The Erasmus+ HE funding provided opportunities for 10 staff and 2 students to take up traineeships, job-shadowing and training exchanges with partners in six EU countries, Germany, Belgium. Denmark, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus. Foundation Degree students in Tourism and Hospitality took up traineeships in Belgium for 6 months. These students will be returning to complete their studies in January 2016 and were funded for the first 3 months of their placement under this contract. Their experience during the traineeship will be the basis of the mandatory work based learning module that contributes 40 credits (20 ECTS) to their overall course content. Their experience to date has been extremely positive and the contribution it has made to their personal and professional development has encouraged them to seek more opportunities of this nature. One of these students has since been short listed for an Internship Programme in China during Easter of 2016. The staff participation this year has for the first time included opportunities for support staff within the College, which delivers many benefits for the promotion, delivery and management of mobility projects of this nature. Staff from the finance and curriculum director's office completed job-shadowing with a host partner in Italy who manages multiple mobility and development projects to support learners and those not currently in the workforce to engage better with employers and develop skills that match employer needs at an international level. The opportunity to observe best practice in financial management and reporting of activities, as well as the day-to-day management and implementation of numerous projects provided sound working procedures and know-how that could be integrated into existing policies within the College. The European Affairs Officer also completed an exchange with the International Office of a University in Belgium to explore opportunities for the development of programmes that target inward mobility for project based summer programmes, that provide programmes for students from many curriculum areas to work together in teams on live development projects and activities from companies and organisations. Teaching staff took up opportunities to job-shadow and train in the areas of early years, tourism and beauty in Portugal, Germany and Cyprus. These candidates were curriculum managers and lecturing staff within two separate schools in the College. The exchange with KES College in Cyprus provided a return inward visit with staff from Cyprus training in new areas of teaching at North West Regional College (NWRC). Due to the climate differences in both countries and the varying skin and hair textures, there was plenty of opportunity to learn new techniques and treatments that are becoming more in demand as migrants travel further within the European Union. Work will continue between both Colleges with a view to including opportunities for student traineeships. The Hospitality and Tourism exchange in Germany was in conjunction with a colleague from South West College (one of the other 6 FE Colleges in Northern Ireland) who has been part of an European & International College collaboration group for the past 16 years. The different activities of the planned programme included supporting students from a German College and 2 American Colleges who were tasked with investigating a range of different organisations in Marburg and identifying their levels of customer service and customer engagement. Students and staff were involved in activities such as mystery shopping, focus groups, interviews with employers to establish areas of good practice as well as areas for improvement. The groups then compiled presentations which reported back on all their different experiences to the employers, with recommendations for improvement and also to the local tourism development manager. The experience allowed the staff member involved to experience customer service levels from a European perspective and secondly to make contacts with the staff of 3 other Colleges ? European and 2 American ? with the potential for further collaboration. In March 2016 South West College will be hosting the event with the European and 2 American colleges in Northern Ireland. NWRC will be assisting with the organisation of this week long event and will be hosting the group in Derry on St Patricks day for tourism related activities and investigations. The staff exchanges to Portugal and Denmark had a more curriculum focus. Early Years staff were provided with the opportunity to compare teaching and learning practices as delivered within the Portuguese context and found that legislation with the UK context drives much of the curriculum content compared to their host country. The Curriculum Director and Head of Department for HE explored progression opportunities for Foundation Degree students and observed the integration of project based learning within the curriculum