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Adult education providers in the UK are fully eligible for Erasmus+ funding from November 2026. The programme is not limited to schools and universities. Any organisation delivering structured learning to adults qualifies, and the UK rejoining Erasmus+ in January 2027 reopens a significant source of funding that has been unavailable since Brexit. This guide covers everything adult education providers need to know.
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 adult education providers specifically.
Key Takeaways
- Adult education providers in the UK are fully eligible for Erasmus+ KA1 funding on the same basis as schools and colleges
- Eligible organisations include adult community learning providers, community education centres, literacy and numeracy providers, ESOL providers and workplace learning organisations
- Learners do not need formal qualifications to participate — Erasmus+ explicitly supports adults with low skills and fewer opportunities
- Staff mobility, group learning visits and structured training programmes are all available activity types
- Inclusion support funding provides additional grants for learners facing barriers to participation, which is particularly relevant for adult education settings
- The UK rejoins Erasmus+ in January 2027 with applications expected to open November 2026
Are adult education providers eligible for Erasmus+?
Yes. Erasmus+ explicitly includes adult education as one of its core sectors alongside schools, higher education and vocational training. The programme uses the term “adult education” to cover any non-higher, non-vocational learning provision for adults outside the formal school system. That is a broad definition that captures a wide range of UK providers.
Eligible organisations include adult community learning services, community education centres, local authority adult education departments, ESOL providers, literacy and numeracy providers, workplace learning organisations, libraries delivering learning programmes and third sector organisations running structured adult learning activities. If your organisation delivers purposeful learning to adults in a structured way, you are almost certainly eligible.
The misconception that Erasmus+ is a programme for young people only is widespread and incorrect. Adult education has been a distinct strand of Erasmus+ since the programme launched in its current form in 2014, and it remains so when the UK rejoins in 2027.
What Erasmus+ KA1 covers for adult education providers
Erasmus+ KA1 funds mobility: staff and learners going abroad for structured educational activity. For adult education providers the most relevant activity types are the following.
Staff mobility and professional development
Teachers, tutors, trainers and administrative staff from your organisation can travel abroad for professional development. This covers attending structured training courses, job shadowing at a partner organisation, teaching assignments at a European adult education institution and participation in staff development seminars. The grant covers travel, accommodation and subsistence in full.
For adult education providers working in specialist areas, whether ESOL delivery, literacy support, community outreach or workplace learning, observing how a European counterpart organisation operates produces a different quality of professional development from anything available domestically. Staff return with practical ideas, new methodologies and often a partnership that creates future opportunities for learners.
Learner mobility
Adult learners can take part in short group mobility programmes abroad, visiting partner organisations, attending workshops and engaging in structured learning activities in a different country and cultural context. For many adult learners, particularly those who have had limited previous international experience, a funded group visit abroad is a genuinely significant opportunity that would not otherwise be accessible to them.
Erasmus+ does not require learners to hold formal qualifications to participate. Adults with low skill levels, limited formal education history or other barriers to participation are not just eligible, they are exactly the kind of participants the programme is designed to reach.
Job shadowing for practitioners
Job shadowing under Erasmus+ KA1 places an adult education practitioner inside a partner organisation abroad for a short structured observation period. A community learning tutor spending a week at a Danish folk high school, an ESOL coordinator observing language integration programmes in Ireland, or a literacy specialist visiting a Portuguese adult education centre — all of these are funded KA1 activities with real professional development value.
Inclusion support and adult learners with fewer opportunities
One of the most significant funding elements for adult education providers is Erasmus+ inclusion support. This provides additional grant funding on top of standard rates for participants who face barriers to participation. The barriers recognised by the programme include low educational attainment, economic disadvantage, geographic isolation, disability, health conditions, social obstacles and cultural differences.
Adult education providers typically serve exactly these learners. An ESOL class in an urban community centre, a literacy programme in a coastal town, a workplace learning scheme for low-skilled employees — these settings are full of people who qualify for inclusion support. The additional funding can be substantial and significantly changes the financial viability of a mobility project for organisations working with limited budgets.
Checking your learner cohort against the inclusion support criteria before planning your project is one of the most important steps an adult education provider can take. Many organisations in this sector qualify for considerably more funding than the standard rates suggest.
What the funding covers
Erasmus+ grants are awarded to your organisation as the applicant and are designed to cover the real cost of a mobility project. For 2027 projects the main components are:
- Travel costs from roughly €20 up to €1,500 per participant depending on distance 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 costs
- Inclusion support on top of standard rates for participants with fewer opportunities
- Exceptional costs for participants with disabilities or specific needs, which can cover additional support requirements that standard grants do not cover
A group of 12 adult learners on an eight-day visit to a partner organisation in Europe can attract a grant that covers most or all of the real cost, with inclusion support potentially adding several thousand euros on top of the standard calculation. The programme is not a partial subsidy; it is built to make participation genuinely accessible.
KA2 partnerships for adult education organisations
Beyond individual mobility, Erasmus+ KA2 funds cooperation partnerships between organisations across multiple countries. For adult education providers, KA2 opens up larger collaborative projects: joint curriculum development, shared practitioner training frameworks, transnational research into adult learning challenges and co-produced learning resources used across partner organisations in different countries.
A KA2 project involves three or more organisations from different programme countries working together over two to three years. The funding is more substantial than KA1 and the application more complex, but for adult education organisations with existing European relationships or a specific area of practice they want to develop collaboratively, KA2 offers a scale of engagement that transforms how an organisation operates internationally.
How to prepare for the 2027 application window
The Erasmus+ application window for UK institutions opens in November 2026. That gives adult education providers roughly five months to scope a project, identify a partner organisation abroad and prepare an application. The key steps are straightforward.
Start by deciding what you want the project to achieve. Which staff members or learners are going? To do what? What will they be able to do differently on return? The application asks these questions and rewards specific answers over vague ones.
Identify a partner organisation. Erasmus+ applications require a named partner in the destination country. IBD Partnership Group operates hosting destinations in Portsmouth, London, Brighton, Southampton, Cork, Limerick and Valencia, and works with a network of partner organisations across Europe. We can help adult education providers identify the right partner for their specific area of practice.
Check your Organisation ID. Every UK organisation applying for Erasmus+ needs an active OID registered on the EU Funding and Tenders portal. If your organisation applied before 2021, check whether that registration is still active. If you have never applied, registering your OID is the first practical step.
IBD Partnership Group has been delivering Erasmus+ projects for education and training organisations since 2005, working with more than 60,000 participants across 25 countries. We can help adult education providers understand the funding landscape, build a project framework and prepare an application that reflects what their organisation genuinely does well. Get in touch here.
FAQ
Q: Does our organisation need to be a registered charity or local authority body to apply for Erasmus+?
A: No. Any legally constituted organisation delivering adult education in a structured way can apply, including community interest companies, social enterprises, private training providers and voluntary organisations. The key requirement is that the organisation is recognised as an education or training provider.
Q: Can adult learners with no formal qualifications take part in Erasmus+ mobility?
A: Yes. Erasmus+ does not require learners to hold formal qualifications. Adults with low skills, limited formal education or other barriers to participation are explicitly included in the programme’s scope. Inclusion support funding is specifically designed for these learners.
Q: Do we need a partner organisation abroad before applying?
A: Yes. Erasmus+ KA1 applications require an identified partner in the destination country. IBD Partnership Group can help adult education providers identify suitable partner organisations ahead of the application window. Starting this process early is one of the most important things you can do to strengthen your application.
Q: Can older adults participate in Erasmus+ mobility, or is there an age limit?
A: There is no upper age limit for Erasmus+ adult education mobility. The programme covers adult learners of all ages. The key requirement is that participants are engaged in structured adult education activity with your organisation.
Q: We are a small community learning provider with limited admin capacity. Is the application process manageable?
A: The application requires clear thinking about what you want to achieve and a named partner abroad, but it is not technically complex. Smaller organisations often find that starting with a modest KA1 staff mobility project, one or two staff members attending a training course or job shadowing abroad, is a manageable first application that builds confidence and organisational experience for larger projects later.
Q: When do applications open for UK adult education providers?
A: Applications are expected to open in November 2026 for projects running in the 2027/28 academic year. The British Council is expected to act as the UK National Agency and will publish detailed guidance when the portal opens.
