The objectives of the project were to: - deepen participants' knowledge of their vocational subject within a European context and in different working environments - encourage participants to consider employment opportunities in Europe within their chosen field - enhance participants' CVs by providing evidence of having acquired additional professional skills during their time overseas as well as enhancing their soft skills such as team building and problem-solving - enable the sending and receiving organisations to develop and strengthen partnerships across a range of curriculum areas. - support the comparability and transportability of vocational qualifications
The overarching rationale for carrying out this project was to raise the aspirations of learners undertaking vocational education and training (VET) in Further Education (FE) colleges in Wales by supporting them to participate in overseas work and training opportunities across Europe. From past experience, we knew that these opportunities built confidence, enhanced technical & soft skills and improved the employability skills of the participants. Past opportunities also developed friendships & networks beyond participants' current comfort zones giving them opportunities to learn new languages & enjoy different cultural experiences. We wanted to keep providing these opportunities to vocational learners in Wales. There were 12 consortium members in the project, and they were all FE colleges in Wales. The lead applicant was CollegesWales which is the representative body for FE colleges in Wales. All of the consortium members operated in areas of multiple deprivation within their locality so this project enabled participants from all socio-economic sectors to undertake short term (2 week) work placements/vocational training in Europe and included participants who would not have had the economic or social means to take part without this funding. There were 39 EU partners in the project who supported the consortium members in Wales to organise work and training periods in Europe for the participants. For CollegesWales, applying for this funding on behalf of the FE sector was important in order to provide equal access to VET learners in all of our member colleges to overseas opportunities.