Doncaster College is situated in an ESF Objective 1 area with decreasing job opportunities, higher than average levels of unemployment, low migration rates, lower than national average scores at GCSE and poor progression to higher level qualifications. Official Labour Market Statistics show that Doncaster has an unemployment rate of 9.8%, compared with 8.5% within the region and 6.8% national average; 22.9% of the population has qualifications at NVQ level 4 and above, compared with 30.0% within the region and 35.2% of the national average. Additionally, the average weekly salary in Doncaster is £482.80, whilst nationally this figure is £520.80. (www.nomisweb.co.uk) This has resulted in a young generation that suffers from low self-confidence, little motivation, poverty of experience, limited knowledge of the job market and lack of experience of other cultures. Many of our students have had no experience of foreign travel and often have little experience of travel even around the UK.. For this reason, the duration of a 2-week work placement has been selected to provide a “bite-sized” period of experience of other cultures. From previous experience, we know that these projects will undoubtedly provide students with increased self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as broadened horizons and greater intercultural skills; participants will learn the importance of the transferability of skills, which further enhances their chances of employment.Within this context and background, the objective of the the TRADES 5 project is to continue the work of previous mobility projects of broadening the horizons of parochially minded young people whilst improving their employability. We seek to achieve this through students gaining new knowledge, skills and competences, as well as building self-confidence and raising aspirations through the opportunity of living and working in another country. Participation in the mobility project will add value to the students' training programme, by embedding an overseas work placement into the curriculum and will also impact positively on retention and achievement rates at the college through increased motivation, self-confidence and self-esteem. Furthermore, the experience abroad will give the students a unique selling point when they enter the job market, particularly if the job is in the Doncaster area, where such global skills are a rarity. The college delivers its mainstream provision via 3 work streams: preparation for work, progression in work, and returning to work. This project will assist those students who have yet to enter the job market as well as those who are looking to progress. This proposed mobility project will offer the students another avenue through which to achieve this goal. This mobility project provides an invaluable opportunity for the young people to start to build international contacts and gain a greater awareness of the world around them. Over the two-year project period, we will send 24 students to Linköping, Sweden in the areas of Childcare, Construction, and Animal Care and 8 Catering students to Gijon, Spain. Additionally, 16 accompanying people will join the students. Students will undertake a 2-week work placement in an external company within their chosen vocational field. They will work alongside members of staff from the host country, participating in all normal day-to-day activities of the company. Their progress will be monitored and recorded by the accompanying staff member and a designated member of staff at the host company. Students will also self-assess themselves at specific intervals throughout the mobility via evaluation forms in the Student Logbook, such they will be able to clearly see their own progress, in their own words. Cultural activities will take place outside of working hours. We envisage significant professional and personal impacts on the participants. This project aims to give students a more holistic understanding of their chosen vocation, and thereby equally increasing their global employability skills. Moreover, students will gain new skills and knowledge that would not be feasible form the UK due to differences/limitations in resources and regulations; this will be key for their future employability. The long-term benefits of TRADES 5 are expected to have an impact both on an organisational and participant level. From an organisation standpoint it will increase our European profile, thus leading to new collaborations within Europe and beyond to further enhance our international provision. From a participant level, as we have previously seen in past participants, the long-term benefits of even a two-week mobility are immense; the students gain insight into their own capabilities as professional members of the global workforce, and grow on a personal level that is not possible whilst only remaining in their home country. We aim for this project to, quite literally, change the participants' lives.