This article is part of IBD’s series on who can apply for Erasmus+ funding in the UK. The full guide covering all institution types is the place to start if you are new to the programme. This article goes deeper on faith schools specifically.

Do faith schools qualify for Erasmus+ funding?

Yes. Faith schools in the UK are fully eligible for Erasmus+ KA1 funding. The programme does not distinguish between faith schools and non-denominational schools in its eligibility criteria. What matters is that your school is a recognised educational institution operating within the UK education system. Church of England schools, Catholic schools, Jewish schools, Muslim schools, Sikh schools and schools of any other religious character are all eligible on exactly the same basis as a secular comprehensive.

This is worth stating clearly because a significant number of faith school leaders assume otherwise. The assumption that Erasmus+ is a secular EU programme that might not accommodate schools with a religious ethos is understandable but incorrect. Erasmus+ funds the mobility; what you do with that mobility, including how you design the programme to reflect your school’s values, is largely up to you.

What counts as a faith school for Erasmus+ purposes?

Erasmus+ does not use the term “faith school” at all. Its eligibility criteria refer to “schools” as a category of institution, which in the UK context covers any school registered with the relevant national authority. That means maintained faith schools, academies with a religious character, free schools with a faith designation and independent faith schools are all included.

Independent faith schools are worth a specific mention, about which you can read more here. Many heads of independent Muslim, Jewish or Christian schools are uncertain whether their school qualifies because independent schools sit outside the state sector. They do qualify. IBD has worked with independent faith schools and the eligibility question has never been the barrier. The more relevant question for independent schools is usually about their organisational ID registration on the EU Funding and Tenders portal, which any school needs before applying regardless of its status.

What kinds of Erasmus+ projects work well for faith schools?

The full range of KA1 activity types is available to faith schools. The right one depends on your school’s curriculum priorities, the age and year group of the students involved, and what you are trying to achieve.

Study visits

A study visit is a structured group programme combining school visits, cultural experiences and educational activities abroad. Groups travel together with their teachers and are accompanied by a local programme coordinator throughout. For faith schools, study visits are often the most natural fit. The programme can be designed to include visits to partner schools or institutions that share your community’s background, alongside broader cultural and educational content.

Baytul Ilm Secondary School in Milton Keynes, an independent Muslim school, completed a twelve-day study visit to Saudi Arabia in January 2026 under the Turing Scheme. The programme took students to Makkah and Madinah, where they visited partner schools, joined lessons and workshops with local students, and engaged with educational institutions in a context directly meaningful to their community. The headteacher described the IBD team’s support throughout as “tremendous.” Students described returning as a different kind of group to the one that had left. That outcome is not unusual when the destination and programme are chosen well.

Under Erasmus+, study visits to European destinations follow the same principle: groups travel together, the programme is structured around educational objectives, and the host destination is chosen to align with what the school is trying to achieve.

Job shadowing for staff

Erasmus+ funds mobility for school staff as well as students, through job shadowing. A teacher, department head or senior leader can spend time observing a partner school abroad, attending a professional development course or building a relationship with a European counterpart. For faith schools with specific curriculum needs, finding the right host institution matters. A good hosting organisation will help identify partners that are a genuine fit rather than the nearest available option.

Work placements

Older students, particularly those in sixth form or on vocational pathways, can take part in funded work placements abroad. Students spend weeks inside a real business in their chosen sector, gaining professional experience and improving their language skills through daily immersion. Faith schools whose students may have had fewer opportunities to travel or gain international experience often find that work placements abroad have a disproportionately large effect on confidence and ambition.

Practical considerations for faith schools running Erasmus+ projects

The practical questions faith schools ask most often are not about eligibility. They are about the details of running a project that works within their school’s values and their community’s expectations.

Dietary requirements

Halal, kosher and other dietary requirements need to be confirmed at the planning stage, not the week before departure. A good hosting organisation will have worked through these requirements before and will know which destinations and accommodation options can reliably accommodate them. This is not a complication; it is a logistics question that is solved in advance.

Mixed-gender groups and accommodation

Some faith schools have specific requirements around mixed-gender activities or accommodation arrangements. These need to be declared early so the programme can be structured accordingly. Host families, hotel room allocations and activity groupings can all be configured to meet the school’s requirements, provided the hosting organisation knows about them from the start.

Prayer times and religious observance

A well-run programme builds in flexibility for prayer times and religious observance without treating this as an inconvenience. The daily schedule should reflect the school’s needs, not the other way around.

Safeguarding and parental communication

Erasmus+ projects involving minors require a robust safeguarding framework. Schools are responsible for their standard safeguarding obligations regardless of the destination. A hosting organisation should be able to provide parents with clear information about supervision arrangements, emergency contacts and welfare procedures before the trip, not just on departure day.

Choosing the right destination

Erasmus+ KA1 funds mobility to and from programme countries, which from January 2027 includes the UK and EU member states plus a number of associated countries. The Turing Scheme, which funds outbound mobility from the UK, can cover a wider range of destinations including countries outside Europe. Baytul Ilm’s Saudi Arabia project was a Turing Scheme project, not Erasmus+, which is why a non-European destination was possible. Understanding which funding stream opens which destinations is important when planning.

What Erasmus+ funding covers for faith schools

The grant structure for faith schools is identical to any other school. Grants are awarded to your school as the applicant institution and are designed to cover the real cost of a mobility project.

For 2027 projects, the main funding components are:

• Travel costs from roughly €20 up to €1,500 per participant depending on distance from your school to the destination
• Individual support covering accommodation and meals, starting from €79 per participant per day
• Organisational support of up to €500 per participant for coordination, preparation and documentation
• Inclusion support, which provides additional funding for participants with fewer opportunities — this is particularly relevant for faith schools serving communities where international travel is less common

A group of 15 students on a ten-day study visit to a European destination can attract a grant that covers most or all of the real cost. The inclusion support element is worth exploring carefully; schools with a high proportion of pupils from lower-income families or with limited prior international experience often qualify for meaningful additional funding on top of the standard rates.

A real example: Baytul Ilm Secondary School

Baytul Ilm is an independent Muslim secondary school in Milton Keynes. In January 2026 they completed a twelve-day Turing Scheme study visit to Saudi Arabia, organised by IBD Partnership Group. The group visited schools and educational institutions in Makkah and Madinah, participated in structured workshops with local students and experienced a cultural and educational context that had direct relevance to their community and their studies.

One student, Yunus, aged 16, described the experience as producing a core memory centred on how the host schools treated the visiting group: “they kept repeating they are always there for us no matter what.” Another student, Abdulla, aged 15, said the group left as friends and returned as family. Muhammad, the school’s headteacher, wrote to IBD after the trip to say the support, organisation and care shown throughout “made a real difference to the success of the trip.”

The project ran under the Turing Scheme rather than Erasmus+ because Saudi Arabia sits outside the Erasmus+ programme country list. The same type of structured study visit, with the same level of logistics support, cultural programming and welfare oversight, is available to faith schools under Erasmus+ for European destinations from January 2027. Read the full Baytul Ilm story here.

FAQ

Q: Do faith schools need to partner with another faith school abroad?
A: No. Erasmus+ does not require your partner institution to share your religious character. You can choose any eligible school or organisation in a programme country as your host or partner. That said, many faith schools prefer to work with institutions that understand their community’s context, and a good hosting organisation can help identify appropriate partners.

Q: Can a faith school apply for Erasmus+ if it has never run an international project before?
A: Yes. First-time applicants are eligible and the British Council, as the UK National Agency, is expected to provide guidance specifically for new applicants when the 2027 portal opens. Having a clear educational rationale for your project and a reliable hosting partner in place before you apply strengthens any application.

Q: Is the Turing Scheme still available to faith schools?
A: Yes. The Turing Scheme runs independently of Erasmus+ and funds outbound mobility from UK schools to destinations worldwide, including non-European countries. Faith schools can use Turing for destinations not covered by Erasmus+.

Q: Can faith schools send students on work placements through Erasmus+?
A: Yes, provided the students are old enough and on a suitable course. Work placements are most common for students aged 16 and above, particularly those on vocational or sixth form programmes.

Q: What if our students have never travelled internationally before?
A: Erasmus+ includes inclusion support funding specifically for participants with fewer opportunities. This additional funding can make participation genuinely affordable for families who would otherwise find it difficult.

If your faith school is considering its first Erasmus+ project for 2027, or if you want to understand how a study visit or work placement would work within your school’s values and community, get in touch with the IBD team. Contact us here.