Understanding the Erasmus Learning Agreement and How to Change It
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 03, 2026 • Study Abroad, Study in Europe, Erasmus & Exchange
The Erasmus learning agreement lists the courses you take abroad and locks in credit recognition at your home university. Request changes within 5 weeks of starting at your host university, with sign off from you, your home coordinator, and your host coordinator.
🎓 Three sections: before mobility, during mobility, after mobility
📩 Submit changes through the same Erasmus+ app or OLA platform you used originally
⏱️ 5 weeks to request changes, 2 weeks for all parties to approve them
Unapproved course swaps risk losing automatic credit recognition when you return
What the Learning Agreement Is
The learning agreement is the document that lists the courses you take during your Erasmus+ exchange and guarantees your home university recognizes the credits you earn abroad. It splits into three parts: before mobility, during mobility, and after mobility. You complete the before mobility section using the Erasmus+ app or your university's Online Learning Agreement (OLA) platform, and sign it before you leave, following the European Commission's official guidelines .
Who Signs It
Three parties approve the agreement digitally: you, your home university's coordinator, and your host university's coordinator. All three signatures need to be in place before your mobility period starts. Without them, your host university refuses your course registration in some cases, and your home university has no obligation to count the credits toward your degree.
Before Mobility, During Mobility, After Mobility
The before mobility table lists the courses you plan to take abroad, matched against equivalent courses at home. Once you arrive, course cancellations, timetable clashes, or full classes often force changes. The during mobility table exists for this. It does not replace the original table, it records the swap alongside it, so both versions stay on file. The after mobility section confirms the credits and grades you actually earned.
Reading the Table Structure
The learning agreement uses lettered tables. Table A lists the courses you take at your host university, Table B shows how those courses map onto your home program, and further tables cover language and, where they apply, virtual components. When you request a change, the same tables reappear with a "2" suffix, A2, B2, C2, so your original plan and your update stay on file side by side rather than one overwriting the other.
Common Reasons Students Change Their Agreement
A course listed in the catalogue gets cancelled or merged with another class.
Two chosen courses clash on the timetable.
A course fills up before you register.
The syllabus does not match your degree requirements once you read it in full.
The host university offers a course closer to your interests that was not listed when you built your original agreement.
Traineeship Agreements Work Differently
If your Erasmus+ mobility is a work placement rather than study, you use a separate traineeship learning agreement template, not the studies version described here. The signing parties and general recognition principle are similar, but the change process and the document layout differ, so check with your international office which template applies to your specific mobility type.
How to Change Your Learning Agreement
You have five weeks from the start of your semester at the host university to request changes, per the same official guidelines . The steps:
Log back into the OLA platform or Erasmus+ app you used for the original agreement.
Open the "Changes to Learning Agreement During Mobility" section.
List the courses you drop and the ones replacing them.
Submit the request to your home and host coordinators for approval.
All parties respond within two weeks of your request, according to the guidelines. Follow up by email if you do not hear back quickly, since the five-week window closes fast once the semester is running.
What Happens If Changes Go Unapproved
Your original before mobility table stays the version on record unless a change goes through the same three way sign off. Automatic recognition applies only to courses agreed in the learning agreement and confirmed by your transcript of records, so a course swap made without approval risks rejection when you return home. You then negotiate recognition case by case with your home university, or repeat the course.
Effect on Your Erasmus+ Grant
Your grant depends on completing your mobility period and the study programme agreed with your institutions, not on the exact courses in your original table. Changing courses through the proper during mobility process does not put your grant at risk. Skipping the process, or dropping enough credits to fall under the minimum workload your programme requires, creates problems with both recognition and funding.
Practical Tips
🎓 Check the host university's course catalogue before you leave to lower the chance you need changes at all.
📩 Email your home coordinator the moment a course clashes, do not wait until week four of five.
⏱️ Keep a signed PDF copy of every version of your agreement, before and after changes.
Confirm a replacement course has open spots with your host coordinator before adding it to your change request.
Quick Answers
Adding a course after the five-week window needs a documented exception from both coordinators, usually for illness or a university-caused timetable error.
Your grant instalments follow your mobility dates, not your course list, so a change to your agreement does not affect payment timing.
If your host coordinator stops responding, copy your home coordinator on every email and ask your home international office to escalate on your behalf.