St Mary's University had a total of 15 Erasmus mobilities in 2017/18, which equalled our level of engagement in 2016/17. One clear area of success was student traineeships, which increased from one mobility in 2016/17 to four mobilities in 2017/18. This included two graduate traineeships, a new area of development for St Mary's and the subject of a strong promotional push undertaken in conjunction with our Alumni Office. Outgoing staff mobilities increased from 10 to 11, with 55% of the mobilities for teaching and 45% for training.Another growth area for St Mary's was incoming students, which saw a sharp increase from seven in 2016/17 to 24 in 2017/18. This reflects the increase in the quantity and quality of our Erasmus partnerships in line with 'Vision 2025', the St Mary's corporate plan, and makes an important contribution to the University's internationalisation goals. This success was paralleled in incoming staff numbers, which increased from two to six.One change in this year's project was under student mobility for studies, as all of our outgoing student mobilities were for traineeships. This is partially due to some of our partners changing their curriculum to limit their modules taught in English. This is especially problematic due to the St Mary's programme profile, which does not include Modern Languages. We have worked proactively to find partners who teach priority subjects in English to counteract this limitation, but in order to protect opportunities for students, we have successfully promoted traineeships as an alternative opportunity.

2018/19 was a year of continuity for the St Mary's University Erasmus programme. The University had a total of 14 outgoing Erasmus mobilities in 2018/19, which was one less than our level of engagement in 2017/18. One area of continued success was student traineeships, which saw four student participants in 2018/19, the same as in 2017/18. Two were graduate traineeships, which are only in their second year of development at St Mary's. The graduate traineeships were undertaken by graduates of the Primary Teaching programme. Two additional students participated in Sports Rehabilitation traineeships at Comillas University in Spain. This is very good progress, as students in both programmes are not able to participate in semester abroad programmes because of their structures and accreditations. We had a small increase in study placements, with one student undertaking a mobility for studies in 2018/19. This is an improvement on 2017/18, when we had no mobilities for studies. There were seven outgoing staff mobilities in 2018/19, with 55% of the mobilities for teaching and 45% for training. This is consistent with last year. Three of the staff mobilities were undertaken by members of staff in our Faculty of Sport, Health and Applied Science to strengthen and deepen an existing relationship that resulted in student traineeships in previous years. A particular area of continued growth for St Mary's was incoming students, which saw a gradual increase from 24 in 2017/18 to 27 in 2018/19. This reflects the increase in the quantity and quality of our Erasmus partnerships in line with 'Vision 2025', the St Mary's corporate plan, and makes an important contribution to the University's internationalisation goals. This success was paralleled by maintaining six incoming staff mobilities.St Mary’s continues to strive toward achieving ‘Vision 2025’ goals by encouraging more students to undertake study and work abroad opportunities. The challenges we face as an institution are that we only offer three-year undergraduate degrees, making it difficult for students in some programmes to undertake semester-long programmes. Additionally, St Mary’s does not offer Modern Language courses. We have worked proactively to find partners who teach priority subjects in English to counteract this limitation, but in order to protect opportunities for students, we have successfully promoted traineeships as an alternative opportunity.

This is a higher education student and staff mobility project, please consult the website of the organisation to obtain additional details.

This is a higher education student and staff mobility project, please consult the website of the organisation to obtain additional details.

During the 2016/17 Erasmus+ KA103 project St Mary’s University Twickenham saw a significant increase in budget spending (+43%); more staff go abroad for teaching/training (+41%); and more students go abroad for studies/traineeships (+25%) than in the previous year. Participants mentioned that the activity had a positive impact on their academic performance or professional development. One of the outbound students came from a disadvantaged background and took advantage of the additional financial support to enable her to go abroad. Of the outbound staff mobilities, 50% were training and 50% were teaching activities. The university increased its partnerships network and expanded existing inter-institutional agreements to additional subject areas.Erasmus+ is a core part of St Mary’s corporate plan ‘Vision 2025’ and all activities during the 2016/17 project were in line with our Erasmus Charter for Higher Education. Since January 2016, St Mary’s has had an Institutional Erasmus Coordinator who is the main contact for all partner universities, internal stakeholders and participants. In the past year we have been able to initiate new projects with partners in Spain and France, on joint degrees and research collaborations. A wide range of promotional activities on campus helped raise awareness and applications for Erasmus+ and get more staff and students to apply for a grant than ever before.