Erasmus internship CV: how to apply for an Erasmus+ traineeship
An Erasmus internship CV is the CV you send a host organisation abroad to get the acceptance an Erasmus+ traineeship of 2 to 12 months needs. You then apply through your home university, not to the EU.1
Written 13 October 2026. CitedCV. How we write our guides
First step: open your own university's traineeship call
There is no central Erasmus+ form for students. The European Commission's page on traineeships abroad says you apply through the international or Erasmus+ office of your higher education institution, and Türkiye's National Agency states that it accepts no individual applications: students apply to the call their own university opens. So the document that decides your deadline, your paperwork and your chances is that call, not a general guide.
Six things to find in the call before you write anything
- The application window and whether a host acceptance letter must be uploaded with the application or can follow after selection.
- The minimum grade average and the language tests the office accepts.
- How many months the grant covers. TED University in Ankara, for its 2026-2027 traineeship call, funds two months per student so that more students can go.
- Whether recent graduates are included. The Programme Guide lets a university opt out of recent-graduate traineeships.
- Who in your department confirms that the host and the work fit your degree.
- Which Learning Agreement template the office uses; the Commission says its own templates are for information and preparation only.
How an Erasmus+ traineeship application runs
- Find a host. The Commission points students to the Erasmus Intern portal, run by the Erasmus Student Network, and to their own international office; some universities also keep a database of past hosts.
- Send the host a CV and a short letter that name the dates, the field and the tasks you could take on.
- Get the acceptance letter. TED University, for example, asks for a valid letter from an eligible host covering at least two months.
- Apply in your university call before the deadline and wait for the ranked list.
- Once selected, agree the traineeship programme with the host and your department and sign the Learning Agreement for Traineeships. All three parties sign before the start; scanned or electronic signatures may be accepted.
- For a mobility of 14 days or more, complete the Online Language Support (OLS) assessment in the language of work, unless you are a native speaker.
- Do the traineeship. The host issues a Traineeship Certificate, normally within five weeks of the end.
- Your university recognises the traineeship as promised in the agreement and records it, for example in a Transcript of Records and the Diploma Supplement.
Rules that come from the Programme Guide 2026
| Rule | What the guide says |
|---|---|
| Length | 2 to 12 months of physical mobility, excluding travel. Doctoral candidates may also go for 5 to 30 days. |
| Cap per degree cycle | Up to 12 months of mobility per cycle (bachelor, master, doctorate), study and traineeship together; earlier Erasmus+ periods count. |
| Recent graduates | Selected by their university during the last year of study, and the traineeship is carried out and completed within one year of graduating. |
| Compulsory military or civil service | Where graduates must serve after graduation, the recent-graduate window is extended by the length of that service. |
| Who can host | Any public or private organisation active in the labour market or in education, training, youth, research and innovation: companies, public bodies, schools, NGOs, research institutes, chambers, universities. |
| Who cannot host | EU institutions and other EU bodies, including specialised agencies, and organisations that manage EU programmes, such as Erasmus+ National Agencies. |
| Where | Not in the country of your sending university, and not in the country where you live during your studies. |
| What is not a traineeship | Following courses at a higher education institution. |
| Money | A monthly individual grant set by the National Agency within EU ranges, plus a 150 EUR monthly top-up for students and recent graduates on traineeships. |
Digital skills traineeships
The guide counts a traineeship as a traineeship in digital skills when the trainee does digital marketing, digital graphic, mechanical or architectural design, app, software or web development, IT systems and networks, cybersecurity, data analytics or work with robots and AI. Customer support, order fulfilment, data entry and office tasks do not count. The Learning Agreement has a box for it, and some universities add points for it, so name the activity plainly on your CV when it applies.
What the host reads in your CV
The selection committee at your university ranks you on the call's criteria. The host decides something else: whether you can do useful work for two or three months. Your CV is for that decision.
Fit with your degree
The Commission says the traineeship must be relevant to your degree-related learning and, wherever possible, integrated into your study programme; TED University's call adds that the department judges whether the host and the programme fit the diploma, and that an unrelated placement makes the application invalid. Put your field, year and the two or three courses closest to the host's work in the top third of the page.
A dated availability line
Hosts plan around months. A line such as 'Available for an Erasmus+ traineeship, full-time, 5 July to 30 September 2027' tells them the length and the season in one glance, and it matches the start and end months that the Learning Agreement asks for.
The language of work
The Learning Agreement records a recommended level in the main language of work, agreed with the host. If you are below it when you sign, you and your university agree how you will reach it by the start. Give each language a CEFR level and the certificate behind it; how test scores map to levels is on the CEFR page of this guide.
Europass, only when asked
Some universities and hosts ask for a Europass CV. When yours does, build it in the free editor; the Europass page of this guide walks through each section. When nobody asks, a one or two page CV in the convention of the host country reads faster.
Sample: CV lines that become the Learning Agreement
An invented applicant: Lucía Ortega, third-year environmental engineering student in Valencia, writing to a water utility in Ljubljana. The left column is what she puts on her CV; the middle column is the part of the Learning Agreement for Traineeships that line later feeds. Replace every detail with your own.
| Line on the CV (example) | Learning Agreement field it feeds | Why the host needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Available for an Erasmus+ traineeship, full-time, 5 July to 30 September 2027 | Table A: planned start and end months, hours per week | Shows the period fits their summer workload |
| Final-year project: mapped 41 pipe bursts in a 12 km² district with QGIS and flagged three pressure zones for inspection | Table A: detailed programme, tasks and deliverables | Gives them a task they can hand over in week one |
| Skills: QGIS, Python (pandas), AutoCAD Civil 3D | Table A: learning outcomes; the digital skills box | Tells them which tools need no training |
| English C1 (IELTS Academic 7.5, 2026); Slovene A1, OLS course in progress | Language competence box | Matches the level they recommend for the team |
| Relevant courses: Hydraulics II, Water Distribution Networks | Table B: recognition by the sending university | Lets your department see the link to the degree |
| Erasmus+ study semester, TU Delft, spring 2026 (5 months) | Your remaining months in the 12-month cap | Explains why she asks for 3 months, not 9 |
The same lines as a CV block
- Lucía Ortega | Valencia, Spain | lucia.ortega@example.com | +34 600 000 000
- Third-year BSc Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, expected June 2028. Available for an Erasmus+ traineeship, full-time, 5 July to 30 September 2027.
- Final-year project: mapped 41 pipe bursts in a 12 km² district with QGIS and flagged three pressure zones for inspection.
- Erasmus+ study semester, TU Delft, spring 2026: Urban Water Systems, Data Analysis for Water Networks.
- Skills: QGIS, Python (pandas), AutoCAD Civil 3D. Languages: Spanish (native), English C1 (IELTS Academic 7.5, 2026), Slovene A1.
The figures are invented to show the form. On your own CV, write only numbers you can explain to the host in an interview.
Proof: what we read and when
Every rule above comes from these pages, all read on 13 October 2026. Links are under Sources.
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| Durations, 12-month cap, recent graduates, military service extension, eligible and excluded hosts, venue, 150 EUR top-up, digital skills definition | Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026 (version 1 of 12 November 2025), higher education mobility projects |
| Apply through your institution; Erasmus Intern portal; no EU institutions as hosts | European Commission, Traineeships abroad for students (updated 1 October 2026) |
| Three signatures before the start, OLS assessment, certificate within five weeks, recognition, Diploma Supplement | European Commission, guidelines for the KA131 Learning Agreement for Traineeships |
| Templates are for information only; ask your institution | European Commission, Learning Agreements page |
| No individual applications to the Turkish National Agency | Türkiye National Agency, KA131 traineeship page |
| Acceptance letter, department check, two funded months | TED University, 2026-2027 student traineeship call |
The Programme Guide changes with each yearly call, and every university writes its own call. Check the linked pages and your call before you apply.
When this route does not fit
- You have already graduated without being selected. Recent graduates must be selected during their last year of study.
- You want a traineeship at an EU institution or agency. They cannot host an Erasmus+ trainee; they run their own traineeship schemes.
- The placement is in your home country or the country where you live during your studies.
- You want a salary. Erasmus+ pays a grant towards costs; a host may add money or support in kind, but is not obliged to.
- Your university has opted out of recent-graduate traineeships or has no places left in the call.
The UK and Switzerland
Türkiye's National Agency reports that both countries are planned to join Erasmus+ as associated countries from the 2027 call; for the 2026 call and earlier they count as non-associated. The Programme Guide lets a university use up to 20% of its last grant for mobility to non-associated countries, so ask your office whether it does.
Next steps
- Read your university call and note the deadline, the acceptance letter rule and the funded months.
- Draft a CV with the availability line, two degree-related projects and dated language certificates.
- Write a short letter to each host; the internship cover letter page shows the structure.
- If the host is in Germany or the Netherlands, read the country internship pages for local conventions.
- After the traineeship, add it to your CV with the host, the months and one result, and keep the Traineeship Certificate.
CitedCV can write the CV in English, Turkish or German with EU, German or Turkish conventions, using only the courses, projects and languages you enter. It does not fill in the Learning Agreement or apply to your university for you.
Questions people ask
Can I do an Erasmus internship after graduation?
Yes, if your university selected you during your last year of study and you finish the traineeship within one year of graduating. You cannot apply once you have graduated.
How long is an Erasmus internship?
Between 2 and 12 months of physical mobility, excluding travel. Your university may fund fewer months than you spend abroad, so check the call.
Do I have to find the Erasmus internship company myself?
Usually yes. Universities expect you to find a host; the Erasmus Intern portal and your international office list offers and past hosts.
Is an Erasmus internship paid?
You receive a monthly Erasmus+ grant plus a 150 EUR traineeship top-up; the host may add a payment or support in kind but does not have to.
What is the Learning Agreement for Traineeships?
It is the document you, your university and the host sign before the start, setting the dates, tasks, learning outcomes, language level and how the traineeship will be recognised.
Can I do an Erasmus traineeship in the UK?
Possibly. Under the 2026 call the UK is a non-associated country, which some universities fund from a limited budget; it is planned to become associated from the 2027 call.
Do I need a Europass CV for an Erasmus internship?
Only if your university call or the host asks for it. Otherwise any clear CV of one or two pages works.
Can I do an Erasmus internship in my own country?
No. The traineeship must be outside the country of your sending university and outside the country where you live during your studies.
Sources
- European Commission, Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026: higher education mobility projectserasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-b/key-action-1/higher-education-mobility-projects
- European Commission, Erasmus+ Programme Guide: current versionerasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/erasmus-programme-guide
- European Commission, Traineeships abroad for studentserasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/opportunities/opportunities-for-individuals/students/traineeships-abroad-for-students
- European Commission, Guidelines on the Learning Agreement for Traineeships (KA131)erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/mobility-and-learning-agreements/learning-agreements/traineeships-agreement-guidelines-ka131
- European Commission, Learning Agreementserasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/learning-agreement
- Türkiye National Agency, KA131 traineeship mobilitywww.ua.gov.tr/programlar/firsatlar/ka1-ka131-program-ulkelerinde-staj/
- Türkiye National Agency, Switzerland and the UK to join Erasmus+ in 2027www.ua.gov.tr/haber/isvicre-ve-birlesik-krallik-2027-de-erasmus-programina-katiliyor/
- TED University, 2026-2027 student traineeship mobility callipo.tedu.edu.tr/sites/default/files/inline-files/2026-2027-Akademik-Yili-Ogrenci-Staj-Hareketliligi-Basvuru-Ilani_1.pdf