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Erasmus+ Teacher Academies Explained for Schools

If you have searched for “Erasmus+ Teacher Academies”, you have probably found two very different things: an official EU funding action for teacher education institutions, and a lot of training offers for individual teachers. They are not the same, and mixing them up can cost a school time when it plans its Erasmus+ applications.

This article explains what the Erasmus+ Teacher Academies are according to the European Commission, who can apply, what the latest call looked like, and how they differ from the KA1 mobility that pays for teachers’ training courses and job shadowing abroad.

What are Erasmus+ Teacher Academies?

Erasmus+ Teacher Academies are European partnerships of teacher education and training providers, funded under Key Action 2 as “Partnerships for Excellence” and managed centrally by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). According to the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026, their objective is to develop “a European and international outlook in teacher education”. They are projects run by institutions, not courses that an individual teacher books.

In practice, each Teacher Academy is a consortium of universities, colleges and other teacher education providers working with schools and education authorities in several countries. Together they design learning offers for future teachers (initial teacher education) and for serving teachers (continuing professional development).

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Who can apply for an Erasmus+ Teacher Academy?

Only organisations can apply, and the rules are demanding. The most recent detailed rules are those of the 2025 call, published in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2025:

  • The coordinator must be a Teacher Education Institution, such as a college, institute or university providing initial teacher education or continuing professional development. It applies on behalf of the whole partnership.
  • The consortium needs at least 6 applicants from at least 4 countries (EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme).
  • Among them there must be at least 4 providers of initial teacher education from 3 different countries, at least 1 provider of continuing professional development, and at least 1 practice or training school.
  • Other partners can include ministries, education authorities, teacher associations, schools and NGOs relevant for the project.
  • Organisations from third countries not associated to the Programme cannot take part.
Campus of a university college of teacher education in Linz, Austria, the type of institution that coordinates Erasmus+ Teacher Academies
Photo: Mihael Djukic, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

For this action, the Programme Guide uses “teacher” in an enlarged sense that includes trainers and early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff.

What do Teacher Academies actually do?

Each Academy chooses one or more of the priorities listed in the Programme Guide: inclusion and diversity, well-being, environment and sustainability, digital capacity building, STEM and STEAM, and common values and civic engagement. Around those priorities, the Programme Guide 2025 lists activities such as:

  • building networks and international communities of practice between teacher education providers, teacher associations and public bodies;
  • developing and testing joint learning modules for student teachers and serving teachers;
  • creating a joint learning offer with a European dimension, including mobility such as summer schools and study visits, both physical and virtual;
  • finding ways to remove obstacles to teacher mobility and to recognise what teachers learn abroad;
  • involving training schools to experiment with new ways of teaching;
  • producing studies and recommendations to inform teacher education policy.

The long-term aim is structural: making mobility a normal part of how teachers are educated in Europe, not a one-off experience.

How much funding do Teacher Academies receive, and for how long?

The European Commission’s Teacher Academies page states a maximum of €1,500,000 per project, for three years. The Programme Guide 2025 confirms a maximum EU grant of €1,500,000 per project, paid as a lump sum with a funding rate of 80%, and says projects should normally last 36 months.

The same Commission page reports that the programme has supported 61 Academies since 2021, with almost 1,000 participating organisations.

When is the Erasmus+ Teacher Academies deadline?

This is the question many schools ask, so here is what the official sources say today:

  1. The latest call was in 2025. In the Programme Guide 2025, applications for call ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PEX-TEACH-ACA had to be submitted to EACEA through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal by 26 March at 17:00 (Brussels time).
  2. There is no Teacher Academies deadline in the 2026 call. The Erasmus+ Call for Proposals 2026 lists its deadlines action by action, and under Partnerships for Excellence it includes Centres of Vocational Excellence and the Erasmus Mundus Action, but not Teacher Academies.
  3. The next call is expected for 2027. The Commission’s page, last updated in July 2026, says that no funding is currently open and that the 2027 call is expected to be published in autumn 2026.

When the new call is out, the official dates will be in the Programme Guide and on the Funding & Tenders Portal. For the KA1 dates that matter to most schools, see our page on Erasmus+ deadlines for schools.

Can an individual teacher join a Teacher Academy?

Not by applying: individual teachers cannot submit a Teacher Academies application. A teacher can be involved in two ways:

  • through their institution, if their school, college or university is a partner in an Academy, for example as a practice school;
  • as a participant in activities that an Academy opens to teachers, such as modules, summer schools or study visits. Each Academy decides its own offer, so the place to look is the project itself. The Commission’s page links to a search of current and previously funded Academies on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

If what you need is a professional development course abroad this school year, a Teacher Academy is rarely the direct route. That is the job of KA1.

How are Teacher Academies different from KA1 courses abroad?

Both actions support teachers’ professional development, but they work at different levels:

  • Who applies: Teacher Academies are applied for by a consortium led by a Teacher Education Institution. KA1 mobility is applied for by your own school or organisation, as a short-term project (KA122) or through an Erasmus accreditation (KA121). Our article on KA121 vs KA122 explains the difference.
  • Who manages it: Teacher Academies are managed centrally by EACEA. KA1 applications go to the National Agency of the country where the applicant organisation is established.
  • What is funded: Teacher Academies fund a multi-year partnership that builds programmes and networks. KA1 funds the mobility of your staff: job shadowing, teaching assignments, and courses and training abroad. If you are weighing those formats, see our guide to Erasmus job shadowing for teachers.
  • When: the Programme Guide 2026 sets Round 1 for KA1 short-term projects in school education on 19 February at 12:00 (Brussels time), and National Agencies may open a second round.
  • Who benefits: a Teacher Academy reaches teachers through its partner institutions. A KA1 project sends your own teachers and staff abroad, in line with your school’s own development needs. Our article on Erasmus+ eligibility for teachers covers who can go.
Teachers from several European countries following a trainer's session during an Erasmus+ KA1 training course abroad in Tenerife

For “Courses and training”, the Programme Guide 2026 describes a structured course provided by qualified professionals, based on a pre-defined learning programme and learning outcomes, with a clear transnational component. It also states that all course providers are entirely independent from the Erasmus+ programme and that the choice of courses is the responsibility of the beneficiary organisation.

Which route makes sense for your school?

For most schools the answer is simple. A Teacher Academy makes sense if your school already works closely with a teacher education institution that is building a European consortium, and you are ready for a three-year project. If you want your teachers to train abroad on a specific need, such as inclusion or digital skills, KA1 is the realistic route: your school applies to its National Agency and chooses the courses or job shadowing that fit its plan.

Interestingly, several Teacher Academy priorities match the topics schools most often choose for KA1, from Erasmus+ inclusive education courses to Erasmus+ ICT and AI courses.

See how KA1 funding works

From our experience at ELA

To be clear: Erasmus Learning Academy is not an Erasmus+ Teacher Academy and is not part of that action. We are a course provider for KA1 mobility. We hold an Erasmus+ accreditation, we are accredited by the Italian Ministry of Education for teacher training, and our courses are Erasmus+ quality standards compliant. We also lead European cooperation projects, including KA2 and Capacity Building projects, so we know how different a partnership and a mobility are in daily work.

What our participants often value most is the European dimension that Teacher Academies also aim for: working with colleagues from other countries. As one participant wrote: “it is such an enrichment to network with professionals from different countries in Europe and to get to know Greek culture.” (Heijnsbroek, Belgium). A KA1 course abroad is one of the most direct ways for a single teacher to get that experience.

Sources

P.S. If your school is preparing a KA1 project, our catalogue lists all our Erasmus+ courses for teachers and staff in one place. Download our course catalogue and share it with your Erasmus+ coordinator.

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