This project is part of the ongoing development by Merthyr Tydfil College to provide enhanced and enriched educational and social development opportunities for the people of Merthyr Tydfil and its surrounding areas. Recognizing that many barriers exist to employment and social enhancement within the South Wales valleys area, the college is sustaining a proactive approach to ensuring that as many of its student cohort as possible are able to experience a wider opportunity for personal , social, financial and career improvement. We place great emphasis on improving the confidence and desire of our students to be unrestrained by self and locally-imposed barriers to their ambitions. Our aim is to encourage the personal mobility of students throughout Europe as a means of improving their life opportunities and enriching social integration. Utilizing the previous Leonardo da Vinci funding opportunities in past years to great effect, we are now hopeful of achieving similar success with the Erasmus+ programme. This bid is for Key Action 1 Mobility of Individual. It is applying for participant numbers of IVT AND TRADES: • 48 Level 3 Business Studies students;• 48 Level 3 Information Technology students;• 24 Level 3 Childcare students;• 20 Level 2 Engineering students; • 20 Level 2 Motor Vehicle students;• 24 Level 2 Hairdressing students;• 24 Level 2 Beauty students;• 24 Level 3 Travel and Tourism students;• 20 Level 1 Construction students; and• 20 Level 2 Construction students.The overarching objective of this bid is to provide a coherent platform for participants to experience work placement in Germany, linguistic development, cultural awareness and improved motivation and self esteem. The experience has the benefit of being able to fulfill major requirements of the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate qualification that the participants are working towards and thus provides for formal qualification accreditation of many of the mobility action requirements. The AIM of the project is to offer two-week practical work experience in Germany. The visits will involve structured and accredited work experience with German companies to help the students prepare for the UK and European labour markets. The project idea complies with Ldv Mobility National Priorities 2015 for both:1. Applications which primarily target participants who are facing particular difficulties in the labour market and2. Applications which work primarily with apprentices and which can evidence labour market/sectoral need for their support.The mobilities are planned to take place between November 2015 and June 2017.NEEDS ADDRESSED:1. The target group lacks professional experience in European training institutions and employers for the work placement.2. The students´ poor linguistic proficiency in German will be improved, as the project will foster the learning of German (general and sector-related terminology).3. The students have never benefited from such a bespoke foreign experience, so the project will allow acquiring intercultural competences.EXPECTED OUTCOMES:1. New networks with businesses overseas.2. Potential to develop new projects in the future.3. Acquisition of new theoretical and practical competences in Business studies and Information Technology Studies to document in the EUROPASS MOBILITY DOCUMENT and CERTIFICATES OF ATTENDANCE received.4. Enhancing employability prospects in the UK and European labour market.5. Improvement of the students´ linguistic and intercultural competences.6. Attainment of wider key skills at the appropriate levels in:• Working with others, • Problem solving and• Improving own Learning and Performance.7. General improvement in awareness of a European perspective on education and employability.8. Accreditation of vocational units through assessment of real tasks undertaken in the work placements.9 Accreditation of language skills, work experience, Essential Skills and other components of the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification such as Wales, Europe and the world, also the Individual Investigation component.