Behörighet (eligibility) means that you meet the requirements for starting a programme.
The requirements differ a great deal between the different kinds of education. That is why the same person can be eligible for one programme and not for another, even though both lead to the same occupation.
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.
Komvux and folkhögskola have low formal requirements. They exist to build the foundation — you do not need upper secondary school to start there. The folkhögskola looks at you individually and asks to see what you have.
Yrkeshögskola requires the most. It comes after upper secondary school, so you need an upper secondary diploma or equivalent knowledge. Many programmes also require specific prior knowledge — certain upper secondary courses, work experience, a driving licence or a work sample. It is stated on each programme's own page.
Arbetsmarknadsutbildning works differently. There it is not grades that decide, but Arbetsförmedlingen's assessment of your situation. You can be eligible without upper secondary school — but you can also be refused even though you have it, if the programme is not judged to suit your situation.
Ask on the programme's own page. There you will almost always find contact details for a study and careers adviser (studie- och yrkesvägledare), or for the school. Send an email and describe what you have studied and worked with — they will answer whether you are eligible.
It is quicker than guessing, and it costs nothing.
You can also ask your caseworker. If you are unsure what to write in the email, do it together.
If you have worked in an occupation without having grades for it, there is validering (validation of skills). It means that someone assesses what you actually know, and you get a paper to prove it.
There is no single place where all validation happens. There are three routes:
For yrkeshögskola there is in addition something called reell kompetens (assessed prior learning). The school then assesses your experience instead of your grades. You apply as usual, tick that you want to be assessed on prior learning, and attach employment certificates. It is the school that decides — so ask that particular school.
Yrkeshögskola may also admit a small number of applicants who lack formal eligibility but have the right experience. It is worth applying even if you are unsure.
Universitets- och högskolerådet (UHR), the Swedish Council for Higher Education, assesses education from other countries and issues a statement of what it corresponds to in Sweden. It costs nothing.
Apply for an assessment from UHR
UHR assesses completed upper secondary education and post-secondary education. They do not assess unfinished education or education shorter than one year. For healthcare occupations the assessment goes through Socialstyrelsen, and for teachers through Skolverket.
Here is something many people come unstuck on: there is no national service where you fetch your grades. You cannot log in somewhere with BankID and download them.
The grades stay with the school for the first few years, and after that in the municipal archive — in the municipality where the school was, not where you live now. That applies even if the school was independent or has closed down.
Most municipalities have an e-service where you order a copy. Search for the name of the municipality plus "beställa betyg". If you find no e-service you can email or ring the municipal archive.
If you attended a school run by the region — a healthcare or agricultural school, for example — the grades are in the regional archive instead.
There is a way to see which grades are registered in your name, without ordering anything from an archive.
Make an application at antagning.se. A couple of days later your grades are fetched automatically to Mina sidor, and there you can read them.
Applying costs nothing, and you decide yourself whether to accept a place you are offered. But creating an account is not enough — the grades are only fetched once you have applied to at least one programme.
Your benefits are not affected by applying. You are not deregistered from Arbetsförmedlingen until you have actually started studying. You report your activity and income every month as usual.
When can you apply?
After the closing date it is often still possible to make a late application to programmes that have an "Add" button.
Which grades are fetched?
If your grades are older than that they are not fetched. Then the municipal archive is the way — see above.
This you have to upload yourself, even if you have made an application:
Yrkeshögskola has an application system of its own, yh-antagning.se, separate from antagning.se. Many schools use it, but you still apply to each programme separately.
There your grades can be fetched automatically from the national grade database (Nationella betygsdatabasen) when you identify yourself with BankID. When it works it is convenient — but there are two holes in it:
So you may need to send the grades in yourself — to some of the programmes you apply to, or to all of them. Responsibility for the application being complete always rests with you, not with the school.
How to check: log in and look under your application documents. If the grades have been fetched they show there. If they do not show, upload them yourself. Do that check before the closing date — not after.
Ahmed has never taken a chef's course, but he has cooked professionally since he was nineteen.
He starts with validation — through Arbetsförmedlingen or through adult education in the municipality. If the validation shows what he already knows, he may only need to take a few courses rather than a whole programme.
Without validation he would have had to start from the beginning.
Sanna has upper secondary school but lacks a pass in two courses, and the programme she wants requires one of them.
She has two routes: take those courses at komvux, or email the school and ask about assessed prior learning based on her work experience. Many people do the first without asking about the second.
She applies anyway — and she emails the school first.
Peter went to upper secondary school in Landskrona in the nineties and lives in Kävlinge today.
He should contact Landskrona, not Kävlinge — the grades are in the archive where the school was. That the school has since changed its name or closed makes no difference; the municipal archive has them anyway.
Do not guess, and do not let uncertainty stop you from applying. Email the school and ask, or take it up with your caseworker. It takes ten minutes and you get a real answer.