Participants of International Sessions of the EYP come from over thirty European countries – member states of the EU as well as members of the Council of Europe, such as Turkey, Russia or Norway. There are many stages and phases of involvement for both teachers and students. Essentially the EYP is a schools programme and there are many ongoing opportunities for both teachers and students to contribute to the organisation, academic progress and ethos of EYP.

The EYP reflects the diversity in Europe, thus the functioning is not uniform in all National Committees. In some countries, students take more responsibility for the running of the EYP and teachers are enablers and overseers rather than organisers. The selection procedures, and thus access, to international sessions also vary considerably. For example, in several countries national and regional sessions very much follow the same format of an international session though they are shorter.