them to achieve their specific learning outcomes. Each learner will complete a range of tasks within their work placement that are related to their vocational course of study. Our course tutors have selected specific units of their vocational course that can be achieved within the context of the work placement, avoiding the need for classroom duplication on their return. The learning outcomes for each unit will be detailed in an individual learning agreement for each participant, which will also include guidance on how learning should be recorded and evidenced whilst the learner is on placement. The ECVET framework will be used to support this process, with all roles and responsibilities for the host organisation detailed within a memorandum of understanding. The course tutor will meet with each of the host organisations during the first week of the mobility to discuss this process and clarify roles and responsibilities. The mobility will also provide an opportunity for soft skills development, and learners will be supported to set goals and reflect on their learning in this area. We have seen positive impact on the learners that have been involved in our mobility programming to date, and we hope to build on this through this project. The mobility will provide an opportunity for personal and professional development, and we expect this to impact on our learners by increasing their job readiness and broadening their perspective and aspirations. They will gain sector specific work experience and a new perspective on labour market opportunities. We hope this will motivate, engage and inspire our learners to complete their course of study and progress to further education and/or employment. It is a staff development opportunity for those tutors involved, and it enables us as a College to enhance our course offering, making our courses more attractive to prospective learners and widening the scope of our curriculum. It contributes to the College's wider internationalisation strategy, to bring new perspectives and engage in new partnerships within our work. We will engage new international partners and strengthen our international networks.

This project will enable a continued expansion of Barking & Dagenham College's involvement in KA1 projects, increasing the breadth of vocational areas that we can offer overseas work placement and training opportunities to. The project will provide Mobility opportunities in the vocational areas of Business, ICT, Construction, Hair & Beauty and Health & Social Care, as well providing working and training opportunities for learners within BDC's football and rugby academies. The project will be delivered over a 24 month period, with learners traveling in several flows across both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic years. The project will provide 2 week Mobility periods for learners studying coaching, development and fitness as part of their Level 3 subsidiary diploma in sport, who are part of BDC's football and rugby academies. The football academy learners will travel to Spain, to train and complete work experience/observations in 2 groups of 15 participants in 2018/19 The rugby academy learners will travel to France in 2 groups of 25 in 2018/19, where they will train with a local rugby club and gain experience of coaching and performance analysis. The ICT learners will travel to Prague in two flows of 10 participants in each of the two academic years. The Business participants will also travel to both Prague, with a total of 80 participants travelling in two cohorts per year (20 in each group) over 2 years. The Hair & Beauty department will send 20 learners to Crete to complete a 2 week work placement, in the 2018/19 academic year The Construction department will send 10 students from 4 sub-sectors (Electrical, Plumbing, Painting & Decorating and the Built Environment) each year, to placements in Spain. The Health & Social care department will send 1 group of 12 students each year, to placements in Esposende (Portugal) In total, this project enables us to provide opportunities for 324 learners, and professional development opportunities for our staff, who will join the groups as accompanying persons (with a ratio of 1 AP:10 learners) The hosting organisations that we are working with in each of these countries will provide the participants with the opportunity to increase their professional skills and work based competences, with a view to making them more job-ready and placing them in a strong position to access job opportunities. The Mobility opportunity will build on the training that each of the learners has received in BDC as part of their vocational course of study and will offer the opportunity to gain real work experience within a professional environment, whilst increasing their personal and soft skills. Whilst the course that the learners are studying at BDC will equip them with technical skills and theoretical knowledge, the mobility experience will add value to the learners' studies through the provision of a practical element that will increase their employability and significantly improve their chances of obtaining sustainable employment at the end of their studies. The mobilities will last between 2 - 3 weeks. It is highly unlikely that any of our participants will have completed an overseas work placement and therefore the 2 - 3 week mobility period is considered a realistic and attainable time frame for each group to gain valuable work experience, allowing a sufficient period for the participants to adjust to life in a new country as well gain a meaningful experience with the host organisations that will enable them to achieve their specific learning outcomes. All of the project learners will agree a number of different Learning Outcomes at the start of their mobility, which reflect key skills, knowledge and work based competences that need to be achieved in order to obtain specific course units; learners will work towards achieving these Learning Outcomes during the 2 -3 week mobility period. Ahead of commencing their mobility the learners will receive preparatory training in the UK. This will include some practically focused elements that will help to manage the learners expectations effectively, as well as assisting them with advice on suitable items to pack, such as suitable clothing. The mobility project will also benefit BDC staff, enabling them to increase their teaching competences as well as gaining a better understanding of the needs of employers, on a European level.

This project provided 287 Leicester college learners with the opportunity to participate in an overseas work placement in Seville, Spain, lasting between 2 - 4 weeks. The participants were recruited from three different vocational courses with the College : - Construction - Hospitality & Catering - Travel & Tourism The participants were recruited over two academic years. The project was planned to run between September 2018 and June 2020, but due to the high demand from learners, we completed the placements than anticipated, with the last group returning in xxx. 2x 36 Hospitality & Catering participants will travel for 3 weeks 2x 15 Travel & Tourism participants will travel for 2 weeks 10x 20 Construction participants will travel for 4 weeks Participants travelled with tutors from their respective vocational areas who supported them to settle in to Spain and begin their work placement. The participants undertook a range of tasks within their work placement that related to their vocational course of study. Leicester College's course tutors identified specific units of their vocational course that could be achieved within the context of the work placement. The learning outcomes for each unit were detailed in an individual learning agreement for each participant, which also included guidance on how learning should be recorded and evidenced whilst the learner was on placement. The ECVET framework was used to support this process, with all roles and responsibilities for the host organisation detailed within a memorandum of understanding. The course tutor joined as an accompanying person and met with each of the host organisations during the first week of the mobility to discuss this process and clarify roles and responsibilities. The accompanying person also supported the participants during the last week of the mobility to assist them to gain all of the required evidence for their course, before their return to the UK. None of our participants had completed an overseas work placement previously, and we found approx 4 weeks to be a realistic time frame for each cohort to adjust both working and living in a new country, whilst gaining meaningful work experience in a structured environment. Participants were supported by the host organisation staff throughout the mobility as well as by their accompanying person, to assist them to achieve their Learning Outcomes. All participants received preparatory training to help them to prepare for the mobility; they also received an in-country orientation when they arrived in Spain, to assist them to adjust to the environment and get familiar with the local surroundings. The participants received structured support from both their course tutor and line manager within the work placement. Completing an overseas work placement provided an opportunity for participants to develop their soft skills. Participants were supported to set goals and reflect on their learning in this area and think about how they could use these skills practically, on their return to the UK. In recent years we have received extremely positive feedback from our past participants in regards to their mobility experience. The mobility projects provide participants with an opportunity for personal and professional development, and this has impacted on our learners by increasing their job readiness and broadening their perspective and aspirations. They have gained sector specific work experience and a new perspective on labour market opportunities. This has motivated, engaged and inspired our learners to complete their course of study and progress to further education and/or employment. Leicester college has used this project as a staff development opportunity for the tutors involved. It has enabled us as a College to enhance our course offering, making our courses more attractive to prospective learners and widen the scope of our curriculum. It has contributed to the College's wider internationalisation strategy, to bring new perspectives and engage in new partnerships within our work. It has increased our experience and knowledge of delivering qualifications that include a practical work element with a European working environment.