The European Solidarity Corps (ESC) provides young people with fewer opportunities with accessible and flexible formats of activities, additional financial support and a range of support measures (for example general and language training, insurance, support before and after the activities, administrative assistance), to encourage their participation and better cater for their specific needs. In Erasmus+ youth projects, "inclusion support" can cover any specific needs derived from the barriers faced by participants with fewer opportunities. Our guide on what the European Solidarity Corps is explains that programme, and our guide on what Erasmus+ is explains Erasmus+.
Last updated: November 2026.
Who counts as a young person with fewer opportunities?
Young people with fewer opportunities are young people who are at a disadvantage compared to their peers because they face one or more exclusion factors and obstacles. In Erasmus+, people with fewer opportunities means people who, for economic, social, cultural, geographical or health reasons, a migrant background, or for reasons such as disability and educational difficulties or for any other reasons, face obstacles that prevent them from having effective access to opportunities under the programme. The list of barriers below is not exhaustive:
♿ Disabilities: physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder someone's full and effective participation in society on the same footing as others.
🩺 Health problems: severe illnesses, chronic diseases, or any other physical or mental health-related situation that prevents someone from participating in the programme.
📚 Barriers linked to education and training systems: individuals struggling to perform in education and training systems, early school-leavers, NEETs (people not in education, employment or training) and low-skilled adults may face barriers.
🗣️ Cultural differences: cultural differences may represent significant barriers to learning, all the more for people with a migrant or refugee background, people belonging to a national or ethnic minority, sign language users, or people with linguistic adaptation and cultural inclusion difficulties.
🤝 Social barriers: social adjustment difficulties or social marginalisation may represent a barrier, and other social barriers can stem from family circumstances, for instance being the first in the family to access higher education or being a parent (especially a single parent), a caregiver, a breadwinner or an orphan, or having lived or currently living in institutional care.
💶 Economic barriers: a low living standard, low income, learners who need to work to support themselves, dependence on the social welfare system, long-term unemployment, precarious situations or poverty, being homeless, in debt or with financial problems may represent a barrier.
⚖️ Barriers linked to discrimination: barriers can occur as a result of discrimination linked to gender, age, ethnicity, religion, beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, or intersectional factors.
🏞️ Geographical barriers: living in remote or rural areas, on small islands or in peripheral/outermost regions, in urban suburbs, in less serviced areas (limited public transport, poor facilities) or less developed areas may constitute a barrier.
Organisations arrange the support process for young people with fewer opportunities; depending on the participant's situation, supporting documents such as health reports may be requested. Our guide for first-generation and low-income young people covers the money side, and our guide on facing racism or discrimination on a project covers your rights.
What extra support does the European Solidarity Corps give?
The European Solidarity Corps has additional support measures and funding that allow participating organisations to better cater for the needs of young people with fewer opportunities.
📝 Help with registration: young people with fewer opportunities may receive support from organisations to complete the registration phase on the European Solidarity Corps Portal. Our guide on how to register on the ESC Portal takes you through the steps.
🧭 Preparatory visit: a preparatory visit is a visit to the venue of the volunteering activities before the start of the activities; participants with fewer opportunities who will take part can be involved in the visit, to help with their preparation and involve them in activity design so that their needs are taken into account from the start. A maximum of 2 participants per participating organisation can be funded per volunteering activity, provided that one of them is a young person with fewer opportunities who will take part in the volunteering activity.
🛠️ Adjustments and accompanying persons: to support young people with fewer opportunities to take part on equal terms with others, organisations can receive a contribution for reasonable adjustments or investment in physical assets, and costs related to accompanying persons can also be eligible.
♿ Young people with disabilities: young people with disabilities can get financial support to cover assistance, special equipment or services.
What extra support do Erasmus+ youth projects give?
In Erasmus+ youth projects, inclusion support for participants covers additional costs directly linked to participants with fewer opportunities and their accompanying persons.
🎒 Youth Exchanges: inclusion support for participants covers additional costs directly linked to participants with fewer opportunities and their accompanying persons, group leaders and facilitators, including justified costs related to travel and subsistence if a grant for these participants is not requested through budget categories "Travel" and "Individual support". In the case of Youth Exchange activities that include young people with fewer opportunities, the preparatory visit should ensure that the specific needs of those participants can be catered for. Our guide on what a Youth Exchange is explains the format.
🧑🏫 Mobility projects for youth workers: inclusion support for participants covers additional costs directly linked to participants with fewer opportunities and their accompanying persons, trainers and facilitators, including justified costs related to travel and subsistence if a grant for these participants is not requested through budget categories "Travel" and "Individual support". Our guide on mobility of youth workers explains these activities.
🗳️ Youth participation activities: Youth participation activities are very flexible in duration, number of participants and national or transnational activities, so they can be easily adapted to the specific needs of young people with fewer opportunities. Where virtual components or even fully virtual activities are included in projects in order to facilitate the involvement of young people with fewer opportunities, duly justified expenses may be financed through the budget category inclusion support for participants. Our guide on Erasmus+ Youth Participation Activities explains the format.
🚆 DiscoverEU Inclusion Action: with the DiscoverEU Inclusion Action, one to five young people with fewer opportunities from the same country gather for a short period to travel through Europe. Our guide on what DiscoverEU is explains the travel pass, and our guide on Erasmus+ and ESC age limits gives the age for this action.
🤟 Sign language and braille: in Erasmus+, other forms of linguistic support may be offered to support the language learning needs of particular target groups, such as the use of sign language or braille, which can be financed through the dedicated financial inclusion support category.
Can someone come with you?
Yes: an accompanying person is an adult of at least 18 years old who accompanies participants with fewer opportunities (particularly participants with disabilities) in an activity, in order to ensure their safety, provide support and extra assistance, as well as assist with the participant's effective learning during the experience. In Erasmus+, in individual activities, an accompanying person may accompany participants with fewer opportunities or minors and young people with little experience outside their own country. In the DiscoverEU Inclusion Action, groups can travel alone or can be accompanied, with a maximum of two accompanying persons per participant when duly justified. Our guide on what a Youth Exchange is explains who travels with the group.
Are there shorter or group formats?
Yes: in Volunteering Teams, volunteers will carry out the activity in a group, which can be an incentive for youngsters who do not feel ready to embark into challenging experiences on their own, and the activity will also be shorter in its duration. Volunteering Teams are an inclusive format, particularly suitable for a first experience in volunteering and the participation of young people with fewer opportunities. In the European Solidarity Corps, Individual Volunteering is a solidarity activity of a duration of 2 weeks to 12 months. In Erasmus+, group mobility offers the international mobility experience in the safety of a group, and the short duration of Youth Exchanges makes the involvement of young people with fewer opportunities appropriate. Our guide on ESC Volunteering Teams explains the group format, and our guide on ESC project lengths covers the durations.
How do you ask for support, and do you need documents?
Tell the host and support organisations about any circumstances that may influence your capability to carry out the tasks, and share with them if you have any special needs that you need help with. If necessary, you should also provide accurate information about your health-related needs. You can also take part in the preparatory visit to the venue of the volunteering activity before the start of the activity, so that you can be involved in the design of the activity and that your needs can be taken into account from the start. In the European Solidarity Corps, volunteers are to be selected in a fair, transparent and objective way, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, political opinion or disability. Organisations arrange the support process for young people with fewer opportunities; depending on the participant's situation, supporting documents such as health reports may be requested. Our guide on the supporting organisation explains who helps you in your own country.
Can you be asked to pay anything?
No: participation in volunteering activities must be free of charge for the volunteer in the European Solidarity Corps. You should not be charged, neither fully or partially, nor directly or indirectly, for taking part in a European Solidarity Corps activity, except for a possible contribution to travel costs in projects from call years 2021-2024. In Erasmus+, contributions paid by the participants cannot be collected from participants with fewer opportunities in Youth Exchanges, mobility projects for youth workers, Youth participation activities and the DiscoverEU Inclusion Action. No fee is ever asked for applying, in ESC or Erasmus+ youth projects; nobody should pay anything at the application stage. Our guide on whether ESC is fully funded lists what is covered, and our guide on the hidden costs of a fully-funded project covers the small expenses.
Frequently asked questions
Can asking for support be a reason to reject me?
No: in the European Solidarity Corps, volunteers are to be selected in a fair, transparent and objective way, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, political opinion or disability. The activities should respect the principles set out in Article 9 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Our guide on facing racism or discrimination on a project covers your rights.
Can I take part if I have a disability?
Yes: young people with disabilities who would like to participate in the European Solidarity Corps are encouraged to register in the database. Young people with disabilities can get financial support to cover assistance, special equipment or services. Our guide on who can apply to Erasmus+ and ESC goes through the other conditions.
Do I need to show documents?
For extra support for young people with fewer opportunities, the organisation may ask for documents, especially when the need is related to health or when it involves a cost. Our guide on the supporting organisation explains who to talk to first.
Do I pay anything to apply?
No: no fee is ever asked for applying, in ESC or Erasmus+ youth projects; nobody should pay anything at the application stage. If an organisation asks you to pay at the application stage, report it to the National Agency or the European Commission and let us know, so we can report it too. Our guide on how to spot fake offers lists the warning signs.
Find a project that fits you
Youth Works Hub has a Match page that finds projects suited to you: it asks 8 questions and shows the results as a swipeable deck of cards, and saved projects stay on your profile page. Using Match requires creating an account on the site; signing up with Google is available but not required.
Related pages: is ESC fully funded · ESC project lengths · how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects · first-generation and low-income young people
👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=esc-projects
👉 Erasmus+ projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=erasmus-projects
