2015 Call Start-up presentation (VET & Adult education)
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Presentation delivered at the Erasmus+ 2015 Call Start-up seminar for VET and Adult education projects.
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2015 Call Start-up presentation (VET & Adult education)
- 1. 2015 Key Action 1 Start up Seminar
- 2. Purpose of the Seminar • Go through stages of the project lifecycle • Understand rules and requirements of the Erasmus+ Key Action 1 Programme • Opportunity to network with other delegates • Ask questions to the National Agency / Project Officer
- 3. Morning Agenda 10:00am Welcome and Introduction 10:20am Ice Breaker 10:30am Managing your Grant 11:10am Coffee Break 11:25am IT Tools 12.05pm Monitoring 12.25pm Quiz 12:45pm Lunch and Networking
- 4. Afternoon Agenda 1.30pm ECVET 1.50pm Reporting 2.10pm Coffee Break 2.25pm Panel Q&A 3.00pm Impact, Evaluation & Dissemination 3.30pm Overview & Close 3.35pm Project Officers Meet and Greet
- 5. What’s New in 2015 • Launch of the Online Language Service (OLS) • Non- hosting receiving organisations • VET Mobility Charter • Learning Networks and Sector Consultative Groups
- 6. The Role of the NA • To promote the Erasmus+ programme in the UK • To provide information, advice and guidance • To manage project assessment and selection • To make payments to projects and conduct audits • To undertake on-going monitoring of projects • To disseminate and exploit results
- 7. The Role of the Beneficiary • Responsible for project implementation, monitoring, reporting • Ensuring a strong, committed partnership in place • Ensuring placement content is relevant and objectives defined • Ensuring appropriate participant selection, preparation, support, and contractual systems in place • On-going evaluation • Dissemination of results
- 8. Icebreaker • 10 minutes to answer the the following questions: • What is your name, and your organisation’s name? • Do you have any previous EU funding experience? • What is your project title, summary and who is your target group? • What do you aim to achieve from your project? • What is a random/interesting fact about yourself?
- 10. Overview • Grant Agreements • Grant Agreement Annexes • Contract Amendments • Eligible expenditure & Ineligible costs
- 11. Grant Agreement
- 12. Grant Agreements Types: • Mono-beneficiary agreements • The applicant becomes the single beneficiary of the agreement • Multi-beneficiary agreements • All partners of the consortium become beneficiaries of the agreement Structure: • Part I: Special Conditions (Tailored) • Part II: General Conditions (Fixed) • Annexes (Integral part of Grant Agreement)
- 14. Grant Agreement Annexes Annexes: • Annex I: Description of the Project • Annex II: Estimated budget • Annex III: Financial and Contractual rules • Annex IV: Templates beneficiary/participant agreements • Annex V: – Mandates • Annex VI: – List of other beneficiaries
- 15. Part 1: Special Conditions Specific Articles of the Grant Agreement
- 16. Article I.3.2 – Budget Transfers • Not considered as an amendment of the agreement. • Transfers to/from budget categories of unit contributions are percentage based. • Unit contribution rates apply after budget transfer.
- 17. Budget Transfer Example Awarded Budget Organisational Support Budget €22750 Special Needs Budget €0 No of participants 65 Unit contribution per participant €350 Transfer based on budget transfer allowance (b) Transfer from Transfer to % or amount New estimated budget after transfer for: Organisation Support New estimated budget after transfer for: Special Needs Organisational Support Special Needs €500 €22250 €500 Application of Unit contributions after transfer for organisation support €22250/€350 = 63 Beneficiary can only claim organisational support for 63 participants.
- 18. Article I.4 – Reporting and Payments • 1st pre-financing payment within 30 days of signed contract • Payment of the balance/refund within 60 calendar days on receipt of the Final report
- 19. Article I.14 – Supporting Participants Beneficiaries can provide support for the budget categories: travel, course fees, linguistic support and individual support as outlined in Annex I and IV for participants in three ways: 1. Full transfer: the beneficiary transfers the full funds to the participants to make suitable arrangements 2. Contribution in kind: the beneficiary makes suitable arrangements on behalf of the participant 3. Form of a refund: the participant makes suitable arrangements themselves without pre-financing and then reimbursed by the beneficiary
- 20. Part 2: General Conditions Specific Articles of the Grant Agreement
- 21. • Beneficiaries are obligated to acknowledge the contribution of the European Union programme funding. • Two Commission documents with guidance on displaying the European Union emblem. • Example of standard text for a Disclaimer: “This publication has been produced with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of <name of the beneficiary> and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the NA and the Commission." Article II.7 Visibility of Union Funding
- 22. General provisions: • Activity within eligible period - project start & end date • Necessary for implementing the Project • No overlap between unit costs and actual costs Article II.16 – Eligible Costs
- 23. Article II.20 Checks and Audits Article II.21 Monitoring and Evaluation • Beneficiaries subjected to technical and Financial checks or audits in relation to the use of the grant. (by NA, EC, mandated bodies, OLAF) • Beneficiaries obligated to keep documents for: • 5 years if grant amount more than €60,000 • 3 years if grant amount not more than €60,000
- 24. Amendments
- 25. • Amendments can be broken down into 2 groups Amendments to the Agreement MinorChanges SignificantChanges Change of contact person Change of organisation name Change of legal signatory Change of European partner Change of bank details Change to UK consortium Change of participant/ accompanying person flows
- 26. Eligible & Ineligible Costs
- 27. Eligible Expenditure Eligible cost Financial heading Amount Travel Unit costs Distance calculator dependent €0 - €1100 Individual Support Unit costs According to country of destination, duration of placement and activity type Organisational support Unit costs €350 per participant up to 100 participants €200 per additional participant (above 100 Linguistic support Unit costs Mobilities separated into 3 strands – placement description, requirement and unit cost Special needs Portion of eligible costs Exceptional costs Reimbursement portion of eligible costs
- 28. Adult Education Eligible costs Financial heading Amount Course fee Portion of eligible costs 100% of eligible costs
- 29. Ineligible costs • Activity outside the contract period • Losses on exchange rates • Bank charges and interest • Placements to countries not participating in the programme • Activities not covered your contract i.e. target group, partners • Double funding
- 30. Things to consider • Participants • Partners, roles and responsibilities • KA1 Handbook
- 32. IT Tools
- 34. Participant Portal • Single-entry point for participation and administration of projects in Erasmus+ • Accessed through ECAS • Requirement for all project partners • May need to be updated throughout project lifetime
- 35. Mobility Tool+
- 36. What is the Mobility Tool+? Mobility Tool+ is an online system for management of mobility projects that received an EU grant under the Lifelong Learning and Erasmus+ Programmes. Updating the Mobility Tool+ is a contractual requirement for all Erasmus+ Key Action 1 projects. Allows you to manage your mobilities and project budget. Allows the National Agency to monitor your project.
- 37. MT+ and your responsibilities You will need to use the Mobility Tool+ to: • provide information about project • identify participants and mobilities • complete and update budget information • monitor participants reports, • generate and submit beneficiary reports to the National Agency. AND it’s your responsibility to make sure you can access the the Mobility Tool+!
- 38. Accessing the MT+ • Accessed through ECAS • The ECAS account needs to be registered to the project contact person’s email address • You will receive an e-mail from the MT+ and then you can log in with your ECAS password at https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eac/mobility
- 40. Project Details
- 41. Organisations
- 42. Contacts
- 43. Mobilities
- 46. Mobilities
- 48. Mobilities: Import - Export • Large amounts of data can be input efficiently • Uses .CSV file format – similar to Excel • Information is coded – refer to Mobility Tool Data Dictionary Import • You can add or update mobilities information • You cannot delete information Export • Contains information about any mobilities input into MT+ • You can use this file to import information back to MT+
- 49. Import – Export
- 50. Budget
- 51. Reports
- 55. What is OLS?
- 56. Who is OLS for? • VET learners of long-term mobility activities i.e. mobilities from 1 to 12 months • Non-native speakers using English, French, German, Italian, Spanish or Dutch • Linguistic support requested in KA1 VET Application
- 57. How does OLS work?
- 58. OLS Access and Licenses NA • Allocates OLS assessment and/ or OLS course licences to beneficiaries (BEN) BEN • Allocates OLS assessment and/ or OLS course licences to learners Learner • Complete OLS assessments and/or language courses
- 59. OLS Access and Licenses • Assessment outcome from level A1 – C2 • Optional allocation of language course licences • Second language assessment following mobility
- 60. System Walkthrough • Access the OLS and log into the back-end • Virtual tour of system backend • How to allocate assessment licences to Participants • How to allocate assessment courses to Participants • How to monitor Participant use
- 61. Access the OLS
- 62. Login
- 63. Virtual Tour of System
- 64. Virtual Tour of System
- 77. Helpdesk
- 78. Your Responsibilities • Distribute licences to VET learners • Where relevant, decide which VET learners should take the language courses • Monitor license consumption • Ensure full uptake of licences • Report on license use
- 79. Tools, help and references • http://www.erasmusplusols.eu • Beneficiary user guide and Technical Q&A • Online technical helpdesk • Guides, videos and forums for learners
- 81. Overview of Monitoring Activities National Agency monitoring • MT+ • Monitoring calls • Audits, checks & monitoring visits Your responsibilities • Project monitoring • Project evaluation
- 82. Monitoring Calls The purpose of the calls is to: • monitor project progress against the planned objectives, activities and outputs mentioned in the application form and grant agreement • ensure that proper project and financial management systems are in place • provide advice and support to beneficiaries • gather information on the impact of projects on the participants and organisations involved • identify examples of good practice and potential case studies to promote the Erasmus+ Programme
- 83. Monitoring Visits & Audit Checks • Four types of audit checks: Monitoring Visits, On the Spot Checks, Systems Checks and Audit Visits • Monitoring Visits are carried out by the National Agency to monitor progress and to support and advise the beneficiary • On the Spot Checks are carried out while the project activities are on-going and require the National Agency to check the project’s financial records • Systems Checks are carried out only on KA1 VET projects in receipt of a grant worth €200,000 or more
- 84. Monitoring Visits • Sample of projects selected at random • Reviews the progress of the project against the original objectives set out in the application • Covers key areas of the project implementation • The NA will provide support and collect examples of best practice
- 85. On the Spot Checks • A random sample of monitoring visits will also include an on the spot check • Financial checks on project activities • Verify amounts claimed for mobilities are supported by relevant documentation
- 86. Your responsibilities • The project partnership • Participants • The mobilities • The budget • Ongoing evaluation
- 87. Quiz!
- 88. 1) Which of these unit costs should be used to cover all costs directly linked to the organisation, management and implementation of mobility activities? a) Individual Support b) Organisational Support c) Linguistic Support d) Travel
- 89. 2) How long do participants have to complete the participant reports sent by the mobility tool+ at the end of their placement? a) 1 month b) 1 week c) 2 weeks
- 90. 3) Which of the following requests are significant changes to your grant agreement and will require approval from the National Agency? a) Change to the participant/accompanying person flows b) Change to European Partner (VET only) c) Change to UK Consortium d) All of the above
- 91. 4) What is the name of the accreditation an organisation can apply for if they have completed 3 successful VET mobility projects? a) Erasmus Charter b) VET Mobility Charter c) Online Linguistic Support
- 92. 5) True or false: all VET Learners are required to sign a learning agreement. a) True b) False
- 93. 6) How will the National Agency regularly monitor everyone’s projects? a) Using monitoring calls b) Through monitoring visits to your organisation c) Using the Mobility Tool+
- 94. 7) If your project is selected for Monitoring Calls, how frequently will you receive calls from the NA during your project’s lifetime? a) Every month b) Every quarter c) Twice a year
- 95. 8) Which of these budget transfers is not possible? a) Transfers from unit to unit costs b) Transfers from unit to actual costs c) Transfers from actual to unit costs d) Trick question, they’re all possible!
- 96. 9) When can you request Online Linguistic Support? a) Once the grant agreement has been received b) At any time during the project c) At application stage
- 97. 10) True or False. You must retain evidence of any payments made to participants for Individual Support. a) True b) False
- 98. ECVET
- 99. ECVET is a system for the transfer, recognition and accumulation of the learning outcomes achieved by an individual with a view to achieving a qualification What is ECVET?
- 100. Why use ECVET? • acknowledgement and recognition of achieved learning outcomes (knowledge, skills, competence) giving value to all learning experiences • improved employability Benefits for Learners • capacity-building for staff: insight into different teaching delivery and assessment techniques in other European countries • improved profile and greater visibility through participation in European VET partnerships Benefits for VET Institutions
- 101. UK VET Programme NL VET Programme Mobility: The Big Picture Other assessment evidence (as required by the awarding body) Memorandum of Understanding (agreement between competent institutions) Learning Agreement (based on units of learning outcomes for individual learners) Personal Transcript (for example Europass Mobility) Validation of Assessed LOs Recognition of Assessed LOs Accumulation of Assessed LOs Assessment of LOs
- 103. ECVET Before Mobility Establish Partnership Prepare Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Identify Units of Learning Outcomes (LOs) Discuss Assessment Agree How to Document Learners’ Achievement Clarify Validation and Recognition Sign Learning Agreement (LA) ECVET During Mobility ECVET After Mobility Mobility: Core Phases
- 104. An agreement between organisations that formalises the ECVET Partnership and which outlines (or confirms): • qualifications, sectors and programmes associated with planned mobility programmes - with direct reference to qualification levels and using the EQF as a tool for comparison and translation • targeted learning outcomes • assessment, validation and recognition processes (and roles) • acceptance of existing quality assurance processes and criteria of awarding bodies Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
- 105. Learning Agreement (LA) An individual document for each learner that explains (or confirms): • Information on a specific mobility period • Learning outcomes that the learner is expected to achieve • Details on planned assessment mechanisms (confirming tools and approaches, timing and required documentation) • Details on the partner roles and responsibilities confirming Who will assess and where and when • What evidence is required to ensure recognition on return home
- 106. Partnership Responsibilities In an ideal world … • The RECEIVING ORGANISATION will deliver the agreed training and may assess and measure the achievement of learning outcomes • The SENDING ORGANISATION will validate assessment processes and results and launch procedures for more formal recognition as part of a qualification or learning programme … You may have to work towards this gradually
- 107. ECVET Before Mobility Establish Partnership Prepare Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Identify Units of Learning Outcomes (LOs) Discuss Assessment Agree How to Document Learners’ Achievement Clarify Validation and Recognition Sign Learning Agreement (LA) ECVET During Mobility Provide Agreed Learning Activities to cover Learning Outcomes Carry Out Assessment Document Assessment Results e.g. Personal Transcript ECVET After Mobility Mobility: Core Phases
- 108. Learning Delivery Where can they take place? What do they comprise? How do we plan them? What activities are your learners involved in during mobility that can contribute to their assessments?
- 109. Assessing Learning Outcomes (LOs) Can be assessed using a variety of methods and approaches Both partners should reflect on the feasibility of assessment Consider whether there may be existing assessment requirements that need to be met Sending organisations should consider the appropriateness of assessment methods, tools and approaches
- 110. Recording Assessment Results Requirements for assessment documentation should be clearly detailed, for all parties, in the Learning Agreement. • Europass Mobility is recommended for this purpose • www.naric.org.uk/europass/organisati ons/documents/mobility.aspx Learners must have a record or personal transcript of learning outcomes they have achieved. • Completed assessment grids • Written assessment • Portfolios There may be a need for additional documentation to meet the needs of the sending organisation
- 111. ECVET. Before Mobility Establish Partnership Prepare Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Identify Units of Learning Outcomes (LOs) Discuss Assessment Agree How to Document Learners’ Achievement Clarify Validation and Recognition Sign Learning Agreement (LA) ECVET. During Mobility Provide Agreed Learning Activities Carry Out Assessment Document Assessment Results - Personal Transcript ECVET. After Mobility Validate, Verify and Recognise (assessed) Learning Outcomes Evaluate Processes and Results (added-value) Mobility: Core Phases
- 112. Validation & Recognition VALIDATION: the process by which the sending institution confirms that the assessment meets their needs and expectations. Primarily the responsibility of the sending organisation (In the UK could be described as Internal Verification) RECOGNITION: a more formal process allowing inclusion of assessed learning outcomes as part of or in addition to an existing learning programme or qualification. Carried out in connection with awarding bodies. (In the UK could be described as External Verification.)
- 113. Reflection on Current Mobility Practice? How much is already in place: • Partnership Agreement? • Training Agreements? • Assessment tools and mechanisms? What needs to take place to make these ECVET relevant?
- 114. Current Best Practice in ECVET • Memorandum of Understanding and Learning Agreements have developed over a period of time • Sending and Receiving organisations working together on assessment • Review and evaluation of ECVET impacts Case studies
- 115. Resources TEMPLATES: • Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) • Learning Agreement (LA) EXAMPLES: • Completed Memorandum of Understanding • Completed Learning Agreements (e.g. DECViP Project) GUIDANCE MATERIALS: • Getting the Credit your Learners Deserve • ECVET Explained: Guidance for Awarding Organisations and their Recognised Centres CASE STUDIES: • Increasing examples of good or interesting practice from UK practitioners making use of ECVET
- 116. Support EVENTS: • Targeted workshops held in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales • National ECVET Conference INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT: • Onsite support visit from one of the UK ECVET Experts • Telephone/Skype/Facetime support provided by one of the UK ECVET Experts FURTHER INFORMATION AND SUPPORT: www.ecvetexperts.org.uk ecvetexperts@uk.ecorys.com www.ecvet-toolkit.eu www.erasmusplus.org.uk www.ecctis.co.uk/europass
- 117. Any questions?
- 118. Reporting
- 119. Forms of Reporting • All Erasmus+ projects must report to their National Agency during their project lifecycle. • Enables the National Agency to check that the project has been carried out in line with the original application and as per funding rules. • Contractual requirement under Article 1.4 of the Key Action 1 VET and AE grant agreement. • Submission of participant reports and a final report through the Mobility Tool+. Some projects are also required to submit an interim report.
- 120. Interim Reports • Projects requiring additional monitoring must submit an interim report, which represents a request for a 2nd pre-financing payment. • Report currently in Word document format but in the future will be submitted through the Mobility Tool+. • Due six months or a year after the start of your project depending on project duration. • Must cover all project activities up to two months before the report is due – please refer to your grant agreement for deadline dates.
- 121. Final Reports • Final reports must be submitted 60 days after the project end date. • Electronic submission, with signed Declaration of Honour attached. • Generated and submitted electronically through the Mobility Tool+ using information inputted into the tool. You should not generate it until all your mobilities have been entered and completed and all budget information has been entered correctly. • The National Agency will not accept any final reports submitted before the deadline date.
- 122. Final Report Content • Information on the participating organisations, the participants and the final grant amount is pulled through from the Mobility Tool+ • You will also need to include qualitative information on the following topics: • Project summary • Description of the project objectives • Practical arrangements of the project • Project activities • Learning outcomes • Impact • Dissemination of project results
- 123. Supporting Documents • Evidence of individual support payments to project beneficiaries, such as signed receipts or bank transfer documents. • Evidence that each mobility placement took place in the form of a declaration of attendance signed by the sending organisation, receiving organisation and the participant – please refer to the Key Action 1 Handbook for full details. • All VET learners are required to sign a learning agreement. • Further guidance on how to complete the report will be published in due course.
- 124. Participant Reports • All VET learners and staff and adult education staff must complete a participant report after the mobility. • Failure to submit 100% of participant reports will result in a reduction to the final grant. • Accompanying persons do not need to complete the report. • Automatically emailed to participants the day after the mobility end date entered into the Mobility Tool+. • In the form of an online survey hosted by EUSurvey that asks the participant to rate their mobility experience.
- 125. Quality Assessment • Scored out of 100 points in line with common quality criteria. • Assessed on the extent that the project was implemented in line with original application, the quality and impact of the completed project. • Late, poor or partial implementation of the project will result in a grant reduction applied to organisational support and exceptional costs of between 25-75% depending on final report score.
- 126. Financial Assessment • Budgetary information included in the report will be assessed to ensure that stated costs are eligible and do not exceed those in the grant agreement and annex I and II of the grant agreement • The travel distance bands selected for each mobility will be checked against the European Commission’s distance calculator and if costs are overstated the final grant amount will be reduced accordingly. • Please refer to the KA1 Guides for Applicants and KA1 Handbook for the link to the distance calculator or you can access it here: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus- plus/tools/distance_en.htm
- 127. VALOR • Web-based dissemination platform for Erasmus+ and Creative Europe. • Aims to provide an overview of all projects funded by Erasmus+, heighten visibility of funding, showcase project results and highlight success stories. • Further information will be made available ahead of the platform’s launch in autumn 2015. • You may be asked to provide information about your project results on VALOR.
- 128. Tips for Completing Your Final Report • Update the Mobility Tool+ on an ongoing basis and check that all information has been entered correctly and completely. • If there any changes to you project contact your Project Officer as the NA may need to update the Mobility Tool for you. • Make sure that all the required documents for each learner (e.g. evidence of individual support payments, declaration of attendance, participant report) are completed in good time before report submission. • Plan ahead now to ensure that your report is submitted on deadline day!
- 130. Panel Discussion
- 132. Impact • What are your intended results? • What are your planned activities? • Using a logic model
- 133. Resources / Input Activities Outputs Outcomes Impact KA1 Grant VET Placement New Skills Enhanced CV Secured Employability Planned work Intended Results
- 134. Evaluation • What are you measuring? • How will you measure this? • Who should be involved with evaluation?
- 136. Dissemination • What are you disseminating? • How will you identify appropriate audiences? • What dissemination activities should be undertaken?
- 138. Promotion and dissemination • Congratulations on starting your successful project • How we can help? • National Agency communications resources and activities.
- 140. E-newsletter- sign up now! • Receive the latest Erasmus+ and sector specific news • Stay up-to-date with deadline reminders, online booking for events and webinars • Feature your project news. https://erasmusplus.org.uk/subscribe-to-our-newsletter
- 142. Social media channels Follow us on Twitter: @erasmusplusuk / https://twitter.com/erasmusplusuk Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukerasmusplus View our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/erasmusplusuk Follow us on Storify: https://storify.com/erasmusplusuk
- 143. How we can help! • Showcase your project case studies • Feature these in our newsletters and publications • Help promote them on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube & more • Maximise your project reach and impact
- 144. Community events & webinars Learning Networks Annual Conference Support webinars #epluspeople
- 145. Close
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Welcome Name House keeping: Toilets Smoking Fire Alarm Refreshments Air Conditioning
- Go through stages of the project lifecycle From contracting through to reporting, including information IT tools and using ECVET. Understand rules and requirements of the Erasmus+ KA1 programme Opportunity to network with other delegates This is the second year in which we have brought together two fields (AE and VET) under one start up seminar for KA1, so take advantage of the experience and expertise in the room today Ask questions to the National Agency / Project Officer But also take the opportunity to ask our guest speaker any questions Your project officer will be available for an hour after the event has closed for any questions or queries you might have. (Ask National Agency members to stand up and introduce them to delegates).
- Go through agenda…
- PANEL Q&A: As we’ve a lot to cover in a short space of time we may not have time to answer all of your questions at the end of the presentations, please write down any questions on the pads provided on your tables or at any point in the day at the boards. These questions will then be put forward to our panel made up of 2 experienced VET and AE project promoters, Sonia Shakir (National Agency) and Iverene Bromfield (ECVET). We’ve a traffic light system with red for your most important questions and then yellow and green showing less important or more general questions. Then please just pin them up against the topic most relevant to your question. Please try to keep your questions to those you think will be useful for everyone here and not just those that only relate to your project CLOSE: Mention that all Project Officers will be available between 3.35 and 4.00 if delegates would like to meet with them / have any queries.
- OLS is mandatory for all learner placements over 1 month All participants required to do assessment then based on this licences will be allocated Where OLS is being used, no linguistic support budget allocated In contrast to 2015, EC has relaxed the rules on receiving organisations to now include non- hosting. Applicants needed to demonstrate high quality placements would be taking place even though work placement providers had not been identified- obviously you all did otherwise you wouldn’t be here!!! VMC was officially launched and the first deadline was 14th May 2015 Limited promotion due to the number of eligible organisations Need to have completed 3 VET mobility projects with a consumption rate of over 80% Interested please pass your details over to member of NA team
- Icebreaker activity to last 10 minutes. In your tables each person should answer the following questions: What is your name, and your organisation’s name? Do you have previous EU funding experience? What is your project title, summary and who is your target group? What do you aim to achieve from your project? What is a random/interesting fact about yourself? Now I’ll hand over to XXX who will go through and Overview of the 2015 Call.
- Please note that I will be covering the following areas with you: Grant Agreements Grant Agreement Annexes Contract Amendments Eligible expenditure & Ineligible costs
- Most of you will now have been issued with your grant agreement by now, or will be receiving it shortly if you were successful under the second round. The KA1 grant agreement for VET and Adult Education comes in two forms: Mono-beneficiary agreements. These are issued to single VET and Adult Education applicants and is where the applicant becomes the single beneficiary of the agreement Multi-beneficiary agreements. These are issued to organisations which applied as a consortium and is where all partners of the UK consortium become beneficiaries of the agreement. Most contracts issued are mono-beneficiary agreements under 2015 call. However, all grant agreements will have the following common structure: Part I: Special Conditions. This part is tailored to the project for example your awarded budget, your bank details and your consortium partners (if applicable). Therefore this part will be personalised taking into consideration each organisations circumstances. Part II: General Conditions: This part is more generic and common across all fields and is in two parts: Part A – Legal and Administrative Provisions. This part includes articles on the obligations and roles of the beneficiary, use of the EU and E+ logos, subcontracting and force majeure. Part B – Financial Provisions. This part includes articles on eligible and ineligible costs, and how to calculate your final grant amount. Annexes: These form an integral part of the Grant Agreement and consist of the following… [next slide]
- Annex I: Description of the Project. This is taken from Section D or G of your application form; depending on the field you applied under Annex II: Estimated budget – this is broken down by activity type and under each cost heading – i.e. travel, individual support Annex III: Financial and Contractual rules. This contains clarifications on the use of the grant under the different budget categories and what supporting documents you will need to keep hold of Annex IV: Templates beneficiary/participant agreements – all VET learners are required to sign a learning agreement. The following two annexes are only applicable for multi beneficiary agreements: Annex V: Mandates Annex VI: List of other beneficiaries Learning agreements to be focused on and templates
- I will now highlight some of the key articles contained within Part 1 of your grant agreement, however please note that it is very important to familiarise yourselves with ALL parts of your grant agreement and annexes, as they are all equally as important. I am only able to highlight parts of your grant agreement due to time restraints we have today.
- Article I.3.2 contains information about Budget Transfers. Budget transfers allow you to move funding from one budget category to another, without the need for formal contract amendment. Budget transfers can offer you flexibility to increase mobility numbers, and are percentage based if transferring between budget categories of unit contributions. As a general rule: transfers can take place between particular budget categories such as: unit to unit costs, unit to actual costs, but NOT actual to unit costs. Unit contribution rates apply after budget transfer. We strongly recommend that you read this article carefully and familiarise yourselves of the rules regarding budget transfers.
- An example of a Budget Transfer can be seen here, where €500 has been transferred from Organisational Support to Special Needs. Although a Budget Transfer does not require you to follow our formal contract amendment procedure, please inform your Project officer via email with details of any budget transfers as this will help us when monitoring your project, and also allow us to check that the budget transfer has been actioned correctly.
- Article 1.4 contains information about Reporting and Payments. This article uses the term ‘Float’ which means an advance payment which is used for the purpose of the Mobility Project during the period defined in the agreement, or if not it is repaid. As per this article, we have a commitment to make your first pre-financing payment within 30 days of signing your contract. Your final payment is then made within 60 calendar days on receipt and acceptance of the final report.
- Article 1.14 contains information about Supporting Participants. This article outlines the 3 different ways you must use to pay your participants for the following budget categories: travel, course fees (for adult education only), linguistic support and individual support. Payments to participants must be made as either: A full transfer: where your organisation transfers the full funds to the participants for them to make suitable arrangements A contribution in kind: where your organisation makes suitable arrangements on behalf of the participant A form of a refund: where your participant makes suitable arrangements themselves without pre-financing, and then your organisation reimburses them Please note that you should retain evidence of payments made to participants for individual support
- I will now highlight some of the key articles containing within Part 2 of your grant agreement.
- Article II.7 contains information about the Visibility of Union funding. As a recipient of EU funding, your organisation is required to acknowledge the contribution of EU programme funding. This article contains links to commission documents with guidance on how to display the EU emblem which you are encouraged to read and use when promoting the Erasmus+ Programme. An example of standard text which can be used in any of your publications can also be found on the slide.
- Article II.16 contains information about Eligible Costs for Unit costs and Actual costs. All costs incurred and activities must have taken place within the project start and end date within your signed grant agreement. All costs must be related to the project. Unit contributions must not overlap with actual contributions – the two must be remain separate.
- Article II.20 contains information about Checks and Audits and Article II.21 covers Monitoring and Evaluation. Your project is subject to an audit from the point of signature of the grant agreement, up until 5 years following the date of the final payment. Audits can be carried out by the UK National Agency, European Commission, European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and other Commission mandated bodies. As a result it is important that you keep any and all evidence of expenditure throughout the course of the project; for 5 years if the grant awarded to your organisation is more than €60,000, and 3 years if the grant awarded is less than €60,000.
- There are numerous changes your organisation may wish to make to your project. The most common of which being: Change of contact person Change of legal signatory Change of bank details Change of organisation name Change of participant/ accompanying person flows Change of European partner Change to UK consortium For any change you must notify the NA well in advance of the change talking place. Changes can be broken down into 2 groups; Minor Changes Significant Changes For those that are considered ‘Minor’ you will not need to give any justification for the change but you should inform your Project Officer via email. These are changes which the UK NA would expect to see fairly often across the Call year, and updated documents may be required for each. For example change of contact person or legal signatory do not amount to significant change so will be classed as a minor change. For those that are considered ‘Significant’ you should send an initial email to your Project Officer with a request which fully outlines the proposed change(s) and the reasons for the change(s). The Project Officer will then review the information and come to a decision as to whether these changes can be approved or not. Please be aware that you are not guaranteed an automatic approval for significant changes as these may call into question the original decision upon which your organisation was awarded the grant and/or may be contrary to the equal treatment of applicants. For example change of your European partner can have a significant impact on your project’s initial aims and objectives, therefore we would have to consider this change to evaluate whether it should be allowed, as the aims and objectives should not change of your project as this is the basis your application was assessed upon. Regarding UK consortium partners, they can only be removed from a consortium and new consortium partners can not be added to after application stage. Again this is because this will significantly effect the aims and objectives of the project, as the roles of consortium partners are crucial to the project. Should a partner withdraw, you must ensure there is still a minimum of 3 partners within the consortium, otherwise it will be seen as an ineligible consortium. Changes to Participant/Accompanying Persons could be considered a minor or a significant change depending on the scale of the change. Please inform your Project Officer if you wish to make this change and they will determine whether it is to be considered Minor or Significant, and will inform you of your next steps.
- Travel costs, individual support costs, organisational support, and special needs support are costs available under KA1 VET to both target groups, with linguistic support and exceptional costs being available to VET learners. You should already be aware all costs are unit costs apart from special needs support and exceptional costs. Travel costs are based on the distance travelled by each participant which is defined as the cost of the entire journey to and from the specific venue of activity. The amount paid per trip is dependent on the travel distance as defined by the EC distance calculator tool and the number of participants travelling. Individual support covers the day-to-day living costs incurred by participants during the activity. The costs awarded are again dependent on the country of destination, duration of the placement and activity type (VET learners or staff). VET learners and staff: up to the 14th day of activity: maximum allowance per day per participant. between the 15th and 60th day of activity: 70% of maximum allowance per day per participant. VET learners only: between the 61st day of activity and up to 12 months: 50% of maximum allowance per day per participant. Organisational support covers costs directly linked to the organisation, management and implementation of mobility activities. This cost can be used to cover selection and preparation of participants, the monitoring and supporting of them and the validation of learning outcomes. This cost excludes travel and individual support for participants. Organisational support is calculated on a unit cost basis as follows: €350 per participant for up to 100 participants €200 per participant for any additional participants (above 100 participants) Linguistic support is available to participants prior to departure or during the activity, as mentioned in the slide mobilities are separated into 3 strands each with its own specific linguistic requirements and unit costs. This includes placement description such as the length of the placement and which language will be used, the requirement for the 3 different placement descriptions and the different unit costs which apply to each category. Special needs support covers costs related to participants with a disability or another specific need for which additional costs will be incurred. Exceptional costs covers costs directly to support the participation of learners with fewer opportunities.
- In additional to all of the cost headings, for Adult Education where mobilities are only available for staff course fees are allowed if they are directly linked to payment of fees for the enrolment in courses. €70 per participant per day is allowed, which is capped to the maximum of €700 per participant.
- All 2015 contracts would have started from august 2015 and will have their own project end dates, as stated in your contracts which will be within a 2 year period up to July 2017. It is during this period only that all project activity must take place, for example recruitment, preparation, the mobility, evaluation and dissemination. Any activities undertaken outside of this time frame will not be covered by the funding. All funding is paid in euro’s and the NA always advises you to set up a euro account prior to contracting as this will help to reduce losses incurred due to exchange rates. Any losses incurred as a result of currency exchange will not be covered by the funding. Some losses are inevitable though, for example, when travelling to countries such as Poland, who do not use euro’s you will need to exchange currency and a loss will be incurred. However, you can mitigate this loss by opening a euro account so that the funding does not have to be exchanged from euro to sterling then to zloty. Any bank charges or interest incurred during the placement are not covered by the funding and should be absorbed by the promoting organisation. Any projects sending participants to countries not participating in the Erasmus+ programme will not be covered by the funding. You will need to carry out the activity stated in your application form. All projects have been approved based on the information provided in your application so any changes to these details will need to be approved by the NA, as already discussed. Any major change to your project which are not approved by the NA will not be covered by Erasmus+ funding. For example; sending participants to a different destination country or host partner. Participants undertaking a placement which is shorter or longer in duration than that contracted for.
- In order to ensure the smooth running of your project, whether your an experienced LLP promoter or new to European funding we want to take this opportunity to look at some key areas. Participants As part of the recruitment and selection process you will need to think about whether or not participants have passports. And, if not, how will you resolve this bearing in mind passport costs are not covered by the funding? Also ensure all required visa’s are obtained and applications are made in plenty of time! You will need to ensure all participants have adequate travel insurance to cover them for the duration of the placement and have obtained an EHIC card. You need to ensure all participants meet the criteria set out in your application and fall under the target group. It is also very important that you consider participant withdrawals at an early stage in the project. Will you require a deposit from participants or hold a small amount of the subsistence back to cover any costs incurred as a result of their withdrawal? Participant agreements should also be in place to ensure that all expectations are clearly outlined to avoid problems. Partners, Roles and Responsibilities You should ensure that channels of communication are good between partners. Make sure you have email addresses and phone numbers for the key contacts at your partner organisation as more often than not there are staffing changes and contact can be lost! It is also important that you finalise training content with your partner in advance of the placements to ensure things run as smoothly as possible. Also discuss with your partner any other issues such as health and safety. This is a real issue in the UK as we have strict regulations which often aren’t the same in other EU countries and this can and has caused big problems. Start discussions early on – who is going to do the check – when will it be done Also consider your UK partners (if you have any) you will also need to agree their role in the project i.e. that they will recruit a specified number of participants. Any difficulties encountered here will also have a detrimental affect on your project. Most importantly, the NA strongly advises you establish partner contracts/ agreements which are signed by both parties at the beginning of the placement. This can be used as a tool to ensure your partners do what is required of them and all roles are agreed at the outset. You may feel you have a good relationship with your partner now but, 2 years is a long time. The organisation may change so it is vital to have a contract/ agreement in place. Handbook Make sure you read the handbook it is in your delegate packs and available on website. This will reiterate what has been said today and provide further clarification on specific points.
- The Participant Portal is a single entry point for EU-funded projects, including those from Erasmus+. To access the Participant Portal you’ll need to log in through ECAS. As the beneficiary you’ll need to ensure the information about your organisation is kept up to date so you’ll need to be able to access the portal throughout the duration of your project. Your partners will also need to ensure they keep the portal up to date as well. This is especially important for any UK partners in a national VET consortium. If you’re the coordinator of a consortium you will be expected to liaise with the other UK partners to ensure there are no issues with the participant portal throughout the project. Since each organisation only needs one PIC number you may not be the person who has access to your organisation in the Participant Portal. So it’s important that you make sure you know who has access in your organisation to ensure that information and documents are kept up to date. If you have access to your organisation in the Participant Portal it is your responsibility to make sure you can log in and to change the contact person details if necessary.
- The Mobility Tool + is the online management and reporting tool for Erasmus+ projects. Some of you may be familiar with the Mobility Tool from the old Leonardo and Erasmus programmes. You’ll need to use the Mobility Tool+ to update information relating to your project and submit reports to the National Agency. Updating the Mobility Tool+ is a contractual requirement and the National Agency will monitor this throughout your project. The Mobility Tool+ will allow you to manage your mobilities and the budget for your project. As well as viewing the information in the Mobility Tool+ you can also export data about the mobilities and the participant reports in the form of spreadsheets to help you manage your project.
- It is your responsibility to ensure the information in the Mobility Tool+ is accurate and kept up-to-date throughout your project. You’ll have to provide information about your participants and their mobilities including which receiving organisation they travel to, the duration of their placement, the languages they use, and how their learning outcomes are recognised. It is a contractual requirement for all participants to submit a participant report and it’s your responsibility to ensure that they receive the report and are able to complete and submit it. It is also your responsibility to generate, complete and submit the beneficiary report through the Mobility Tool+ at the end of your project.
- When your project is available in the Mobility Tool+ you will receive an automated email inviting you to access your project. To access your project you first need to log in to ECAS. You’ll need to ensure that the email address you use to login to ECAS is the same email address that you provided for the contact person for your project. This is because access to your project is linked to this email address. When your project is available in the Mobility Tool+ you will receive an automated email inviting you to access your project. You’ll need to access the Mobility Tool+ within 1 hour of receiving this email.
- After logging in you’ll be redirected to the Mobility Tool+ which will have a list of all the Lifelong Learning Programme and Erasmus+ projects for which you’re the contact person. You can use the built-in find function in your internet browser to locate a specific project by pressing Ctrl and F on your keyboard and typing in the grant agreement number. To access the information for that project just click the grant agreement number.
- Your project will open on the project details screen. Here you can see basic information about your project. Above this is a navigation toolbar to allow you to access the different sections of the Mobility Tool+. For Key Action 1 projects these sections are: Home, Project Details, Organisations, Contacts, Mobilities, Budget, and Reports. Clicking home will take you back to the list of your projects. Organisations, Contacts and Mobilities each have a drop down menu with options to either display a list of information or add a new entry. I’ll briefly go through these sections now.
- From the organisations drop down menu, the option ‘list organisations’ displays a list of all the organisations involved in your project. This includes your organisation as the beneficiary, any UK consortium partners, and any European receiving organisations. This information will already be imported into the Mobility Tool+ by the NA and you should check to make sure all your partners are listed. The other option in the drop down menu is to add a new organisation. You do not need to use this option as the NA will add any organisations to your project if this becomes necessary due to a contract amendment. Adding organisations yourself may result in ineligible costs at final report stage.
- Moving onto the contacts section you can see a list of the people involved with the project and their contact details. The contact person and the legal representative from your organisation will have already been imported by the NA.
- When you first access your project the Mobilities section will have no information. This is where you need to provide information about the participants, mobilities and budget for your project. Choosing list mobilities will display basic information about each participant and their mobility. From this screen you can also add a new mobility by clicking the green plus symbol. This will bring up a form for you to complete for each mobility. You are not able to create mobilities for different participants at the same time using this form. For large scale projects with a lot of participants you’ll be able to add multiple participants using the import function which I’ll cover shortly.
- This is the create mobility form. You should complete the form from the top to the bottom to ensure that all the fields calculate correctly. The red asterisks show you which fields must be completed. The top half of the form covers the activity type, participant information, and location of the mobility.
- The bottom half of the form covers the mobility dates, the budget, the certification of learning outcomes, and the languages used. You do not have to input the unit costs for the budget yourself. To calculate the budget you need to input the sending and receiving locations, the distance band, and the dates of the mobility. When you click the calculate button the Mobility Tool+ will then work out the unit costs for you. But you will need to manually input any special needs support. At the bottom of the form is a box for you to add any comments relating to the mobility. When the form’s complete you can click the save button which will return you to the list of mobilities and the new mobility you’ve just created will appear.
- You can edit the details of a mobility you’ve already added by clicking the pencil icon next to the participant’s name. This will take you to a screen with the full details of the mobility. To edit any of these details just click the pencil icon at the top of this screen. After the end date of a mobility, the Mobility Tool+ will automatically send an email inviting participants to complete an online participant report in the form of a survey. You can see here that the list of mobilities includes three columns that refer to the participant reports. You’ll be able to see the status of any reports, when they were sent to the participant and when the participant submitted the completed report. After a report has been requested by the Mobility Tool+ participants will have one week to complete it. After this type the link will expire and you’ll need to resend the request manually.
- To resend the request you should click the pencil icon next to a participant’s name to go to the screen with the full details of their mobility. Above the mobility details is a box with the participant report information. To resend the request click the resend button. When a participant has completed the report it cannot be edited by them or by you. To view the report just click the link that will appear under the PDF File heading.
- The import and export facility allows you to input information about multiple mobilities quickly and easily. This is particularly useful if your project involves a lot of participants and mobilities. The Mobility Tool+ uses the csv format which looks similar to an Excel spreadsheet and can be opened in Excel. The information in this file is coded in a particular way to allow the Mobility Tool+ to understand the data and display it correctly. You’ll need to use the Mobility Data Dictionary to ensure you’re inputting information in the correct format. You can download this directly from the Mobility Tool+. Importing allows you to add new mobilities as well as update information about mobilities you’ve already entered. But you can’t delete mobilities using the import function. This will need to be done on an individual basis through the mobilities section of the mobility tool+. Exporting allows you to see all the information about any mobilities that have been input into MT+. You can also use this exported file to add or update mobilities and then import this back to the mobility tool+
- This is the import – export section of MT+. You download the data dictionary using the link here. Clicking export will prompt you to open or save a .csv file with all the mobilities data that has been input into MT+. If you haven’t added any mobilities when you export the file the only information it will contain is the column headings. You can then use this to input data. To import a file you’ll need to have it saved on your computer and click the browse button. You can then select the file and import it. The table below will show a summary of the times you’ve imported information into the mobility tool+ and produce an error log if the import attempt was not successful. More information about importing and exporting data is available in the mobility tool+ user guide.
- The budget section is populated with information from the mobilities section of MT+ and is summarised as shown. At the top of the budget is the overall for the total project. Below this on the left hand side of the budget you can see the budget separated out by budget heading and mobility activity type. On the right hand side you can see the approved budget and current budget for each heading. This is also expressed as a percentage of spending to date.
- You should only generate the final beneficiary report for your project after the end date of your project and when you have checked all the information in the mobility tool+ is up-to-date and accurate. When you click the generate button the mobility tool+ will create a draft report with all the information about your project activities and the budget.
- The final report is completed directly in the mobility tool+ and then submitted online. We’ll be talking more about reporting requirements later in the day.
- Play video - upload copy to laptop/ youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaKCuwiIYLg#t=29 Video = 1.20 minutes in length
- The Erasmus+ Online Linguistic Support (OLS) has been designed to provide language assessments and courses for Erasmus+ participants and aims to improve their knowledge of the language in which they will work, study or volunteer abroad so that they can make the most out of this experience. The OLS makes linguistic support accessible in a flexible and easy way and contributes to a specific objective of the Erasmus+ Programme, which is to promote language learning and linguistic diversity. The OLS also aims to ensure a better quality of learning mobility, as well as to measure the impact of the programme on linguistic skills.
- There are currently three main criteria which define who the OLS is for and who will be given access to it: The OLS service is for VET learners of long-term mobility activities i.e. mobilities from 1 to 12 months or 30 days onwards In addition, the OLS currently has course content and assessments for 6 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch although OLS may be gradually extended to other EU official languages. Except for native speakers, participants using these languages as their main language of instruction, work or volunteering can be supported through the online service Linguistic support must be requested at application stage however if there are more OLS access licences than demand the NA may offer OLS access to organisations which did not request it at application. For KA1 VET participants in long-term mobilities who need linguistic support in languages not offered by the OLS service, they will receive 150 EUR per participant needing linguistic support if this was requested in your application. For KA1 VET participants in mobilities of less than 1 month (short term mobility) or all KA1 AE participants, linguistic preparation is financed from the budget section "Organisational Support”.
- The OLS at it’s most basic allows learners to test their language knowledge before they start on mobility and to test it again when they return, demonstrating the impact of the mobility on their language development. This is completed through the OLS language assessment which is compulsory for all selected participants, except native speakers. The results of the OLS language assessment will not prevent participants from taking part in the mobility. There is then also an optional language course to be followed in between the two language assessments. The second language assessment will be completed by all participants, even those which haven’t completed a language course. The results of the first assessment should be used by Beneficiaries when completing their participant learner agreements. There is no difference between the first Erasmus+ OLS language assessment (prior to the mobility period) and the second (after returning from mobility). However, the assessment is adaptive and therefore the questions might be different. Because both assessments are based on the same principles, it is possible to measure the improvement of language skills during the mobility period.
- In order for participants to access the OLS services you will have to allocate each of them with an OLS assessment licence and/or a course licence. To allow you to do this, the NA will allocate you a number of licences on the basis of the information provided in your application form. You will then receive login details for the OLS system using your e-mail address. The number and the type of licences we allocate you (either assessment and/or language course licences) was included in your grant agreement. You then allocate assessment licences to your learners - which I will show you how to do shortly – but once allocated, your learners will receive login details by email. This will allow them to complete their user profile, including their mobility start and end dates, and to start the first assessment. Your participants will then complete and submit their pre-mobility language assessments allowing you to monitor their use, review the results and analyse their current language capabilities.
- Participants will be awarded an assessment score from A1 – basic user up to C2 – proficient user. You will then have the option to award language course licences to your learners. Priority should be given to those participants most in need to improve their level in the main language of instruction, work or volunteering but should be awarded to all participants willing to follow them. A maximum of one language course licence can be awarded to each participant. However, provided that the beneficiary has a sufficient number of OLS licences, participants who are native speakers or have a C2 level in the main language of instruction, work or volunteering may use the OLS to improve their level in another language of instruction, work or volunteering, or in the language of the country. 15 days before the end of their mobility, participants will receive an automatic email from the OLS inviting then to take their second language assessment, as well as reminders every 5 days. Once complete, you’ll see the results of this second assessment for all participants whether they completed a language course or just the first assessment.
- 1. Access the OLS and log into the back-end To access the OLS go to the following URL: http://www.erasmusplusols.eu To access the login page, click the Login button in the upper right corner of your screen.
- To log in, you’ll type in the Login and the Password you would have received by email. In case you encounter problems, you can contact the Helpdesk by clicking the Report a Problem button on the upper left hand corner of your screen.
- This is the homepage of Erasmus+ OLS appears after you log-in. On the static toolbar on the upper part of your screen you have 3 buttons: Erasmus+ OLS banner – click on the button to go to the OLS back-end homepage Report a Problem – click on the button to contact the Helpdesk for any problem ESC ( ) – click on the button to close your session
- On this page you’ll find important information regarding updates, forthcoming features of the OLS and system alerts. Four tabs are available in the menu on the left hand side of your screen: Home (tab 1) Assessment Licence Allocation to Participants (tab 2) Course Licence Allocation to Participants (tab 3) Monitoring of Used Licences (tab 4) Click on any tab to navigate between Home, Assessment Licence Allocation to Participants, Course Licence Allocation to Participants and Monitoring of Used Licences.
- To access the section "Assessment Licence Allocation to Participants", from your Home screen, click on the 2nd tab (Assessment Licence Allocation to Participants). You are now accessing the Assessment Licence Allocation to Participants page.
- If your institution/organisation is part of several projects, you can find several tabs on the top of the page. By navigating through those tabs, you can access the corresponding “Assessment Licence Allocation to Participant” page related to each of your projects. [PAUSE VIDEO] In the upper right part of the screen, a summary box also shows information on: Your BEN’s remaining number of assessment licences, i.e. the number of licences currently available for Participants allocation; Your BEN’s number of allocated assessment licences, i.e. the number of assessment invitations already sent to your participants; The total number of assessment licences granted to your BEN by your National Agency (NA). [PLAY VIDEO at 1.30] To allocate assessment licences to your participants, write all of the email addresses for each language in the Emails box, separated by “;” or “,”. You’ll then need to validate the email address list by clicking on Validate emails. The system will check and let you know if there are any common problems. A message appears when emails are successfully validated. Then, especially if you’ve put in several email addresses at once, make sure the count of email addresses is correctly shown next to the Validate emails button once you allocate the licences you won’t be able to undo this. You’ll now need to select the language to be tested in the highlighted Language to test scroll-down menu. The language tested corresponds to the language the participants will use to study, work or volunteer abroad and cannot be changed afterwards. Then you’ll need to select a Deadline to take the test which is up to you. To do so, select the number of days or months given to the participants to take the test. Please note that the deadline can only be set before the participant’s departure date. Once you’ve completed all of these, the Send assessment invitation(s) to the whole list button becomes active. Make sure to review all information before clicking on this button to send assessment invitations to all validated email addresses. Invitations are then automatically sent to the participants and a message pops-up confirming the invitations were successfully sent. If your participants have to be tested in several languages, repeat the above instructions for each group of participants/languages.
- To access the section "Course Licence Allocation to Participants", from your Home screen, click on the 3rd tab (Course Licence Allocation to Participants).
- There are the same options as before to navigate between project tabs if your institution/organisation is part of several projects
- In the upper right part of the screen, a summary box also shows information on: Your BEN’s remaining number of course licences, i.e. the number of licences currently available for allocation to your Participants; Your BEN’s total number of allocated course licences, i.e. the number of licences already allocated to your participants; Your BEN’s number of allocated course licences, per language (German, English, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch); The total number of assessment licences granted to your BEN by your National Agency (NA).
- In the lower part of your screen you see the list of participants related to the selected project who: Received an assessment licence Have completed the first assessment test Have not returned from their Erasmus+ mobility yet For each of your participants the following information is available: Name Allocated Language, i.e. the language allocated to the participant for his/her tests First Test Result Estimated mobility starting date Mobility duration You can also sort the information by alphabetical or numerical order by clicking on a column title.
- On your screen several functions are available: New Participants Records per page scroll-down menu: by clicking on this button you can change the number of pending new project records that are shown per page; : by clicking on this button you can export all information on pending new projects in an Excel file; Filter by Tested Language scroll-down menu: by clicking on this button you can filter the displayed entries, based on the language tested during the 1st assessment; Filter by Reached Level scroll-down menu: by clicking on this button you can filter the displayed entries, based on the level achieved on the 1st assessment; Search all fields field: by using this field you can search participants by any data; Previous and Next buttons: by clicking on those buttons you can navigate in the different pages of the Course Licence Allocation to Participants table.
- To allocate a course licence to project participants, click on Allocate in the cell on the far right of the student’s row. A message will appear confirming the course licence has been successfully allocated. When a participant has been allocated a course licence, the related row disappears from the table. At the same time, the participant will receive their personal Login and Password to access the Erasmus+ OLS language courses by email. To allocate course licences to several participants, tick the boxes related to those participants in the cells on the far right of the students’ rows. Then click on the Allocate to all selected button.
- If you wish to allocate licences to all participants in the list, you can select them all by clicking on the Select all button in the column title.
- Once you have allocated assessment test or course licences to your participants, you can monitor the use of each licence in the Erasmus+ OLS back-end. To access the Monitoring of Used Licences section, from your Home screen, click on the 4th tab (Monitoring of Used Licences). You are now accessing the Monitoring of Used Licences page.
- On your screen, for each of your participants you can see the following information: First Name Last Name Email Assessment Invitation Date 1st Assessment Result 1st Assessment Date 2nd Assessment Result 2nd Assessment Date Mobility Duration Allocated Language Course Licence (allocated or not) Course Licence Allocation Date You can also sort the information by alphabetical, chronological or numerical order by clicking on a column title.
- On your screen several functions are available: Records per page scroll-down menu: by clicking on this button you can change the number of participants’ records that are shown per page; : by clicking on this button you can export all information on Participant(s) in an Excel file; Filter by Tested Language scroll-down menu: by clicking on this button you can filter the displayed entries, based on the tested language; Filter by Reached Level scroll-down menu: by clicking on this button you can filter the displayed entries, based on the level achieved in both assessments; Search all fields field: by using this field you can search participants by any data; Previous and Next buttons: by clicking on those buttons you can navigate in the different pages of the Course Licence Allocation to Participants table.
- If you encounter any problems or issues you can always contact the 24hr Helpdesk by clicking on the Report a Problem button in the header. This was a brief overview of how to allocate assessment and course licences however for those projects awarded OLS licences there will be a lot more information soon including a user guide which follows these steps.
- Allocation of licences to mobility participants You shall award the licences to the mobility participants according to the following principles: - if linguistic support has been requested, the assessments are compulsory for all non-native speaking participants of long-term mobility activities who have one of the available OLS languages as their main language of instruction or work. - licence allocation must take place after participants have been selected - the licences for online language courses will be awarded to all participants willing to take the course and according to the participant's linguistic needs; Through signing the individual learner agreements, your participants are committed to completing the OLS assessment (before and at the end of the mobility period) and to follow the OLS language course, if awarded. It is worth knowing that if you have a sufficient number of OLS licences, participants who are native speakers or have a C2 level in the main language of instruction or work may use the OLS to improve their level in another language of instruction or work or in the language of the country. 2. Monitoring and Reporting You will be responsible for monitoring and ensuring the full uptake of licences by learners. You will also be expected to report on the number of used assessment and language course licences in your final reports to the NA. In case of unused or non-allocated licences, the NA may decide to take this into account in the following calls or selection rounds.
- As mentioned previously, there will be a lot more information available soon for those 2015 project awarded OLS licences but currently, to access the OLS go to the following URL: http://www.erasmusplusols.eu. There you will find quite a lot of resources already including the mobility participant user guide which explains how your learners will handle their own user interface, guided tours for participants so you and they know what they will be viewing/ accessing etc. Once you have your log in there are tools such as the graphical tool kit for the promotion of the Erasmus+ OLS, the Beneficiary Beneficiaries user guide and a technical questions and answers guide. A technical helpdesk for OLS beneficiaries and participants is provided by the service provider within the OLS (section “Report a problem”). I’ll now pass you on to my colleague Natasha who will talk to you about monitoring requirements.
- Hello, I am Natasha, and I will be talking to you about Monitoring Activities.
- Both the NA and you as the promoter are responsible for monitoring the project throughout the lifecycle. I’m going to run through these responsibilities and tell you a little more about them. All projects will be subject to monitoring by the NA. The main way the NA will be able to monitor your project is through the Mobility Tool+. Using MT+ your project officer will be able to see that the project is progressing as expected by checking if information about the mobilities has been completed before a flow is expected to happen. It is important that Mobility Tool+ is kept up to date regularly, it is your friend in managing your project. The NA also conducts monitoring calls, monitoring visits and in some cases financial on-the-spot checks and audits. As the project promoter, you are responsible for continually monitoring and evaluating your project and updating your project officer of any changes or developments. Regular monitoring from the National Agency is an essential part of helping you with this.
- Moving on now to Monitoring Calls, you can see the purpose of these on screen; do not read the slide! The UK NA may conduct quarterly monitoring calls during your project’s lifetime, but don’t panic if you’re selected for monitoring calls! Monitoring calls are our way of supporting you and finding out more about your activities. So What happens? If your project has been selected for a monitoring call you project officer will inform you that your project has been selected we’ll arrange a suitable date for the monitoring call to take place. The call itself should last about one hour and we will also inform you of the aims of the call before it takes place. We will talk through many aspects of your project including; how you are working with your partners, project management, how the project activities are progressing and also how you are evaluating and measuring the project, to name a few! The call is also an opportunity for you to discuss with the National Agency how your project is progressing against the planned objectives and activities mentioned in your application form. It’s also a chance for you to seek clarification and guidance on anything related to your project and a chance to inform us of any issues you’re experiencing. As mentioned we’ll also check to make sure you’re keeping MT+ up to date as part of the call!
- I hope that was clear, so now onto Monitoring visits… The NA is also required by the European Commission to undertake audit and monitoring visits to a representative sample of organisations each year to ensure that their management of the E+ Programme is satisfactory and within the terms of the grant agreement. There are four types of visit which can be undertaken by the NA or other agencies: Monitoring Visits (NA only) On the Spot Checks (NA only) Systems Checks (NA or other agencies) Audit Visits (NA or other agencies) Monitoring Visits are conducted by the NA to monitor progress against the project’s set objectives and activities and to collect information on the effectiveness and impact of the granted project on the beneficiary organisation, as well as support and advise the beneficiary and to gather and disseminate good practice examples. The National Agency will visit the beneficiary at their premises to talk about the project and to view all relevant project documents. The NA may carry out the Monitoring Visit at the same time as an On the Spot Check, this is a financial check that the NA is required by the European Commission to carry out on a small sample of projects, while the project activities are in progress. Again the NA will conduct a visit to your premises to check the project’s financial records. We are waiting for further information from the European Commission regarding Systems Checks but we do know that these will only be required for the ‘top receivers’ – that is, projects in receipt of a grant worth €200,000 or more. Audit visits may be undertaken by the European Commission, the European Court of Auditors, the NA’s own Internal Audit and/or Compliance Teams, and other relevant bodies. The NA may also identify organisations for ad hoc visits on the basis of the amounts of funding awarded, issues arising from previous reports or other information received from the promoter. Additional quality checks covering the commitments covered with the grant agreement will be undertaken. These will include review of feedback reports from individual students and staff. There’s more information about each type of visit in the 2015 Handbook and now I’m going to talk briefly about monitoring visits and on the spot checks.
- The UK NA may visit your organisation during the project’s lifetime. The visit is an opportunity for you to take stock of the project achievements and review your progress against the objectives. You will also be able to seek clarification and guidance on any aspect of the project lifecycle. The NA will also explore examples of best practice from your project which other beneficiaries may benefit from. The information gathered will also form part of our monitoring of the E+ programme as a whole and be used to inform reports produced by the NA. During the visit, the project will be assessed against objectives set out in your original application which forms the basis of the agreement. You will usually be visited by your project officer and another NA representative. The visit will usually last half a working day but may be longer in some circumstances. The purpose of monitoring visits: Monitoring Visits are one of the monitoring and support activities undertaken by the National Agency (NA). Specifically, they aim to: offer support and counsel to beneficiaries; identify and gather examples of good practice and potential case studies; identify and gather information that may feed into recommendations and guidelines to other beneficiaries; contribute to collecting information on qualitative aspects of Programme management; contribute to collecting information on the effectiveness and impact of the granted project on the beneficiary organisation; monitor project progress against the set objective and planned activities; They can also assist in developing closer working relationships between project coordinators and NA staff. The focus of the Monitoring Visit will be on collecting information on qualitative aspects of Programme management and the effectiveness and impact of the granted project on your organisation, and as stated the visit will be used primarily to support and advise the beneficiary as well as to gather and disseminate good practice examples. In some cases Monitoring Visits will be organised to coincide with On-the-Spot Checks, which are selected at random. The Monitoring visit will be scheduled, conducted and followed up by your Project Officer. What you need to do: On your side ensure that the main contact person is available throughout the visit. Other key individuals involved in the development and management of the project may also be involved, particularly where an agenda item corresponds to their role in the project. It may also be useful if the person responsible for managing the project’s financial records is available. If learners or trainees are involved in the project it may also be useful for them to attend part of the visit, where this is relevant and/or where possible.
- The NA will also complete on the spot financial checks on project activities during a random sample of monitoring visits, On the spot checks may also be carried out on their own. The main purpose of the on the spot check is to provide assurance on the eligibility of the project activities. During the check the financial management of the project and record keeping will be looked at to ensure it’s appropriate. The NA is required to conduct On-the-spot Checks during project implementation in order to check: whether the triggering event (e.g. travel, placement abroad) actually took place; whether the activities undertaken were in line with the applicable rules (e.g. learners travelled to eligible countries, duration, type of participants, coherence with approved grant application etc.); the quality of the activities undertaken; and in the case of VET individual participant files.
- As the project promoter you are accountable for the implementation of the project and for the use of funds received. Your funding was awarded to you based on the information provided in your 2015 application and as a result you entered into a legally binding contract with the UK NA You will need to work closely with your project partners to implement and evaluate the project. This includes any receiving organisation involved in your project as well as UK partners if you’re coordinating a consortium. You’ll need to monitor participants and ensure correct placement duration and timeframes are adhered to as well as ensuring good quality work placement activities. This should be done inline with the roles and responsibilities of your partners and the profile of your target group of participants that you set out in your application. You’ll need to ensure that the project’s budget is monitored and that you have appropriate financial management systems in place to manage your grant. As I mentioned, updating the Mobility Tool+ efficiently will help you to monitor your project and highlight any issues, especially with the budget. Effective monitoring and evaluation throughout your project will also allow you to evaluate the project’s progress and success on an ongoing basis. You also need to make sure you keep in touch with your project officer regarding any issues you’re experiencing and discuss any changes with the NA before you make them. These are just a few examples of what your management responsibilities are, for a more comprehensive list, please refer to the 2015 Handbook in your delegate packs. Thank you for your time and I will now hand you over to Danielle…
- Eg of Los for Cake Decoration: Sugar Paste Processes 1 Prepare cake bases and decoration materials to required specification. 2 Apply base materials to cakes. 3 Decorate and finish cakes to required specification, using sugar paste. 4 Demonstrate health, safety and hygienic working practices.
- Only one slide in this section, highlighting benefits for three core ECVET stakeholder groups.
- Shows the gaps filled in.
- Builds on the idea of three core phases in which ECVET principles can be applied to new or existing mobility programmes. Different starting points can exist depending on the experience of mobility that an organisation or institution already has.
- Focus on activities that are required PreMobility. Point out that this is the lbiggest focus.
- Learning Outcomes can be SELECTED from existing qualifications or CREATED specifically for a mobility programme (Customised units can be recognised as additional to learners’ usual qualifications)
- Confirms the core elements of a Learning Agreemen ).
- Explain that we will go into this in more detail later on in the workshop.
- Focuses on those activities that take place DURING mobility. Remind delegates that this in a “perfect” scenario.
- In mobility terms, learning can take place in a formal learning environment such as a college or vocational training centre, directly within the workplace, or as a mixture of the two Activities will not always be limited to those elements outlined in the learning agreement (especially the case when working in a company) yet it is important that the learner is given the opportunity to progress and to develop the targeted knowledge, skills and competences The learning agreement is an important document as it confirms the roles and responsibilities of all actors (teachers, trainers, workplace tutors, learners) and details the learning outcomes that are being targeted during the mobility period. The slide and discussion onfirms different learning landscapes (in line with current funding possibilities via Erasmus+) and stresses the importance of learner progression and achievement, and underlines the value of the learning agreement.
- Confirms that different approaches (to assessment) exist, some tied to institutional or programme requirements, and states areas for reflection and consideration for “home” and host” partners.
- Previously references to the “Personal Transcript” (e.g. Europass Mobility) have been extended, in this slide, to encompass requirements for evidence that the “sending”” institution might also require if full recognition is to be sought.
- Indicate this is the final stage of the 3 stages and can sometimes be the most challenging.
- Highlights the differences, from a UK perspective, between “validation” and “recognition”.
- Can be used to exemplify that some of the work has already been done, highlighting one or more starting points for aligning existing practice (and tools) with ECVET goals and principles.
- Must read all case studies to find good examples!!!
- Confirms the different resources developed by the UK ECVET Team and by others.
- Confirms onsite, event and online support routes for those present.
- So what do we mean by reporting? All organisations coordinating an Erasmus+ project are required to report back to their National Agency during the project lifecycle with details about how their project has been implemented and with the project outcomes. This enables the NA to check that the project has been carried out in line with the information given in its original application form and that the grant has been used as per the funding rules for both the programme and the Key Action, as well as evaluate the quality and impact of the project. As my colleague Indi mentioned earlier in her presentation, reporting is a contractual requirement for both Key Action 1 VET and AE projects under Article 1.4 of the grant agreement and all beneficiaries are required to provide the NA with qualitative and financial information about their project. This is done in three different ways: through submitting an interim report, participant reports and a final report. All projects must submit a final report and participant reports but some projects are also required to submit an interim report depending on the payment and monitoring structures put in place by the National Agency. Please ensure that you check article 1.4 of your grant agreement as it will tell you if you need to submit an interim report. With the exception of the interim report, which is currently being developed by the EC, all reports have to be submitted electronically through the Mobility Tool+. The NA does not require paper copies of these reports, although we would recommend printing them out and retaining them for your own reference.
- As mentioned previously in some cases, the National Agency may identify projects that require additional monitoring and these projects will have to complete an interim report. Depending on the payment structure for your grant, you may also need to submit this interim report to request a 2nd pre-financing payment of your grant. Where the report represents a request for a 2nd payment you must provide budget information demonstrating that you have spent 70% or more of the 1st pre-financing payment you received to release this 2nd payment. Also mentioned before please refer to Article 1.4 of your grant agreement for further information about your grant payment structure and whether you need to submit an interim report. The interim report is a short document that asks you to provide a comprehensive overview of how the project has been implemented and to provide budget information detailing how the grant has been spent to date. At present the document is in word document format and will be emailed to you by the National Agency in the two months before the report is due to allow you good time to complete it. However, in the future you will be asked to submit it electronically through the Mobility Tool+ once the European Commission has built this feature into the tool. Your interim report is due half-way through the project, so six months or a year after the project start date depending on the length of your project. The report must cover all project activities from the project start date to two months before the interim report is due – again please refer to your grant agreement as the reporting period and the deadline date for submitting the report can be found there. Following approval of your interim report, the NA must make any 2nd payment due within 60 days of receiving the report.
- All projects are required to submit a final report 60 days after their project end date, as per Article 1.4 of the grant agreement. The purpose of submitting a final report is allow the NA to assess the finished project in terms of quality and to check that the spend against the grant is both eligible for the Key Action and in line with Erasmus+ programme rules. Just like with your original Erasmus+ application form, the final report has to be submitted electronically with a signed, scanned Declaration of Honour page annexed to it. The report then appears in the National Agency database, ready to be assessed by the NA. The final report is generated and submitted electronically using the information inputted into the Mobility Tool+ so it’s important that as your project progresses you keep the tool up to date in terms of mobilities and budget information. As my colleague Heather explained earlier in her presentation, it is possible to generate your report at any time. However as the report pulls information from the mobility and budget sections of the tool we do not recommend that you generate the report until all your mobilities and budget information have been correctly entered. Please also note that the NA will not accept any final reports submitted before the final report deadline given in your grant agreement so you must submit it on the deadline date. If you fail to submit your final report within 30 days of the deadline date the NA reserves the right to terminate the project in line with the conditions set out in your grant agreement and request a full refund of all pre-financing payments received.
- As mentioned before the final report pulls information through from the Mobility Tool+ on: - the participating organisations - the number of participants and the type of mobility they carried out (i.e. VET learners mobility, staff training abroad, teaching training assignment abroad, participation in a structured course etc.) - what learning recognition has been received by the participants (if you have indicated that they have received Europass certification or ECVET) - the final grant amount reported in the tool and the spend against each individual budget heading The final report also requires you to manually input qualitative information on the following topics: A summary of the completed project, which may be used on the Erasmus+ dissemination platform VALOR A description of the project objectives and how you evaluated the extent to which these objectives were met The project’s practical arrangements and the project management and monitoring processes that you had in place The project activities and how they were organised The learning outcomes gained by the project’s participants The impact of the project on its participants, participating organisations and other stakeholders if relevant How the project results and achievements have been disseminated
- In addition to the qualitative and budgetary information, you are also required to submit a number of supporting documents, annexed to the report. - Evidence of payments to project beneficiaries All KA1 projects are required to retain evidence of subsistence payments to beneficiaries to demonstrate that demonstrate that the participants have received the full amount of subsistence owed to them. This may be in the form of invoices for payments made directly by the beneficiary or in the form of signed receipts/ bank transfers by the participant. During on the spot checks, the UK NA will require this evidence to be provided and any underspend identified. Please note that if you are unable to allocate all of the subsistence to participants this will either affect the final payment amount that you receive or in the case or a significant underspend you may be requested to refund some of the pre-financing payment received to the NA. Evidence of any other costs incurred is not required at final report stage. Evidence that the mobilities took place All KA1 projects must provide evidence that each mobility activity was completed successfully and to do this you must provide a declaration of attendance for each participant. The declaration of attendance should be signed all by the sending and receiving organisations and the participant and should include the participant’s full name, mobility start and end dates, the course title (if applicable) and details of any linguistic preparation undertaken (if it is a VET learner project). Please refer to the KA1 Handbook as this information is detailed there. Please note that as per page 257 of the Erasmus+ Programme Guide, all VET learners must sign a learning agreement with you as the sending organisation that in addition to defining the target learning outcomes for the mobility states how much grant money they are entitled to. You should have been sent a template learning agreement with your grant agreement, but you can use your own template as required. Please be aware that you may be asked to provide a sample of these and the participant reports as supporting documents. Further guidance on how to complete your final report will be published on the Erasmus+ website in due course.
- All VET learners and staff and adult ed. staff who have completed a mobility activity abroad must complete a participant report after the end of the mobility. Completion of the report is obligatory and it is your responsibility as the project coordinator to ensure that 100% of your participants fill in and submit the participant report. Any organisation with a less than 100% completion rate will see their final grant reduced and will not receive payment for any mobilities missing a participant report. The only exception to this are accompanying persons, who are not required to complete a participant report. The Mobility Tool+ will automatically email a link to the survey to each participant the day after the mobility end date end into the tool. If for any reason the link is not received by the participant the project coordinator can also go into the Mobility Tool+ and request that the report is resent, although they should obviously double-check that the participant’s email address has been entered correctly and that there are no other factors preventing receipt of the link, such as individual email settings for spam or junk mail. Either way, we would recommend that you get participants to complete them while the mobility experience is still fresh in their mind and while you are still able to contact them to ensure 100% completion of reports. Once the participant and completed and submitted the report a PDF copy of the report appears in the Mobility Tool+ and can be viewed by the project coordinator. The participant report takes the form of an online survey hosted by EUSurvey, and asks the learner or staff member to rate their mobility experience based on a number of different factors such as the quality of the placement, the quality of support received from the sending and receiving organisations and on personal and professional development. VET learners who have undertaken a placement of a month or more are also asked to evaluate the linguistic support that they received.
- The final report will be assessed on the basis of quality criteria and scored on a total of maximum 100 points. It will be assessed in conjunction with the reports from the mobility participants, using a common set of quality criteria focusing on: The extent to which the action was implemented in line with the approved grant application The quality of project and impact on the participating organisations The extent to which the grant amounts due to mobility participants were transferred to them in accordance with the contractual provisions set out in the agreement between the beneficiary and the participant following the template provided in Annex IV of the Agreement. A grant reduction based on poor, partial or late implementation will be applied to the final grant amount for organisational support and exceptional costs and will be of: 25% if the final report scores between 41 and 50 points both included; 50% if the final report scores between 26 and 40 points both included; 75% if the final report scores between 0 and 25 points both included. Supplementary guidance on completing your final report will be provided by the NA in due course.
- The budgetary information included in your final report will also be assessed to ensure that the stated project costs are eligible and do not exceed those set out in your grant agreement and annex I and II of the grant agreement. Indi has already covered in her presentation what constitutes ineligible costs, so please be aware that if any of those costs are included in your final report you will not be reimbursed for them and may even be asked to refund some of the pre-financing payment received if the ineligible costs lead to significant grant underspend. Please also note that the travel distance bands entered for each of your mobilities will be checked against the EC distance calculator at final report stage and if it is found that you have overstated these costs i.e. entered a higher travel distance band than required for the mobility, your final grant amount will be reduced accordingly. For some projects, use of incorrect travel bands has been identified at assessment stage and the National Agency has taken this into account and made reductions to the grant awarded. However, you should not assume that the distance bands used in your original application are correct and it is your responsibility to check when you enter the information on to the Mobility Tool+ that you have selected the correct distance band. To check this please refer to the EC distance calculator - you can find a link to this in the KA1 Guide for Applicants and the KA1 Handbook or on this website here: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/tools/distance_en.htm
- The European Commission is currently developing a web-based dissemination platform for the Erasmus+ and Creative Europe programmes called VALOR. For Erasmus+ the thinking behind the platform is that it will provide an overview of all the projects financed under the programme, heighten visibility of the various funding opportunities offered, showcase project results and highlight success stories to inspire potential applicants. Further information will be made available ahead of the platform’s launch in the autumn of this year, but it worth being aware that the intention is for all KA1 projects to be listed on VALOR. This is the reason that you were asked to complete a Project Summary in your original application form, ready for publication on the platform and that you may be asked to upload information about your project results after the project is completed.
- So finally some tips to help you successfully complete your report! Firstly we recommend that you update the Mobility Tool+ on an ongoing basis and regularly check that all the budgetary information and mobilities have been entered correctly and completely. Regularly checking the Mobility Tool may also mean that if there is a technical issue that prevents you from entering the correct information you can notify the NA in good time for us to advise you with this. If there are any changes to your organisation’s data or to the project itself please also notify your Project Officer as the NA may need to update the Mobility Tool for you. Secondly, we would advise you to keep track of the documents required for each learner to ensure that these are completed are good time before report submission. We would recommend obtaining up to date contact details for each learner so that if there are any issues with these documents you can get in touch with them. Thirdly, as the National Agency cannot accept any final reports submitted before the deadline date and won’t start checking any reports until the day after at the earliest, please plan ahead to ensure that the report is submitted on deadline day. This may mean making provisions for if the project’s main contact person or coordinator is away or not available on this date. If you are unsure of the date when you need to submit your final report please check with your Project Officer.
- Impact on participants, partners, target group, national & regional level as well as VET sector Look back to your application and ensure you keep these points in mind Improved employability, addressing skills shortages, improving VET teaching standards in the UK? Linked to participants needs and the training plan Think about the placement activities and how these feed into your intended results Do you need to adjust these based on the participants selected for placement to ensure continuous improvement and relevance? Logic model sets out your aims and supports the rationale for your project, helps you to link your project activities to these outcomes and demonstrates the extent to which your activities have addressed the aims of the project.
- Run through the example identifying other potential resources etc Staff example could be… EU Funding -> job shadowing -> enhanced / new knowledge and skills -> revised curriculum -> improved student retention / grades etc.
- Refer back to your application Satisfaction levels; participants, partners, your organisation, VET sector etc. Impact; what have you identified as your impact on the previous slides? Project management; what worked well,? Areas for improvement? Qualitative and quantitative methods Steering groups Reports Surveys, Interviews and Group discussions Partner meetings Include everyone who was involved with the project… participants, partners, hosts, employers,
- Evaluation needs to be ongoing throughout the project lifetime Needs to encompass all aspects of project delivery; from the promotional strategy right though to your dissemination activities You should identify where continuous improvements can be made Detail how you made improvements to future flows based on lessons learnt NA advises you to record the activities and outcomes so that you can feed them into your final report- you wont be penalised for identifying how you improved your project!
- Dissemination should include general promotion of the project but also focus specifically on your projects achievements Once you have identified the impacts of your project and measured to what extend they have been achieved you should disseminate these findings to as many appropriate audiences as possible Different results will be suitable for different audiences; Senior Management within your organisation may be interested in hearing about how you have improved student retention where as local employers may be more interested in hearing about the improved training your organisation can now offer or the new skills learners can bring to their organisation as a result of what they have learnt on placement You should be disseminating your project results as a local, national and European level where possible Activities should be varied but most importantly suitable for your organisation, the project and identified audiences Where possible social media can be utilised and why not plan an event for local employers in your area to showcase the skills developed by learners on their placement? The UK NA holds a number of dissemination events throughout the year which you can also be a part of… more on that now as I hand over to my colleague Emma who will discuss the NA dissemination tools.
- Firstly welcome and congratulations on starting your project! You may have already been very busy or just started your project activities But how can we help? At the National Agency we work with you to help promote your project to a wider audience. (Over the next few minutes I’ll explain some of the key channels and resources we have available. I will also explain online and face-to-face events which can help you throughout your project lifecycle.
- Firstly hopefully everyone in the room has seen our new-look website? This was refreshed at the beginning of the year and it was based upon feedback from our users last year. So what’s new/ what are the key changes? Many of the changes have been visual, as you may have noticed, as it now reflects our UK programme identify, so please do take some pens, notepads and other goodies to take back to the office of for project meetings! We have changed the way people navigate their way through the site. (Formerly this was by Key Action on the interim site) You can find content by sector, activity stages (such as before you apply) and there’s a section with advice for participants too. We have also produced an online user guide to help you find your way around, and you can use the search function too. We have added new content and documents, in fact we have produced 50% more pages than the interim site, and you can visit the ‘manage your grant section for information on managing your Erasmus+ project. You will find further information about dissemination and promotion, and this is where we will publish reporting templates and guidance. You can also download the European Commission’s Erasmus+ logo and guidance for adding it to your promotional materials and documents for your project. We also have a new community section with details of community events and how you can get involved which I will come on to later.
- OUR CHANNELS We’d like you to keep in touch with us via our newsletter: You can sign up for the latest Erasmus+ monthly updates and sector specific news straight to your inbox We’ll also send you e-alerts for key information such as deadline reminders You’ll find news items, information and how to book when we launch registration for events and webinars, case studies and more We’re looking for projects to feature their project news so contact us or send us your case studies so we can include them and share with our (over 3000) subscribers! So, if you don’t do so already you can sign up via our website using the link on screen. You can also view previous month’s newsletters.
- How can you interact with us? Recap of our channels: This diagram summarises our different channels… As you can see the Erasmus+ website also includes our blog. Like to feature on the blog? If you would like to wrote a guest post then please contact us, or come and have a chat with me in the break. We are always happy to work with new guest authors and it’s a great way to reach a wider network. For example, we are grateful to Praxis Europe who wrote a piece about their KA1 youth project (including images, video and a poem!) In addition. We’ve also got out social media channels. You may notice some newer channels such as Storify which is an online resource which captures tweets, videos and other online materials to allow you to tell a story. If you haven’t already seen our Learning Networks storify (which I’ll come onto in a moment) please take a look. It might also be something which could work well for your own dissemination to collect online content across platforms. We’ve also started using slideshare to display presentations, such as this which we shall upload after this event.
- With over 2,000 followers on twitter, this is our most popular social media channel. Follow us and we will retweet your information to our followers! It’s also a great way of alerting us to potential news articles and case studies especially if you send us videos and photos. *Show of hands/stand-up* Q: How many of you use twitter? Q: How many of you follow us on twitter (@erasmusplusuk) Q: How many of you have tweeted us today? (mention people in the room that have tweeted) We can re-tweet your messages to further support your project and please feel free to mention us during todays even by using ‘@erasmusplusuk’ and we will re-tweet your messages. Remember you can record this type of activity in your final report as a dissemination activity. You can also ‘like’ us on Facebook to receive updates across our channels, and subscribe to our channel on Youtube (including case studies, stakeholder interviews, Learning Networks film, Erasmus+ annual conference playlist and our 2014 Call stats infographic) Again you can also follow us on Storify (watch this space for more from future events) If you’re fairly new to social media, and are keen to learn more, we have some printed resources with us here today which have some useful information and tips.
- We can help you promote your project in a number of ways: Submit a case study We love to hear your project stories and it’s a great dissemination tool to reach a wider audience. Visit the case studies section on our website for for more information and to download the case study form. We’ll do the rest! We will edit your case study into a finished article to feature online. You can download a case study template from our website, or we have some paper copies to take away with you today *Myself and colleague will be available during the break and at the end of the event if anyone would like to speak with us today* So, we can help promote these to our followers on our various online channels…
- Other ways we can offer support: Events and webinars Learning Networks initiative (this is a relatively new initiative for Erasmus+ intended as a forum for projects to meet, share best practice around particular themes chosen for their relevance to the programme (the three 3 chosen for 2015 are Widening Participation, Measuring Impact and Employability). The second 2015 Learning Networks event was held in Belfast in May. We were joined by over 60 guests who took part in interactive workshops around each of the three themes. We produced a press release for the event including 2 inspiring NI-based prokects (IFA % NIYDA). We have also published a number of follow-up resources on our new-look Learning Networks webpages which now include separate pages for each workshop theme. These include: • An overall event report from the day • Facilitator notes from each workshop • An event Storify with tweets, photos, presentations and other online content from the day following our hashtag #epluspeople Thank you to those of you who may have attended the event. If you are interested in joining the initiative, you can contact us and details of the next event will be made available soon. The event will take place in Cardiff in the winter. You can subscribe to our newsletter to keep-up-to-date *play video?* Annual conference – This will take place on Tuesday 22 September at the John McIntyre Conference Centre in Edinburgh. We will be sharing more details in the coming months, including ways for projects to be involved in our interactive exhibition of best practice. It will be a great opportunity to network, take part in workshops and share your successes. So watch this space and details of how to register will again be made available in our newsletter later this year. Finally support webinars! Great way to find out more from the comfort of your office/home. As you can see in the picture, our NA staff are on hand to deliver useful guidance and you can submit real-time questions, take-part in online polls and more. You will find details on our events and webinar page.