Individual exchange abroad
An individual exchange in another country during the school year allows pupils to improve their language skills and get to know another culture and a different lifestyle. They attend school in their host country and live with a host family.
Overview
For whom
- Pupils from primary school to upper secondary level
Duration
- 10 days to one school year
Where
- Worldwide for pupils from Switzerland (outgoing)
- In Switzerland for pupils from abroad (incoming)
What we fund
- Financial support for organisation, travel, and accommodation
What to do
- Pupils or their parents contact their school or the canton. Some cantons already offer well-developed projects.
- The school, the canton, or the family find a partner school and a host family.
- The school or the canton submits a funding application.
Deadlines
- Application deadline: 5 March and 1 October
- Project start: 1 June or 1 December
In detail
A pupil exchange offers the opportunity to learn a new language or practise a language learnt at school. The pupils attend the local school for the duration of 10 days up to a full school year and live with a host family. During a stay abroad, the youths get to know a different culture, develop their personality, and form international friendships.
This activity is funded by the Swiss Programme for Erasmus+. This programme allows Swiss institutions to organise activities similar to the ones funded by the European education programme Erasmus+.
Requirements
For participants:
- Pupils from primary school to upper secondary school (baccalaureate upper secondary schools, specialised secondary schools and vocational schools) whose permanent residence is in Switzerland.
- Pupils from abroad who do an exchange with a school in Switzerland.
For institutions:
- Schools based in Switzerland and cantons (via the exchange coordinators) are eligible to apply.
The exchange project:
- The stay lasts from a minimum of 10 days up to one full school year.
- During the exchange pupils attend school. Projects during school holidays cannot be funded.
Funding amounts
- Organisational fee for the institution: 500 CHF per pupil from Switzerland
- For the trip: 400 CHF to 1’000 CHF per pupil (depending on the country of destination)
- For the stay: 30 CHF to 50 CHF per day per pupil (depending on duration of stay and country of destination)
- For special needs of persons with disabilities or with physical, mental,or chronic diseases: Max. 12’000 CHF (actual costs according to notification of requirement)
Procedure
For participants (outgoing and incoming)
Interested pupils and parents/guardians should contact the school in Switzerland or the cantonal exchange coordinators. They will organise the project and submit a funding application.
For institutions
Individual exchanges abroad are funded by the Swiss Programme for Erasmus+. In addition to individual exchanges abroad, this programme also funds job shadowing and teaching assignment abroad as well as continuing education abroad in school education. It is possible to combine several activities in one funding application if they are thematically linked.
Follow the following steps to carry out your project:
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1. Finding a partner school and host family
- Find one or more partner schools. Activate your personal or professional network.
- Contact professional organisations or take part in specialist conferences.
- Find out more about Finding an exchange partner.
- Find the required number of host families in collaboration with your partner school.
- In a reciprocal exchange, pupils live with the respective partner’s family, so there is no need to look for host families.
- The following providers are authorised to place host families: (document will follow)
- Would you like to meet potential project partners on site to get to know each other or jointly develop a project? Get financial support for a Preparatory visits.
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2. Planning and organising exchanges
- Collaborate with all the teachers and school principals that are involved in the exchange project from both schools in the planning of the project if possible.
- Please state the partner institutions, number of participants, start and end dates of the stays and the selection criteria in the funding application. Please use the funding criteria as a guide:
- It is important to us to also enable persons with disabilities or with physical, mental, or chronic diseases to participate. Therefore, we provide additional funding for persons with special needs, for which you can apply in the funding application. You may also submit a request for funding for special needs at a later stage during the project duration. You can find more information under Inclusion and equal opportunities.
- Consider environmentally friendly means of transport in the planning of your project. Find out more about green mobility.
- We will be glad to provide you with individual counselling to answer questions on planning, submission of applications and project implementation. The counselling can take place by phone, online, or on site.
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3. Submit funding application
- Submit the funding application online. Meet the deadlines in March and October.
- Begin with the filling in of the application as early as possible to familiarise yourself with the requirements. We activate the application forms with once the call for projects has been launched, usually in December and June. You can save the application temporarily and continue later. If you submit an application for the first time, you will need to register once.
- Only one application is required for all pupils (outgoing and incoming). In the same funding application you can also apply for funding for Class exchanges abroad, Job shadowing and teaching assignment abroad and Continuing education abroad in the School education sector, provided that all activities are thematically linked.
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4. Contract and payment
- We will review your application once the deadline has expired.
- You will receive the funding decision at the end of May or the end of November.
- In case of a positive decision we will send you a contract.
- The project starts on 1 June or 1 December. You can choose between a project duration of 12 or 24 months.
- Within 30 days of receiving the signed contract, we will pay out the first part of the funding: 80 % of the approved total amount for projects with a project duration of 12 months, and 40 % for projects with a project duration of 24 months. As soon as you have used up 70 % of these 40 %, you can claim the next 40 %. We will calculate the remaining amount after the final report has been submitted.
- Payments are made exclusively to the applicant institutions. They pay out the amount due to the participants to the individual participants.
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5. Implement project
- Prepare pupils for the exchange so that they can benefit as much as possible from the experience. We provide you with preparatory materials on intercultural skills and pathways towards a successful integration into the partner class.
- Appoint a contact person who will support the participants during their stay and help them to achieve the desired learning outcomes.
- Once the project has started we organise an information event. You will receive all the information you need to successfully carry out and complete your project. The event provides the opportunity to get to know your contact persons at our agency and other project managers.
- You can use the notification of requirement for persons with special needs to apply for additional funding for participants with physical or mental disabilities if you have not already done so in the funding application.
- Please inform us of any contractual changes to your project (e.g. duration, project partners, budget) with the form «Request for Amendment of Agreement».
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6. Submit final report
- Within 60 days of the expiration of the contract you submit a short final report. Depending on the number of mobilities realised, we will pay out any remaining amounts or make a reclaim.
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7. Institutionalise individual exchange
- Take advantage of your cooperation with a partner school abroad to motivate more pupils at your school to take part in an individual exchange. The following steps can be taken to institutionalise exchanges at your school:
- Work out an agreement with your partner school, which allows other pupils to take part in an exchange: Both your school and the partner school abroad agree to host pupils and find host families for them.
- Inform all pupils at a certain school level about the options for doing an individual exchange abroad.
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8. Spread the word
- Provide information about the exchange project and motivate other pupils to take part in an exchange. Make sure you mention the funding from Movetia. We provide a logo and text modules for this purpose.
- Share the content widely via your institution's channels, e.g. newsletter, social media, blog, etc. In doing so you can present your institution as an innovative, open-minded and attractive employer. You will also stimulate professional exchange among your staff and the educational community.
- Contact us to increase your reach, e.g. by placing a Magazine article on our website.
Q & A
Is the stay of pupils from abroad in Switzerland also supported?
Yes, the lump sums apply both to Swiss pupils who stay abroad and to pupils from abroad who stay in Switzerland. However, the funding application must be submitted by an institution based in Switzerland.
