If you have completed a foreign upper secondary education, you can apply for bachelor's studies in Sweden. Your abilities in Swedish and English are important in terms of what courses and programmes you're eligible for.

In order to be eligible for higher education studies in Sweden, you must meet the general and specific entry requirements. This means that you must have completed certain studies in order to qualify.

If you'd like to know what your previous studies are comparable to in Sweden, you can send your qualifications to the Swedish Council for Higher Education (Universitets- och högskolerådet, UHR) to find out if you meet the requirements. However, this is not required for studies at universities in Sweden. You can simply apply and an admissions officer will check that you meet the entry requirements.

Find out more about recognition of foreign qualifications at uhr.se

Check that you have the correct prior knowledge

Regardless of which course or programme you apply for and what study background you have, you must meet the entry requirements in order to compete for a place.

These requirements are divided into general and specific entry requirements. For many courses and programmes, it’s enough to meet the general entry requirements. For others, an applicant must also meet the specific entry requirements.

General entry requirements

If you have a completed upper secondary education that gives you eligibility for studies at the higher education level in the country where you studied, and meet the general requirements for Swedish, English and mathematics, you meet the general entry requirements in Sweden.

Specific entry requirements

These can vary depending on which course or programme you apply for. Which previous courses are required depends on the course or programme’s specialisation. For example, if you apply for a social work programme, you need to have knowledge in the social sciences, while an engineering programme requires deeper knowledge in mathematics.

Read more about entry requirements at Universityadmissions.se

Do I need supplementary upper secondary courses?

If you don’t have grades in the courses that are required, you can take the missing courses at an adult education centre (komvux). Most municipalities offer adult education. 

If you've only taken courses to meet the general entry requirements (certain courses in Swedish, English and mathematics) you’ll be placed in the direct selection group.

However, if you’ve taken other supplementary courses in order to meet a course or programme’s specific entry requirements, you’ll be placed in a specific selection group which includes those who have supplementary courses.  

Read more about adult education

Are there other ways to meet the English or Swedish requirement?

If you wish to study courses and programmes taught in English, you'll need to prove you meet the English language requirement. You can do this through:

  • certain upper secondary courses (depending on the country of study)
  • taking an internationally recognised English test, such as IELTS or TOEFL
  • studying English at Komvux

If you've achieved an excellent level of Swedish and wish to study at university in Swedish, you can demonstrate your abilities through:

  • studying Swedish at Komvux
  • taking the TISUS test (Test in Swedish for University Studies)

Find out about internationally recognised English tests at Universityadmissions.se

Find out more about the TISUS test at Stockholm University's website

Page last updated 2024-03-15