Learning Agreement for Erasmus Plus Students

What is the Learning Agreement?

If you are planning to study abroad joining the Erasmus Plus Programme, you’ll have to face with the notorious Learning Agreement sooner or later.

Some former Erasmus students say that filling it out was as easy as pie, some others claim that it was a real nightmare… We believe that it’s actually somewhere in between. Anyway, let’s have a look at what the Learning Agreement is and figure out some tips to fill it out.

The Learning Agreement is a required document that sets out the programme of the studies to be followed in the hosting university.

The student, the sending and the receiving institution must approve it before the start of the Erasmus or exchange period.

“The purpose of the Learning Agreement is to provide a transparent and efficient preparation of the exchange to make sure the student receives recognition for the activities successfully completed abroad.”

To cut the long story short, you’ll have to decide which subjects you are going to follow in the receiving university and match them to the subjects of your sending university.

After that, both the universities must approve your Learning Agreement, by simply, signing it. This will insure that you will receive the recognition for the studies carried out abroad without any further requirements.

Changes to the Learning Agreement during the Mobility

It seems quite easy until here, doesn’t it?

Sometimes, however, you may need to make some changes to your study programme and you can do it within five weeks after the start of each semester. All parties (intending both universities) should agree on these changes as soon as possible, within the following two-weeks after the request.

The official guidelines state that: “changes to the study programme should be exceptional, as the three parties have already agreed on a group of educational components that will be taken abroad, based on the course catalogue that the Receiving Institution has committed to publish well in advance of the mobility period and to update regularly.

Actually, some universities don’t publish in advance their definite course catalogue or they don’t update it regularly and these are the most common situations where you’ll need to change the Learning Agreement.

Some tips can help here:

  • If you are going on Erasmus for only one semester, make sure that the subjects you want to take are going to be in that semester. This can seem trivial, but the broad experience tells us that many people need to change their Learning Agreement for this reason;
  • If you choose an advanced subject, be sure that you can actually do it without making a mandatory previous course you haven’t done yet. This is something you have to check with your hosting university. If you are not sure, you should ask the professor or the faculty coordinator.
  • If you have elective subjects in your study programme, use them to match some courses that you find interesting of your hosting faculty. Usually universities accept to match almost any subject with an elective one.
  • Last but not least, don’t forget to ask information to other students who went on Erasmus to the same receiving university, they will for sure be delighted to share their experience and tips… They are Erasmus People!

Useful sources and tools

You can find more information about the Learning Agreement on the official European Commission Website clicking HERE.

An interesting tool called “Learning Agreement Online System” allows you prepare your Learning Agreement online and send it to both universities by e-mail.

It is now in Beta version, but we bet that it will replace the current procedure. Click HERE to try the Online System.

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