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STUDYING IN SWEDEN

What you need to know about applying to university in Sweden

Thinking of taking a university course in your spare time in Sweden? Applications for the autumn semester open on March 15th, the same day applications for summer courses close. Here's everything you need to know to get started with your application.

Published: 28 September 2020 16:20 CEST
Updated: 15 March 2024 09:03 CET
What you need to know about applying to university in Sweden
What you need to know about where, when and how to apply. Photo: Magnus Liam Karlsson/imagebank.sweden.se

Finding your course

First thing’s first: what do you want to study, and where?

Sweden has dozens of higher education institutions across the country, all offering at least some courses in English, and you can search all the courses on offer here and courses in English here. 

You can apply for more than one course, and you will be asked to rank them when you apply. The order you choose is important, so you should put your top choices first.

Once you begin to receive offers, you will be evaluated in the order that you ranked the courses, and once you’ve reached the limit (meaning you’ve received offers for a course or courses totalling more than 45 credits) your lower ranked choices will be deleted.

Timing

The academic year is split into two semesters in Sweden, spring and autumn, with most undergraduate degrees starting in the autumn (although you can often take individual courses in the spring term, and some degrees start both in autumn and spring – with competition often less fierce for the spring round). Summer courses are also available.

You should check the dates for the specific courses you want to apply to, because individual universities may have their own processes, but the following is a rough guide:

Mid-October to mid-January: first round of applications for the autumn semester 
Mid-March to mid-April: second round of applications for the autumn semester 
June to mid-August: first round of applications for the spring semester 
Mid-September to Mid-October: second round of applications for the spring semester

In 2024, the deadline for the second round of applications for the autumn semester is April 15th. Applications open on March 15th and all the courses will become available on Antagning.se (see the next section) at some point over the course of the day.

The first round is intended mainly for international students and takes place a long time before the start of the semester to give students enough time to sort out their permits – if you are moving to Sweden from outside the EU and don’t already have the right to reside in Sweden (for example if you have EU citizenship or are moving to join a family member) you will need a student permit.

All courses taught in English tend to offer this first round, with only some of them opening for the second round along with all Swedish-taught courses. That means even if you are already living in Sweden or the EU, it makes sense to apply in the first round if you want to study in English, because more options will be available.

Applications

Applying to university is done online in Sweden through the centralised portals UniversityAdmissions.se for courses taught in English and Antagning.se for Swedish language courses. Both are managed by the Swedish Council for Higher Education, the national authority which coordinates higher education.

You can create an account using your Swedish social security number (personnummer) if you have one (which you should if you are already resident in Sweden) or using an email address.

You will need to check the application requirements very carefully, which may include admissions materials, a cover letter, or more. There is no standardised test you need to take to apply to university; Sweden does offer a university test called högskoleprovet or SweSAT which can increase your chance of getting into popular courses, but this is an optional route to university studies and is only available for Swedish speakers, so international students will generally use their grades to apply.

For a Bachelor’s programme, you may need to send in proof of secondary school grades.

For a Master’s, you will need a Bachelor’s degree, and there may be requirements to have completed a certain number of credits or courses in a subject. Make sure you are clear on how your grades and credits are translated into Swedish.

You may be required to send in copies of key documents, and some may need to be stamped, signed or verified in other ways, so start getting your application materials in order as soon as you can. You can tweak your application right up until the deadline, so there is nothing to lose by getting started as soon as possible.

Language requirements

If you are applying for a course in English, you will usually need to prove your linguistic ability through a recognised certificate, such as secondary school or university studies or an international certificate such as IELTS, TOEFL, or a Cambridge/Oxford Certificate.

Alternatively, if you have learned Swedish already you might be looking at courses in the local language. Again, you’ll need proof of your proficiency, which might be in the form of school studies, a university course, or the TISUS qualification.

The latter is a test you can take twice each year if you speak Swedish but don’t have a formal qualification in it, for example if you grew up in a bilingual household or have learned the language as an adult.

Fees and funding

If you are a non-EU student planning to come to Sweden on a student permit, you will be required to pay international student tuition fees as well as an application fee.

There are usually a range of scholarship opportunities available, and applications usually open shortly after the general university admissions close.

For most other students, tuition is free, including for EU citizens and people who already have a residence permit for Sweden for a reason other than studies. You will need to provide some form of evidence of either your EU citizenship (such as a passport) or residence status.

What next?

If you get accepted, you will need to confirm your place. 

After that, non-EU students who don’t already live in Sweden will need to apply for a student permit through the Swedish Migration Agency. Then the fun part begins: planning your Swedish student experience.

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READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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