Erasmus+ Traineeships at King's can only be undertaken for purely Research placements, and provided the student can find a suitable academic supervisor independently.
• Student applicants must be registered on a degree at another Higher Education institution outside of the UK, in an Erasmus+ Programme Country (EEA + Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia), either at undergraduate or postgraduate level, for the whole duration of the placement.
• Whilst Graduate students are eligible for a traineeship after graduation if they complete the placement within 1 year of graduation, they would need a UK Work Visa.
King's will not sponsor those for students and the British Council no longer sponsors them for the Erasmus+ 2021-27 call, so it is unfortunately no longer possible to do a placement at King's as a graduate, unless you have already right to work in the UK.
• Students must already have been chosen by their home institution to participate in an Erasmus+ traineeship. Please note King's will not enter into a new Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA) for this purpose, so if your home university requires an IIA, then only students from existing exchange partners, under the correct department, can attend at King's under the Erasmus+ Traineeship.
• Students must identify and receive an offer from a King’s academic supervisor from an appropriate area of research for their area of study. You can find a supervisor in the area of interest via the King’s College Research Portal.
• For stays in the UK between 6 and 12 months, a Student Visa will be needed. Proven English Language Requirements will also have to be met.
• Stays under 6 Months (please note that the total UK stay must be under 6 months, including in days prior to or after the placement) can attend under a Standard Visitor Visa.
Please note this applies only to current students, not graduates, who would require a work visa regardless of length of stay.
• Extensions of placements that require a visa change (either extension to Visitor or Student visa or change of visa type) are very difficult, as you will need to re-apply for the new visa from outside the UK and await outcome to re-enter. We therefore strongly advise you plan your placement dates carefully in advance.
• Students seeking Clinical or Hospital placements must apply instead for:
- Medicine to the Clinical Electives Placement programme run by the GKT School of Medical Education.
- Psychiatry/Mental Health to the Clinical Electives Placement run by the IoPPN.
- Dentistry to the Dental Electives run by the Dental Institute. (this programme is currently suspended)
- Nursing, a clinical placement is not currently possible within Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care.
The Clinical Electives Placements at King's are incompatible with Erasmus+ and we cannot facilitate students looking to do a clinical placement under Erasmus+.
• PhD students from Universities outside Erasmus+ may apply instead to the Visiting Researchers scheme.
• Students from universities with whom we have an existing study exchange agreement may be able to attend under exchange for research outside an Erasmus+ Traineeship, but please first discuss with your international office and then contact us to clarify if you are eligible.
- The minimum period of an Erasmus+ Traineeship is two months (not 8 weeks), up to a maximum of 12 months. It is recommended that students apply for at least a three month traineeship, as this will give them more time to gain the necessary experience and complete the required tasks in a department at King’s.
- Research placements outside Erasmus have no minimum length, but at least 2 months is recommended. The maximum length of any placement is 12 months.
- Placements originally scheduled for up to 6 months might not be able to be extended behind 6 months once started, as a change of visa would be required, that can only be done from outside the UK and for which an official English Language test is required.
- Traineeships must enrol on the first Tuesday of the month and so should ideally start their placement on that day. The permitted start date are at present:
- Tuesday 6th December 2022
- Tuesday 3rd January 2023
- Tuesday 7th February 2023
- Tuesday 7th March 2023
- Tuesday 4th April 20223
- Tuesday 2nd May 2023
- further dates will be added. Because of the UK leaving the Erasmus programme, it is however possible Erasmus+ Traineeship placements will not be able to continue at all past May 2023.
Research placements for students from existing study exchange partner universities (including EU ones) are not affected as long as the partnership remains in place.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. However, traineeships must start on one of the dates listed above.The application must be completed at least 1 month ahead of the intended start date, but preferably 3-5 months ahead of this date.
If the placement is over 6 months, then you will need to apply for a Student Visa, so applications at least 3 months in advance are needed for you to receive the visa in time. For placement under 6 months, if you need to apply in advance for the Standard Visitor Visa, you should also make sure to apply 3 months in advance.
Please note, if the application is submitted later than 4 weeks ahead of the start date, the start date will move to the next enrolment date a month later.
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Students can only apply to an Erasmus+ traineeship after being accepted by a King's academic supervisor. Once accepted, then they must apply online and receive an offer from the Study Abroad Admissions team before their Erasmus+ traineeship is confirmed.
- To apply, students should complete and submit an online application form for the Erasmus+ Traineeship programme. Students must use the accompanying Research Placement Application Guidance Notes (at the bottom of this page) while completing their application.
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Students must have a Learning Agreement, fully signed and completed, by their home university and their supervisor at King's, before they apply online.
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As applications take at least 4 weeks to process, the application must be completed at least 1 month ahead of the intended start date, but preferably 3-5 months ahead of this date.
For placements over 6 months students will need to apply for a Student Visa, or nationals needing to apply for a Standard Visitor Visa, need to apply to King's at least 3 months in advance.
Please note, if the application is submitted later than 4 weeks ahead of the start date, the start date will move to the next enrolment date a month later.
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If you have any questions about your application, and have already made an online application, please contact the Admissions team via the messaging facility on the Application Portal. If you have not yet applied, please contact studyabroad@kcl.ac.uk.
An overseas student has contacted you to do a research placement (for their own research/thesis or to gain experience by helping in yours).
First you need to make sure that their project is appropriate for your specialty, they have the right background for the project and their role in it, you are satisfied their level of English is suitable for the work (in some cases they must also meet B2 language requirements, but this will be assessed at application by Admissions, if required) and of course you have the time to supervise them in the period they are planning to come.
Extensions of placements can be very difficult if a visa extension or change is required (as the student has to leave the UK to do so, likely for many weeks ), so we strongly advise you think carefuly about the suitable length of stay in advance. Please note that students can only stay in the UK under 6 months without needing a student visa. So it is strongly advised for a 6 months placement that dates are agreed to be slightly under 6 months, to take into account that students will most likely not arrive on the 1st day and leave on the last day of the placement.
If you are happy to supervise the student, then there are different routes depending on where they are from:
Please note all visiting students need to apply for and be enrolled on a program, regardless of length of stay. Affiliate accounts are only suitable for Staff and should not be requested for this purpose.
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For students from a partner University, without Erasmus+ Traineeships.
If they are from a University with whom we have an existing study exchange agreement (they or you should check with the Global Mobility Office), they can attend for research as an exchange student. It is not possible to setup an exchange agremeent just for this purpose, it has to be already in place. There is no fee charged by King's.
Enrolments for those students can only happen on the first Tuesday of each month so they can only start their placement on that date, or later that month once they have been enrolled.
The Global Mobility Office will need to receive a direct email from their home university International Office confirming the placement is authorised by them, part of their studies and that they will still be registered with them during the whole placement.
The student needs to follow the instructions to apply under the Research Placement Application Guidance Notes.
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For students from non-partner universities, not under Erasmus+ Traineeship.
- PhD students should apply through the Visiting Research Student programme. This programme is not run by the Global Mobility Office, and queries should be directed to your Faculty's PGR Admissions Team. A fee is charged for stays over 3 months.
- Non-PhD students (PGT and UG) may be able to apply to do research at King’s under that or similar program, but please discuss this directly with your department's PGR Admissions team.
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For Students wishing to attend under an Erasmus+ Traineeship , as long as the home university does not require a new exchange agreement to be signed.
The minimum length of the placement is 2 months (not 8 weeks), and up to 12 months.
If the student is in their first year after graduation, they may also qualify, as long as they arrange it before graduation and it finishes within that first year, but the process is more complicated and mostly no longer possible in the UK, please see below under Graduates.
In all cases, the student will need to complete an Erasmus+ Learning agreement for traineeships, provided by their home university. You will be responsible for signing on behalf of the ‘host institution’. This document will detail what the student will do and/or learn while here, and is a guideline for what can be expected from all parties involved. As supervisor, it is your responsibility this is followed, and that the student has enough work for a full-time placement.
One part of the agreement asks about Insurance provided by the host institution: You should select No for Accident insurance, and Yes for Liability.
Please do not sign any other document than those titled "Erasmus+ Learning Agreement for Traineeships" without checking with the Global Mobility Office first.
- For current students (still actively enrolled at their home university for the whole duration of the placement): they will then need to apply through the King’s Admissions portal, at least a month in advance of their intended stay (3 months if the placement is over 6 months or a Visa is required). Please note enrolments for those students happen on the first Tuesday of each month so they can only start their placement on that date, or later that month if they have been enrolled (please see under Traineeships length and start date.) No fee will be charged by King’s.
- Graduate students (no longer enrolled on a university program during their proposed placement): Whilst Erasmus+ traineeships can be obtained in the first year after graduation, UK immigration rules means they would need a work visa. King's will not sponsor those for them, and the British Council no longer sponsors those for the 2021-27 Erasmus call. Therefore unless they already have Right to Work through another immigration route (Work Holiday visa, Settled or Pre-Settled status or British or Irish citizenship for example), the placement wil not be possible. If they have right to work, then they do not apply as students, but need to go through HR.