An Erasmus+ or European Solidarity Corps project consists of four stages: planning, preparation, implementation and follow-up. Participating organisations and young people involved in project activities should take an active role in all those stages, enhancing their learning experience. What participants usually know as the project duration is actually the activity duration. The activity, the stage we share with you, is reached after 12 months on average. Youth Works Hub has a Match page that finds projects suited to you; using Match requires an account on the site, and signing up with Google is available but not required. This guide follows the technical side, programme by programme, from the first problem analysis to the final report.
Last updated: October 2026.
What has to exist before a project can even be applied for?
In an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange, a project is implemented by at least two organisations, and all organisations involved need to be identified at application stage, as a solid partnership is a fundamental condition for high quality project delivery. In the European Solidarity Corps, obtaining a Quality Label is a non-budgetary award and it is a prerequisite for an organisation to participate in any activities supported by the Corps. The Quality Label does not provide automatic access to funding, but it does simplify the grant application process into separate stages and thereby enables easier access to funding for applicants holding a Quality Label. There are three types of Quality Label, depending on the role or roles that the organisation wishes to play in the process:
🏠 Host role: covers the full range of activities related to hosting a participant, including the development of a programme of the young person's activities and providing guidance and support to the participant during all the phases as appropriate
🤝 Support role: entails supporting, preparing and/or training participants before departure, a mediation between them and their host organisations and/or providing support to participants upon return from their activity
📋 Lead role: for organisations who apply for grants, manage and coordinate Volunteering Projects, and this role cannot be awarded independently, as organisations must hold a Quality Label for host or support in order to be able to act in a lead capacity
The applications for the Quality Label can be submitted on a continuous basis, that is at any time, and applications are assessed by the National Agency against eligibility criteria, selection and exclusion criteria and award criteria. The Quality Label is awarded for the entire duration of the programming period 2021-2027, subject to continued compliance with requirements. Organisations who do not hold a Quality Label for lead organisation may act as partners in projects, but they cannot apply for funding. Our guide on what the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) Quality Label is explains that award in detail, what a supporting organisation does explains the support role, and what National Agencies are explains who awards it.
How does a project idea turn into an application?
When representatives of institutions and organisations start the project planning process, they use a method called "Problem Analysis". With Problem Analysis, they put on the table the problems they see around them, in the institution they work in or in the society they live in, and analyse them. After this analysis, they move on to the process called "Objective Analysis", and the aim of this analysis is to define the main idea of the project. After they define the project idea, they start filling in the application form of the field they want to benefit from. Application forms are usually between 40-60 pages. In the application form, the aims of the project, the Activity Plan, the dates, the budget, the partners, the evaluation methods, dissemination of the results, etc. are the headings they plan and write. The planning process can vary from project to project, but it takes 3 months on average. Our guide on how an exchange for young people is planned goes through one of these applications rule by rule, and how to write a strong Erasmus+ application explains what assessors look for in each award criterion.
Where and when is the application submitted?
For an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange, applicants apply to the National Agency of the country in which the applicant is established. Check the current application dates on the website of your National Agency.
The eligible applicants for Volunteering Projects are organisations holding a valid Quality Label for lead organisation at the grant application deadline. The duration of Volunteering Projects is up to 24 months. An organisation may apply only once per round. Our guide on the deadlines in the Erasmus+ and ESC year covers the yearly calendar, and how long an ESC project lasts covers the duration rules on your side.
How is the application assessed?
Project proposals are evaluated by the National or Executive Agency receiving the application, exclusively based on the criteria described in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide. The quality assessment is in most cases carried out with the support of independent experts.
In the simplified application procedure for European Solidarity Corps Volunteering Projects, the applications do not undergo a qualitative assessment and therefore no award criteria are applied. The awarded grant amount depends on the total budget available for allocation, the requested activities, the minimum and maximum grant, the score of the Quality Label application for lead organisation, the applicant's performance, the policy priorities and thematic areas addressed by the activities applied for, and the proportion of young people with fewer opportunities involved. Detailed rules on basic and maximum grant, scoring of the allocation criteria, weighting of each criterion, the allocation method, and the budget available for Volunteering Projects are published by the National Agency ahead of the call deadline. Our guide on how to write a strong Erasmus+ application explains what a quality assessment rewards, and what the ESC Quality Label is explains the score that replaces it.
What happens when the result arrives?
At the end of the evaluation procedure, the National or Executive Agency decides on the projects to be awarded the grant on the basis of the ranking list proposed by the evaluation committee and the budget available for any given Action. For Volunteering Projects, the indicative date of notification of the award decision is 3 months from the submission deadline, and the indicative date for signing the grant agreement is 6 months from the submission deadline. National Agencies usually announce the results of project applications within 3 to 6 months on average; this applies across countries, not only one. Our guide on what to do after a rejection covers the other outcome, and what National Agencies are explains who signs the decision.
What does the grant agreement change?
If a project is selected for an EU grant under Erasmus+, a grant agreement is signed between the National or Executive Agency and the applicant. When the grant is signed by both parties, the applicant becomes beneficiary of an EU grant and can start the project. The acceptance of an application does not constitute an undertaking to award funding equal to the amount requested by the applicant, and the funding requested may be reduced on the basis of the specific financial rules applying to a given Action. A pre-financing payment is transferred to the beneficiary within 30 days of the date when the last of the two parties signs the grant agreement and, where relevant, when any appropriate financial guarantees are received. Our guide on the full timeline from application to departure puts these signatures on a calendar you can read.
How does the call for participants reach you?
Once awarded a Quality Label, organisations have access to the European Solidarity Corps Portal where they are invited to publish volunteering activities for which they are looking for participants. Organisations must make use of the European Solidarity Corps Portal's database to search for potential participants. Technically organisations can search the portal and contact candidates, but in practice this does not happen: you apply to the projects yourself. For Youth Exchanges, Volunteering Teams, training courses, seminars and study visits, young people apply to the call itself; the call may ask you to apply directly, or it may name a sending organisation in your country through which you have to apply, so you must read the details of each call. SALTO training courses, seminars and study visits are pulled into Youth Works Hub automatically several times a day and appear in the Erasmus+ projects category. Our guide on how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects shows where to look, how to register on the ESC Portal covers the profile you need first, and how to apply to an ESC project covers the Apply button itself.
What is prepared and signed before you travel?
Prior to their departure, each young person participating in individual or team volunteering activities supported by the European Solidarity Corps must sign a volunteering agreement using the template provided by the European Commission that includes at least the following provisions:
📄 Rights and obligations: the rights and obligations of the parties to that agreement, the duration and location of deployment and a description of the tasks involved
🩺 Insurance: reference to the terms of the participants' insurance
💶 Financial contribution: financial contribution from the Corps
🧰 Tasks: tasks to be carried out during the activity
🗂️ Clearance: where appropriate, reference to the relevant clearance requirements, in accordance with applicable national law
The ESC volunteering agreement is signed before the activity, once the volunteer's selection is confirmed, by three parties: the volunteer, the host organisation and the support organisation. The planning and preparation stage takes around 3 months on average, depending on the content of the project. Our guide on the ESC activity agreement goes through that document line by line, ESC insurance explains the cover behind it, your first steps as a volunteer covers the arrival, and how an exchange for young people is planned lists what an Erasmus+ organisation prepares in the same months.
What are the technical limits of the activity itself?
In the European Solidarity Corps, the duration of Individual Volunteering is from 2 weeks to 12 months, excluding travel time, and the duration of Volunteering Teams is from 2 weeks to 2 months, excluding travel time. The total amount of time spent by a young person in European Solidarity Corps volunteering activities must not exceed 12 months and the activities carried out must not overlap. The duration of a Youth Exchange activity is from 5 to 21 days, excluding travel days. Our guide on how long an ESC project lasts gives the full duration rules, when a second ESC project is possible explains the combinations inside that total, and what an exchange for young people is covers the shorter format.
What happens after the activity ends?
The follow-up stage of a project is the evaluation of the activities, the identification and documentation of the learning outcomes of participants, as well as dissemination and use of the project's outcomes. Organisations should support the learning process, the identification and the documentation of learning outcomes, in particular through Youthpass. Each project process and activity is evaluated separately. The evaluation can be done by a staff member from inside the institution, or it can also be done by an outside observer. Institutions usually plan their internal evaluations together with the participants who took part in the activities.
Every project has a result. In order to share the result with the relevant actors and to disseminate it, a dissemination activity is planned and carried out. Through the dissemination activity, actors who face similar problems or work for similar objectives learn what they need to do and can use the project as an example of good practice. The amount of the final payment to be made to the beneficiary is established on the basis of a final report to be submitted by the deadline indicated in the grant agreement. The final payment is issued within 60 calendar days of the receipt of the final report. Our guide on what Youthpass is covers the certificate that comes out of this stage, dissemination and impact in Erasmus+ explains the sharing, and how Youthpass and ECTS are recognised explains what the certificate is worth afterwards.
Why does the whole journey take so long?
The activity, the stage we share with you, is reached after 12 months on average. The stages before it are:
📝 Planning and the application form: this process takes 3 months on average
⏳ Waiting for the result: National Agencies usually announce the results of project applications within 3 to 6 months on average; this applies across countries, not only one
🧳 Planning and preparation: takes around 3 months on average, depending on the content of the project
Our guide on the full timeline from application to departure shows the same months from your side, and how an exchange for young people is planned shows what fills them.
Frequently asked questions
Why does an ESC organisation need a Quality Label?
Obtaining a Quality Label is a non-budgetary award and it is a prerequisite for an organisation to participate in any activities supported by the Corps. Our guide on what the ESC Quality Label is explains how it is awarded.
Are ESC Volunteering Projects scored like Erasmus+ applications?
No: in the simplified application procedure for Volunteering Projects, the applications do not undergo a qualitative assessment and therefore no award criteria are applied. Our guide on what the ESC Quality Label is explains the score that is used instead.
When is the result of a project application announced?
National Agencies usually announce the results of project applications within 3 to 6 months on average; this applies across countries, not only one. Our guide on what National Agencies are explains who decides.
Who signs the ESC volunteering agreement?
The ESC volunteering agreement is signed before the activity, once the volunteer's selection is confirmed, by three parties: the volunteer, the host organisation and the support organisation. Our guide on the ESC activity agreement goes through its content.
How many months of ESC volunteering can one person do in total?
The total amount of time spent by a young person in European Solidarity Corps volunteering activities must not exceed 12 months and the activities carried out must not overlap. Our guide on when a second ESC project is possible explains the combinations inside that total.
Why is the call published so late in the project?
The activity, the stage we share with you, is reached after 12 months on average. Our guide on how an exchange for young people is planned shows what happens in those months.
From a signature to a seat in the room
Our guide on how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects shows where the open doors are, and the Youth Works Hub pages below cover the rest of the way.
Related pages: how an exchange for young people is planned · the story behind a project, told by a coordinator · what the ESC Quality Label is · what National Agencies are · the full timeline from application to departure · the basics of running an Erasmus+ project
👉 Erasmus+ projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=erasmus-projects
👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=esc-projects
