What is Socrates?

Socrates is the European Union programme in the field of education. As with other EU programmes, it has also been open to candidate countries. Its main objective is to build up a "Europe of knowledge" and thus provide a better response to the major challenges of the new century. It promotes collaboration between European schools, higher education institutions and other educational or training institutions through several "actions", all of which are aimed at a different audience.

One of the actions, Erasmus, seeks to enhance the quality and reinforce the European dimension of higher education. It does this by encouraging transnational cooperation between higher education institutions, promoting mobility for students and higher education teaching staff, and improving transparency and academic recognition of studies and qualifications throughout all EU member states and other participating countries.

Comenius provides opportunities for schools and colleges looking to introduce or strengthen the European dimension in their curriculum. It encourages transnational cooperation between schools, promoting the learning of languages and intercultural awareness and contributing to the professional development of staff.

The Grundtvig action programme is aimed at enhancing the European dimension of adult education and lifelong learning. It supports a wide range of activities designed to promote innovation and the improved availability, accessibility and quality of educational provision for adults, by means of European cooperation.

The Lingua action addresses all levels and sectors of education, with an emphasis on school education, initial and in-services training of language teachers, adult education and the development of curricula and language-teaching and assessment instruments for all educational sectors.

The Minerva Action aims to promote European collaboration in the fields of open and distance learning and information and communication technology in education.