Erasmus+ First-Time Applicant: Everything You Need to Know

Every funded Erasmus+ project started with a first application. And every first-time applicant faces the same challenge: a programme that is genuinely accessible but not immediately intuitive, with multiple Key Actions, sector-specific rules, platform requirements and evaluation criteria that can make the whole process feel more complicated than it needs to be.

The good news is that first-time applicants succeed every call — including organisations with no previous EU project experience, small teams and limited administrative capacity. What separates the ones that succeed from the ones that do not is not experience — it is preparation, the right choice of Key Action and a clear understanding of what the evaluation is actually looking for.

This guide gives you everything you need to go from “I want to apply for Erasmus+” to a competitive, well-prepared submission — step by step.

1. Where to Start: The Three Questions to Answer First

Before looking at any application form, before finding partners and before writing a single word, there are three questions every first-time applicant needs to answer clearly. Getting these right determines which Key Action to apply for, which National Agency to approach and what kind of project has a realistic chance of success.

Question 1 — Is your organisation eligible? Erasmus+ is open to a wide range of organisations — NGOs, schools, universities, VET providers, youth centres, local authorities and more — but eligibility is not automatic. Your organisation must be formally registered as a legal entity, based in one of the 33 Erasmus+ programme countries, and active in a field relevant to education, training or youth. Check the eligibility criteria for your organisation type in our complete eligibility guide before going any further.

Question 2 — Which sector does your organisation belong to? Erasmus+ is organised into five sectors: School Education, Vocational Education and Training (VET), Higher Education, Adult Education and Youth. Each sector has its own call, its own National Agency contact and its own evaluation priorities. You must apply in the sector that matches your organisation’s primary mission. An NGO that runs non-formal youth programmes applies under Youth. A training provider that delivers professional skills courses for adults applies under Adult Education or VET. Getting the sector wrong is an eligibility error — not an evaluation weakness.

Question 3 — What do you want to achieve and at what scale? This question determines which Key Action is right for your first application. A focused, small-scale cooperation project with one partner and a single output points toward KA210. A mobility programme sending staff or learners abroad for training points toward KA1. A large-scale systemic innovation project with multiple partners and substantial outputs is KA220 — and is not recommended as a first application. Be honest about your organisation’s capacity, experience and ambition at this stage. The right Key Action for a first application is the one your organisation can deliver well, not the one with the largest grant.

2. Key Actions Overview for First-Time Applicants

The table below maps the most relevant Erasmus+ Key Actions to first-time applicant profiles. Use it to identify which action fits your organisation’s size, experience and project ambition.

Key Action	Max Grant	Min Partners	Best Suited To	First-Timer Suitability
KA210 — Small-Scale Partnerships	€60,000	2 organisations, 2 countries	Small to medium organisations, focused output, limited admin capacity	⭐ Highly recommended — best entry point
KA152 — Youth Exchanges	Unit costs (no fixed max)	2 organisations, 2 countries	Youth organisations, NGOs working with young people aged 13–30	⭐ Highly recommended for youth NGOs
KA122 — Short-term Mobility	Unit costs (no fixed max)	Sending + receiving organisation	Schools, VET providers, adult education — staff and learner mobility	✓ Good for education providers
KA220 — Cooperation Partnerships	€400,000	3 organisations, 3 countries	Experienced organisations with EU project track record and substantial output ambition	⚠ Not recommended as first application
Erasmus Accreditation	Annual KA1 funding	Single organisation	Organisations planning sustained multi-year mobility programmes	Consider after first successful KA1 project

For the vast majority of first-time applicants — NGOs, schools, VET providers and community organisations — KA210 is the right starting point. It is simpler, more accessible and more forgiving of first-time application gaps than KA220. A successful KA210 project builds the track record, the platform experience and the partnership that makes the second application — whether KA210 again or KA220 — significantly stronger.

3. Step-by-Step First Application Guide

The following sequence is the most reliable path from “I want to apply” to a submitted, competitive first application. Each step builds on the previous one — do not jump ahead to the application form before the earlier steps are complete.

Step 1 — Confirm your eligibility and select your Key Action. Use the guidance in Section 1 and the eligibility table in Section 2 to confirm your organisation is eligible and to select the right Key Action. Download the current year’s Erasmus+ Programme Guide and read the section for your chosen Key Action. This takes time but prevents the most costly errors — applying in the wrong sector or for the wrong action.

Step 2 — Register your OID. Go to the EU Funding and Tenders Portal and register your organisation to obtain your Organisation ID (OID). This is a free process but takes 1–5 working days. Do not leave it to the week before the deadline. Full registration guidance is available in our Beneficiary Module guide.

Step 3 — Develop your project concept. Before contacting partners or opening the application form, define your project concept clearly: what problem does it address, who is the target group, what will it produce and why does it require transnational cooperation between two or more countries? A clear concept takes 2–3 hours to write down in a one-page summary. It is the foundation of every section of the application. For guidance see our project idea guide.

Step 4 — Find and confirm your partner organisations. For KA210 you need at least one partner from a different programme country. Use EPALE, the SALTO partner search platform, your National Agency’s network events or direct outreach to organisations you already know. Contact potential partners with your one-page concept summary and ask for their interest. Do not add partners to the application until you have written confirmation of their participation — an email is sufficient. For detailed guidance see our partner finding guide.

Step 5 — Confirm all partner OIDs. Every partner must register their own OID in the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. As coordinator, it is your responsibility to chase and confirm all partner OIDs well before the deadline. Build this into your preparation timeline — set a partner OID confirmation deadline at least two weeks before the submission deadline.

Step 6 — Check the deadline and set your internal timeline. Find the exact submission deadline for your Key Action and National Agency at our 2026 deadlines guide. Work backwards: set your internal submission target 48–72 hours before the official deadline. Set a partner input deadline at least two weeks before your internal target. Allow at least 4–6 weeks for writing the application — not 4–6 days.

Step 7 — Write the application in a separate document first. Never write directly into the Beneficiary Module form. Draft every section — context and needs, objectives, activities, outputs, partner profiles, budget, dissemination — in a Word document first. This allows you to write freely, edit properly and share with partners for review before entering content into the form. The form has character limits and a clunky editor — use it only for the final entry, not the drafting stage.

Step 8 — Build the budget. For KA210, select the lump sum tier that is proportionate to your activity plan. For KA1, enter participant numbers, travel distance bands and activity days into the budget tool — the grant is calculated automatically. For detailed budget guidance see our budget planning guide.

Step 9 — Review, check consistency and submit. Before submitting, run the four consistency checks: work plan versus objectives, work plan versus budget, work plan versus partner roles and work plan versus timeline. Ask someone who did not write the application to read it. Fix anything that is unclear, vague or inconsistent. Then submit — at least 48 hours before the deadline — and save the submission confirmation.

4. What Evaluators Look For

Every Erasmus+ KA2 application is assessed by two independent evaluators against four criteria. Understanding what each criterion requires — and what a high-scoring response looks like — is the single most effective thing a first-time applicant can do to improve their score before writing a single word.

Relevance (30 points). Evaluators want to see a specific, documented problem — not a general statement that a challenge exists. They want a precisely defined target group, evidence of the need from external sources, a clear connection to current Erasmus+ priorities named by title, and a convincing explanation of why this project requires cooperation between two or more countries rather than being deliverable by one organisation in one country. Vague needs statements and generic priority alignment are the most common reasons for low Relevance scores.

Quality of Project Design (30 points). Evaluators want SMART objectives — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. They want a coherent work plan where every activity connects to an objective and every activity produces a named output. They want a realistic timeline spread across the full project duration. And they want the budget to be proportionate to the activities described. Evaluators are specifically checking for consistency — any gap between the work plan, the budget, the partner roles and the timeline is visible and costs points.

Quality of Project Team (20 points). Evaluators want to see that each partner was chosen for a specific reason — not just to meet the minimum partnership requirement. Each partner profile must describe specific expertise, a specific role in this project and a clear explanation of why that partner — and not another organisation — is the right fit. Two partners with identical profiles are not complementary. Generic partner descriptions such as “an experienced organisation with relevant expertise” score near zero on this criterion.

Impact (20 points). Evaluators want specific, realistic reach estimates — not vague references to “wide dissemination.” Name the channels through which outputs will be shared, estimate the number of people who will access them, and describe how the project’s results will continue to be used after the grant period ends. For first-time applicants, the most common impact weakness is describing dissemination as a final-phase activity rather than something built into the project from the start.

5. Most Common First-Timer Mistakes

Choosing KA220 as the first application. KA220 is the most demanding Key Action in the programme — a complex form, a hybrid budget model, a minimum of three partners, a requirement for substantial intellectual outputs and an evaluation standard that explicitly assesses coordinator capacity. An organisation applying for the first time with no EU project management track record will score below its potential on the Team criterion regardless of how strong the project idea is. Start with KA210. The track record it builds is directly valuable for a subsequent KA220 application.

Starting the application too late. A competitive KA210 application requires at least 6 weeks of preparation — concept development, partner confirmation, OID registration, writing and review. Most first-time applicants underestimate this and start 2–3 weeks before the deadline. The result is a rushed application with vague content, generic partner descriptions and a work plan that has not been reviewed for consistency. Start at least 8–10 weeks before the deadline for a first application.

Writing the application before defining the project concept. Many first-time applicants open the Beneficiary Module form and start filling in fields without a clear project concept defined. The result is an application that is written section by section without an overarching logic — objectives that do not connect to the needs, activities that do not connect to the objectives, and a budget that does not connect to the activities. Write the one-page concept first. Build the application from it.

Finding partners at the last minute. A partner confirmed by email two weeks before the submission deadline — someone the coordinator has never worked with, whose organisation they know nothing about, and whose role in the project is vague — will produce a weak partner profile that costs points on the Team criterion. Begin partner outreach at least 3 months before the deadline. Build a genuine working relationship before committing to an application.

Describing the Erasmus+ programme instead of the project. A surprisingly common first-timer error is spending the first two or three paragraphs of the context section explaining what Erasmus+ is, what its objectives are and why European cooperation is important. Evaluators know all of this — they are Erasmus+ experts. Every character limit in the application should be used to describe your specific project, your specific need and your specific target group. Not the programme.

Not reading the quality assessment feedback after rejection. A significant proportion of first-time applicants who receive a rejection do not request or read their quality assessment feedback. This is the most valuable document available to a reapplicant — it tells you exactly what needs to change. If your first application is rejected, read the feedback immediately, build a feedback response matrix and use it as the specification for your resubmission. For a full guide see our post on using quality assessment feedback to reapply.

6. First Application Checklist

• ✅ Organisation eligibility confirmed — legal status, programme country, sector relevance verified
• ✅ Correct sector identified — applies to organisation’s primary mission, not a secondary activity
• ✅ Key Action selected — KA210 recommended for most first-time applicants
• ✅ Programme Guide for current call year downloaded and relevant Key Action section read
• ✅ OID registered in EU Funding and Tenders Portal — at least 2 weeks before deadline
• ✅ National Agency contact identified — information sessions or advisory calls attended if available
• ✅ Project concept defined in a one-page summary before any form-filling begins
• ✅ Partner organisations identified and confirmed in writing — at least 3 months before deadline
• ✅ All partner OIDs confirmed — at least 2 weeks before deadline
• ✅ Application deadline confirmed with National Agency — internal submission target set 48–72 hours earlier
• ✅ All narrative sections drafted in a Word document before entering into the Beneficiary Module
• ✅ Needs statement specific and supported by at least 2 external sources
• ✅ Objectives written as SMART — linked to specific activities and outputs
• ✅ Every activity has a named output — no open-ended activities
• ✅ Each partner described specifically — expertise, role and added value stated
• ✅ Budget proportionate to activities — lump sum tier justified by activity scope (KA210)
• ✅ Four consistency checks completed — work plan vs objectives, budget, partner roles and timeline
• ✅ Application reviewed by someone who did not write it before submission
• ✅ Submitted at least 48 hours before the official deadline
• ✅ Submission confirmation saved — email and screenshot retained