On 9 July 2024, the European Commission hosted a stakeholder workshop to present the outcomes of a draft final study supporting the mid-term evaluation of the current Erasmus+ programme, the final evaluation of the predecessor programme, and the recommendations arising from these findings.  

Representatives from Erasmus+ national authorities and agencies (such as ACA members HK-Dir and DAAD), as well as education stakeholders, including the ACA Secretariat (represented by Irina Ferencz and Veronika Kupriyanova), attended this workshop to provide feedback on the key findings presented by the contractor (ICF).  

The findings are based on multiple primary and secondary data collected and evaluated according to five criteria (effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value), 27 key themes and 63 questions by using innovative methods (e.g., social media analysis, network analysis, counterfactual analysis, etc.).  

ACA and its members, particularly those serving as national agencies for Erasmus+, largely contributed to related data collection activities by taking part in the open public consultation (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, September 2023, December 2023) and expert interviews, preparing comprehensive national implementation reports, and sharing detailed feedback on the draft findings at all stages of the evaluation process.  

In the meeting, ACA’s input centered on strengthening the findings and recommendations in the field of higher education, particularly regarding:  

• The inclusion and diversity horizontal priority; 

• The international dimension of the Erasmus+ programme; 

• The diversity of partnerships and modes of collaboration;  

• Use of both quantitative and qualitative evidence on the programme implementation including its pilots and new initiatives (e.g., Blended Intensive Programmes, Erasmus Mundus Design Measures, European University Initiative).  

Finally, ACA representatives highlighted the need for formally including expert organisations and stakeholders in the (future) consortia carrying out similar impact studies and specialised analysis, to ensure the relevance and feasibility of recommendations for and by the sector. 

The draft report provides convincing evidence on the programme’s overall success, impactful implementation and strong progress towards achieving its expected outputs, results and impacts in both programming periods, and its value for money.  

The final report will be published in November 2024 and feed into negotiation processes on the future Erasmus+ programme.