The British Council and Ecorys ran an exciting competition for participants of the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) and Youth in Action from across the UK. Taking part in one of these programmes helps to broaden your horizons - to discover new cultures, learn new skills and make new friends. We asked participants of the Erasmus programme to tell us their story through the media of word, photography or film. We received hundreds of entries and below we have listed the winners and those who were pipped to the post.

Student Essay Winners

First Place- Ben Charig, University of York
Second Place - Lucy Hofford, University of Leeds
Third Place - Emma Smith, Glasgow Caledonian University

Special mention should also be given to these students who made it through to the final top ten:

Szymon Parzniewski - Swansea University
Julia Patterson - University of Aberdeen
Russell Donaldson - Queen's University Belfast
Brittany Ani Deal - Heriot-Watt University
Cathy Watts - University of Warwick
David Lewis - Swansea University
Eleanor Regin - University of Warwick

Student Photography Winners

First Place - Sarabjit Kaur, University of Westminster
Second Place - Holly Sanders, Bournemouth University
Third Place - Kamil Stranz, Glasgow Caledonian University

Special mention should also be given to these students who made it through to the final top ten in our student photography category:

Rebecca Smith - University of Manchester
K Isherwood - University of Edinburgh
Lucy Aaronson - Leeds Metropolitan University
Chioma Cureton - University for the Creative Arts
Natalie Warren - University of Nottingham
Anna Lucas - Durham University
Tahra Yien - University of Edinburgh

Many of the photos can be seen on the British Council flikr page.

Student Film Winners

First Place - Amie Harkins, Robert Gordon University
Second Place - Marie-Claire Boyle, Glasgow University
Third Place - Eleanor Hac University of East Anglia

You can watch these films on our Lifelong Learning Programme competition website

Staff Essay Winner and Photography Winner

Winner - Donna Carroll - University of Warwick

Special mention also goes to these staff members who made it through to the top six in the staff essay category:

Emma Woods - University of Westminster
Sue Norton - University of Salford
Michelle Millar - Bradford College
Simon Thompson - Bournemouth University
John Donaghy - University of Hertfordshire

Special mention in our staff photography category also goes to:

Barbara Sakarya - Institute of Education
Sam Moorwood - Sheffield Hallam University

The winning essays, photos and films from across the whole competition are posted on our joint Lifelong Learning Programme competition website.