Great Britain

Despite Brexit and the UK leaving the European Union, traineeships in Great Britain continue to be possible and fundable through Erasmus+.

Erasmus funding: possible for traineeships in the UK until May 31st, 2023
Visa: a Temporary Worker-Government Authorised Exchange visa (T5) is now compulsory for UK traineeships. To get such a visa, one needs a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) (reference number containing information about trainee and traineeship), which the Leonardo-Büro apllies for at the British Council. It has a validity of three months from the date of issuance.

The CoS application procedure is detailed on this website and in this manual.

Steps

Beginning approx. 2 to 3 months before the start of your traineeship:

1) Prepare all documents required for the CoS. At the same time, send us your application for the Eramus grant, including the Learning Agreement.

2) Send us the completed CoS apllication form; mark the fields that need to be completed by us (project number, amount of grant).

3) We fill in these data, sign and stamp the document and issue the "confirmation letter of the sending institution". Then we send you the complete application form, a Learning Agreement (signed by us) and the confirmation letter back to you via e-mail..

4) You create one file according to the requirements of the British Council manual, containing
    - the 3 documents you received back from us
    - approval letter of your hosting organisation
    - a copy of your contract
    - a full copy of your passport
    - a Transcript of Records (engl.) from your university
    - criminal record (only when working in certain domains)

and send it to us.

Check the website and manual for updates and changes before sending us the file!

5) We forward the file to the British Council.

6) We receive the CoS number after approx. 3 weeks and forward it to you.

7) With your CoS number you can apply for your visa. The visa application form requires the CoS reference number and will cost GBP 244 (some European nationalities: GBP 189). In addition to the visa, you will need to pay an Immigration Health Surchargeto access the NHS, the British National Health Service. The rate for students is GBP 470 per year.