I want to make a case for something that most coordinators do not do enough of: booking KA1 mobilities in October and November.
Everyone books in July. Some book in June. A smaller group books in August. October and November get overlooked because they collide with the actual school year. And that is exactly why they are the best window.
The July peak is a habit, not a strategy
Ask a coordinator why they book their Erasmus+ mobility in July and the answer is usually some version of "because that is when we can do it, once the school year is over." That was probably true fifteen years ago when coordinators were also full-time teachers with no substitute cover budget.
Today, in most European schools, coordinator time is at least partially protected from teaching duties, and substitute cover for a five-day teacher absence is genuinely available at reasonable cost. The old constraint has softened. But the summer-booking habit has not.
The result: July and August are the most crowded, most expensive, and often the lowest-quality months to run a KA1 mobility.
What actually happens in July
I will not name names but I have heard the same complaint from three different coordinators about summer 2026 mobilities:
- Groups of 22 to 25 participants in courses that in shoulder season would run at 12 to 15
- Trainers rotating through multiple parallel cohorts, unable to give individual attention
- Air conditioning in the venue that "works" but not really, in 35°C weather
- Cultural activities that are miserable in the heat and half the group opting out
None of this is inevitable. Reputable providers do their best. But summer is when they are stretched thinnest, and stretched thin is when quality slips.
What actually happens in October
I have some real data on this. Comparing our top twenty providers between summer 2025 and autumn 2025 (October to mid-November):
- Median group size: 11 (summer: 19)
- Trainer-to-participant ratio: 1:8 (summer: 1:14)
- Coordinator satisfaction score (from provider-side feedback): 9.1 out of 10 (summer: 7.4)
- Median accommodation cost in top ten destinations: 28% lower
- Average temperature at course venue: 20°C (summer: 32°C)
October and November are not just cheaper. They are meaningfully better.
The counter-argument, and why it does not hold
The obvious pushback: "But my teachers cannot leave the classroom in October, that is prime teaching time."
I understand the constraint but I think it is over-weighted. Consider:
- One teacher out for five days in October costs your school one week of substitute cover. In monetary terms, this is typically €400 to €600.
- The Erasmus+ grant covers substitute cover under the "organisational support" line.
- Your teacher comes back with skills they can apply immediately to the ongoing school year, not skills they will forget over the summer holiday.
The last point is the killer argument. A teacher who does a wellbeing course in October uses those skills for eight months of the current school year. A teacher who does the same course in July uses them for nothing until September, by which point half the specifics have faded.
For most course topics, October is not just a cheaper alternative to July. It is a better use of the training.
When July is genuinely better
For fairness, three cases where summer is the right call:
When the topic is destination-specific outdoor learning. A green education course in Tenerife works in both October and July, but you get better weather in October (paradoxically). A hiking-heavy course in the Dolomites needs summer.
When the group needs the language immersion of a full week away. Language courses benefit from participants having no work to check in on. Summer removes that friction.
When you have a coordinator who genuinely cannot travel outside school holidays. Some countries or contracts still work this way. Fair enough.
For everything else, autumn is the better bet.
The 2026 specific bit
Two reasons autumn 2026 is unusually good.
One: because of the ESEP closure I wrote about last week, autumn bookings this year are lower than usual across most providers. There is more available capacity in October and November than in a normal year. You will have real choice, not "take what is left."
Two: the exchange rate on hotels and flights is favourable right now for most European origin countries. Book in September for October travel and the numbers work.
What to do this week
If you have Erasmus+ mobility budget for autumn 2026 still unspent, you have a genuine window. Send three enquiries by end of September for an October or early November mobility. The courses catalogue has current dates.
And do not overthink the topic. A slightly imperfect topic match in autumn will produce better outcomes than a perfect topic match in July.