"Background Success in higher education is vital for jobs, social justice and economic growth and therefore highly qualified professionals are indispensable for each society. As one of its headline targets, the European Union proposes to lead at least 40% of the younger generation to a third level education. Additionally, it claims to reduce the number of dropouts in higher education. Despite various efforts in recent years, the reality in most European countries is a different one. Still too many students in the EU drop out before they complete their higher education degree. Dropping out can be a positive decision when students realise that the time, place or degree is not right for them. However, even though most of those who drop out from an initial course of study want to transfer to another course or to return to study at a later date, currently most countries do not help them sufficiently with flexible arrangements. Students, who leave university without a degree, are usually well-trained persons. However, their potential for the labour market is still underestimated and not used adequately.In order to tackle the problem of early dropout in higher education throughout the European Union, experts amongst others proposed the development of an ""early warning systems"" in order to identify persons at risk. It is also proposed to offer counselling and personal support to students at risk as early as possible in order to be able to offer them adequate assistance.Objectives and target groupsBeing located both at the sectors “Higher Education” and “Vocational Education and Training” of the Erasmus+ Programme, the PrevDrop project targets the situation outlined above. The project targeted two groups of students that face dropout risks: a) students for whom a successful continuation of their studies appears to be probable and b) students for whom a successful continuation of their studies is highly improbable. PrevDrop equipped student counsellors at Universities, careers counsellors at employment agencies as well as students themselves with tools, knowledge and resources that help to detect dropout risks and to provide or find adequate support. Outcomes and productsThe main outcomes of the PrevDrop project included:National and transnational reports that provide an overview about the latest state of research on student drop out from Higher Education in the partner countries as well as the target groups’ needs. A Student Self-Reflection Tool (SRT) that helps students as well as student advisers to detect dropout risk. The SRT comprises four modules (“My studies and I”, “My university and I”, “Don’t worry”, “My feedback”) that include the following scales: Self efficacy, motivation to study, study expectations and satisfaction, University conditions and support, social and methodological competence, coping skills and problem solving Scale selection, development and adaption. A training manual that consists of four modules:- Module 1: Understanding and Preventing Drop out from Higher Education- Module 2: The PrevDrop self-assessment-tool- Module 3: Counselling concepts- Module 4: The successful integration of students who dropped out from higher education into VETA comprehensive resource package for student advisors as well as multipliers that includes e-books, sets of PowerPoint slides for each module and trainer guides that are available at the learning platform section of the PrevDrop web portal. Face-to-face training courses that aimed at implementing the PrevDrop concept and resources and that promoted the networking of student advisors from Universities and employment agencies. The PrevDrop web portal that is the gateway through which the project’s target groups can access the project’s main outputs: The Student Self-Reflection Tool, the learning platform that includes the resource packages for student advisors and multipliers and the project web site. All products are available in English, German and Italian.ImpactAmongst others the PrevDrop project promoted the networking between student counsellors at universities, counsellors at employment agencies and counsellors at other country-specific institutions regarding (potential) dropouts. For other institutions and the labour market there is a greater availability of usually well-trained persons. Companies will profit by getting the opportunity to recruit staff earlier. To sum up, the key factors for the support of students at drop out risks are the early detection of these risks, low-threshold counselling offers and networking. The PrevDrop partnersPrevDrop has been a cooperation of partners from five countries: the University of Applied Labour Studies of the Federal Employment Agency of Germany (coordinator), the Universities of Plymouth (United Kingdom) and Macerata (Italy), Applied Vocational Psychology and Policy (AVOPP) (Luxembourg), ZAB Consult GmbH, the Nürtingen-Geislingen University (both Germany) and Infoart (Bulgaria)"

In spite of Brexit, English remains the dominant language in Europe, as 2 out of 3 people have at least a fair working knowledge of the language. Nonetheless, difficulties in different areas of language acquisition and use remain widespread. For many, if not most, learners of English, speaking in public may be the biggest fear. However, for many others, reading, writing, listening, memory retention, or learning itself is just as challenging. To help learners with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) master the specific skills that they need, our consortium of 7 partners has developed 7 self-help learning modules as Open Educational Resources (OERs). They cover the domains of public speaking, interpersonal communication, intercultural motivation, writing, memory and vocabulary acquisition, learning in general as well as reading and listening. Each self-study module is an individual course and learners may complete as many modules as they see fit. To help learners identify which modules are most suitable for them we have also developed a self-assessment tool. The modules contain strategies, tools and techniques that learners can implement right away to improve their skills and overall competence. While the materials are designed for self-study, they can also be used as supplementary materials by language teachers or facilitators. The materials are rich in multimedia and we have also included videos. The materials contain hundreds of animations and cartoons to visualize the text, provide context and engage learners. Furthermore, the materials can be also be printed or downloaded for offline use.

According to the EADA survey (INE-2013)the population with low qualification in Spain (ISED 0-2) represents the 45% of total population between 15-64 years, whereas the EU-27 average reaches to 27% of this collective. However there are serious differences between countries. Countries as Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic or UK obtain percentages under the European average (from 7% to 17%). The difference are even higher if we analyze these data considering the age groups, the different are higher, reaching in the case of Spain and Portugal to 80 - 90% of people over 65 years. EU average is about 45% of this group and countries as Finland, Sweden or Switzerland fall to 30% (EUROSTAT - Education survey 2013).Several research papers show that there are some key elements of the knowledge society - i.e. development of basic skills for life, participation in adult learning, blighting against the unemployment and social inclusion (among others) - are directly related to population level of qualification. The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC - OCDE 2013), carried out in 2011-12 across 17 European countries, found that one in five adults has only the most basic level of literacy and a quarter has only the basic level of numeracy. Countries such as the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden perform much better than average on adult basic skills, whereas other countries, such as Spain and Italy, have a concentration of adults with a low level of basic skills. Nearly half (43%) of adults only have a basic level of technology- proficiency and a significant minority (13%) either lacked any computer experience or had such low levels of proficiency that they could not be tested.COGNOS project aims to contribute to the EU2020 strategy, improving the improve the level of key competences and skills, with particular regard to their relevance for the labour market and their contribution to a cohesive society through the development of basic skills (specially literacy and digital skills) in adult education and contributing to reduce the low skilled adults who are in in risk of social exclusion. For that, we will develop a open, flexible and innovative learning pathway on literacy and digital competences, based on intergenerational learning communities, in which youngers will be adults’ trainers.Promoted by Fundación Juan de los Toyos, COGNOS project will be developed by an European consortia, formed by partners from 5 different countries: Spain; Bulgaria, Portugal, Sweden and UK. Intended to respond the strategic approach of the partnership, each institution offer different background and expertise area to the project: Civil society institutions that promote learning activities to improve basic skills, learning community with experience in the use of intergenerational mentoring methodologies, institutions with a wider experience in the promotion of adult learning, consultancy with experience in development training pathways and methodologies and expertise on social research.Through project implementation we will obtain three main intellectual outputs:IO3. COGNOS Trainers’ handbookIO4. COGNOS Guide for Intergenerational Trainers IO5. Learners’ COGNOS guide. What and how learn.The project main outputs will be addressed to the collective that works in adult education as: Facilitators, literacy tutors and basic education teachers/trainers, Adults education professionals, Volunteers, Educators, Social workers, Psychologists, career counselors and pedagogics, Instructors. Besides it will impact on the direct beneficiaries adults with low basic competences on literacy and ICT.At the end, the project will impact on training structures - Improving the learning environment for adults;- Providing a new methodology to train adults on basic skills;- Creating a critical mass about the development of basic skills and new learning methodologies.The project will have a total duration of 24 month, starting in September 2014 and ending on August 2016.