You have found a programme. What happens now?
This page goes through the whole way, from finding something you want to study to getting a decision. Four routes lead to education, and they work differently. Read the one that applies to you.
We keep the Swedish names as they are. Those are the words you will meet on websites and in adverts, and the words you need to be able to say to your caseworker.
Start here. Several of these things take time, and if you discover them in the final week you will not make it.
You apply using BankID or Freja+. If you have neither: you get BankID through your bank, and Freja+ is free of charge and state-approved.
If you have no e-identification there is still a way, but it takes time — count on a couple of weeks. Start with that, not with the application.
If you have no Swedish personal identity number you must first get a temporary number from the municipality. If you have protected personal data (skyddade personuppgifter) you should not apply online at all. In both cases: get in touch with adult education in your municipality.
Search for the name of the municipality plus "vuxenutbildning" and you will find the right place.
Get your grades together as well. You must attach grades for everything you have studied before that is relevant to the application.
Do not know where your old grades are? There is no national service where you fetch them yourself. Old upper secondary grades are held in the municipal archive in the municipality where the school was — not where you live now. There is also a trick for seeing which grades are registered in your name without ordering anything.
Get your grades and any employment certificates together. You need an upper secondary diploma or equivalent knowledge.
If you have work experience but no papers to prove it, validering (validation of skills) or reell kompetens (assessed prior learning) may be the way.
Most courses are aimed at people who have turned 18. What else is required differs between courses.
You must be registered with Arbetsförmedlingen. You are, if you take part in one of their programmes, for example Rusta och matcha or Steg till arbete.
In addition at least one of these must be true: you have turned 25, you are under 25 and have a disability that affects your capacity to work, or you are over 18 and are assessed as being far from the labour market.
If you are unsure whether you meet any of them — ask your caseworker.
You are eligible from 1 July of the year you turn 20, if you live in Sweden and do not already have the knowledge the programme gives. If you are younger you can still be eligible, provided you have completed an upper secondary programme.
Some programmes require prior knowledge on top of that. It is stated on the programme.
If more people apply than there are places, the place goes to whoever has the greatest need. Someone without an upper secondary diploma, and someone who is unemployed or at risk of becoming unemployed, stand high in that order.
If you lack grades there are ways around it — read about validation and assessed prior learning.
The basis is an upper secondary diploma or equivalent knowledge. Many programmes also require specific prior knowledge, often certain upper secondary courses. It is stated on the programme.
If you lack formal grades you can still become eligible if you can show that you have the knowledge in another way. It is the school that assesses that.
Requirements vary between courses. They may concern previous studies or work experience. It is stated on the course.
The folkhögskolor are independent and decide on admission themselves. There is no joint application system.
Here it works differently. Your grades are not the gate, and you do not apply to the school — it is Arbetsförmedlingen that decides whether you get to go.
They make an assessment of your need, your experience and what the labour market needs. So you can be considered without grades, and you can be refused even though you have them.
How long the programme is and whether it is full time is stated in the register. How you manage financially is on the page about CSN and money. Consider also whether you can get to the town every day.
Check the length, the study pace and whether work placement is included. Check also how you manage financially.
Ask the school what the course costs. Schools charge differently for materials, food and accommodation.
Ask your caseworker and Arbetsförmedlingen first whether you are being considered for the programme at all. That answer costs one phone call, and if it is no you do not need to spend time on the rest.
If you are being considered, you are to make a study visit to the provider before a decision is made. You register your interest in the visit.
There you find out what the occupation and the programme are actually like. It is your chance to discover in time that it was not what you thought.
Komvux is run by the municipalities. Where you apply depends on which municipality the programme is in.
Many municipalities cooperate in groups where you apply freely to each other without your home municipality having to approve first. What those groups look like differs between regions and changes over time — this page does not list them.
Ask your caseworker what applies where you live, or check with adult education in your municipality. They are the ones who know, and the ones who make the decision.
You attach grades for all previous education that is relevant to the application. Sometimes a study plan, a certificate or a covering letter is also needed. If you apply for several things you rank them in the order you would most like them.
The closing date is stated for each programme in the register.
You apply directly to each programme, with whoever runs it. If you apply to three programmes you make three applications.
The closing date differs between programmes and is stated for each one in the register.
You apply directly to the school and the course. If you apply to several schools you make several applications.
There is no joint closing date. Some courses have one, others admit on a rolling basis.
After the study visit you get in touch with Arbetsförmedlingen again. They then make their assessment and take a decision.
After the application period has closed there is usually a final day for completing your application. Use it if something is missing.
You get the decision from the municipality that runs the programme. There you also see whether you have been admitted or are on the reserve list. If you are admitted you must accept or decline.
How long it takes varies. Ask your caseworker what is normal.
The school makes the selection and gives the decision. If there are more eligible applicants than places, your chances of completing the programme are taken into account.
How the selection is made differs between programmes — grades, a test or an interview. It is stated on the programme.
The school makes a selection and gives the decision.
Arbetsförmedlingen takes the decision.
If they say yes, you apply for benefits yourself at Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency). It does not come automatically.
If the programme is in another town you can also apply for a grant towards travel and accommodation.