Comenius funding is available from the European Commission as part of the Lifelong Learning Programme to enable teachers to attend professional development and training courses. Through Comenius 2.2c funding, individual grants are available for primary and secondary school language teachers (including teachers of English and teachers who teach their subject in English) to attend courses to develop language, teaching and methodology skills in another country. Thousands of teachers successfully receive Comenius funding every year, enabling them to benefit from courses such as the range of programmes offered at Bell Teacher Campus Cambridge.

Grundtvig is Comenius' sister programme, aimed at adult education professionals. Grundtvig In-Service Training programme enables adult education staff to obtain a grant from the European Commission to attend work-related training courses. The programme provides adult education opportunities to improve life skills, knowledge and competences. Applicants may include university lecturers/staff and professionals who teach adults in higher education, through work or within an organisation or institution. Bell Teacher Campus offers a range of courses ideal for adult and higher education professionals to further develop their skills.

• You must be a national of one of the participating Lifelong Learning Programme countries
• You must also be one of the following:
  • A practising language teacher
  • A teacher retraining in foreign language teaching
  • A teacher teaching a subject through the medium of English
  • A teacher returning after a career break
  • A language trainer, inspector or adviser.

Funding covers teacher development courses that last between one and six weeks. This enables you to apply for the wide range of teacher development courses offered at Bell Teacher Campus which last two weeks during July and August.

You could receive up to €2500 of funding.

Bell Teacher Campus courses cost €1,920, with the course package including:

• Course tuition (plus talks by visiting speakers where applicable)
• Single, en-suite accommodation at Homerton College
• Daily breakfast and weekday evening meals
• Weekend breakfasts
• Core programme of social and cultural events including a tour of Cambridge and a one day excursion to London
• Bell end of course certificate
• Advice and support from Bell staff
• Travel insurance (except UK residents)

However, please note additional expenses (not covered by the €1,920 course package) include:

• Flights, travel and transfer fees
• Exam entrance fees
• Bank charges for payments made by bank transfer
• Lunches
• Weekend evening meals
• Additional excursions on a pay-as you-go basis and entrance fees to tourist attractions unless specified on the published course programme

When applying for funding, estimate how much all areas of the training course will cost. Remember that the amount that you apply for cannot be increased later, so include all costs at the application stage. All estimated costs must be in Euros.

The grant awarded will be calculated to help cover:

• Travel costs to and from the country where the course is organised (extra days must be justified in schedule)
• Subsistence costs (includes food, accommodation, day-to-day local travel, travel insurance and incidental costs)
• Preparation costs (including language preparation)
• Course fees where appropriate.

Midnight (GMT) on 15 January 2012 (this may vary in different countries).

Applications are assessed on a points-based system, with points being awarded for different criteria. The highest-scoring applicants will receive funding. The content of your application is very important, so to get more points, try to clearly demonstrate the following in your application:

1. Why your chosen course abroad will be more beneficial to your professional development than similar training in your home country.
2. That the course programme has clear objectives. For every course at Bell, there is a course outline (as PDF and webpage) on each individual course page which includes details of the course content, sample timetables and dates/fees information.
3. That your chosen course will fulfil all your individual training requirements (include details of how the course will help you develop your skills).
4. How you will use the skills and knowledge gained on the in-service course to the benefit of your school or institution.
5. That the course is good value for money.
6. How the course will give you a better understanding of school education in Europe and increase the European dimension of their work.

Read Bell's step-by-step guide to applying for Comenius/Grundtvig funding.