Validering — get proof of what you can do

The most important points in brief

• Validering means that your knowledge is assessed, no matter where you learned it. The result is an intyg or, through a prövning (a test for a grade), a betyg.
• There is no single door. The route you take depends on what you want to use the document for: a job, komvux, yrkeshögskola (higher vocational education) or a protected professional title.
• The rules are national, but in practice it is your hemkommun (the municipality where you are registered as living) that offers them. That is why it looks different from one municipality to the next.
• At komvux, everyone who is thinking about studying has the right to an initial assessment (kartläggning) of their knowledge (20 kap. 8 § skollagen). You then do the validering itself as an admitted student.
• You do not get a betyg automatically from a validering. A betyg is given through a prövning.
• Start with the studie- och yrkesvägledare (SYV, the study and career adviser) in your hemkommun — but with your documents ready. That saves time for both you and the adviser.

Find your municipality

Start here if you want to know who to contact. Choose your county (län) and you get a page with all the municipalities in the county: a link to the municipality's own guidance for adults, a phone number or email, and a mark showing whether the municipality writes about validering itself. There you will also find examples from the municipalities and a PDF you can print or pass on.

National or local? How it is divided

What you are looking for is with your hemkommun, not with the region.

Step 1. Decide what you want to use the document for

The validering should lead somewhere. Answer just one question: What do I want to be able to do when I have the document?

• Get a job in a profession where the employer wants to see an intyg.
• Study further or shorten a vocational programme at komvux, so that you do not have to take courses you already know.
• Apply to yrkeshögskola without complete betyg.
• Get a protected professional title, for example undersköterska (assistant nurse).
• Have your foreign education assessed.

The answer decides which route you take in Step 3. If you do not know yet, that is a good first conversation for the adviser: that is exactly what the initial assessment is for.

Handledare, tänk på (Job coach, keep in mind): Ask the participant to say the goal in their own words, in one sentence. If they cannot yet, then Step 1 is what you are working on, not Step 4.

Step 2. Am I ready? Gather your documents

Study and career advisers often have only one hour of phone time a day. If you come with your documents ready, the meeting goes to what matters. If you come without them, the first conversation becomes a stocktaking, and you have to come back.

Go through the list:

• I know which profession or which courses I want a document for (Step 1).
• I have filled in the kompetensöversikt (competence overview) (one sheet, download as a PDF): workplaces, periods, tasks.
• I have an arbetsgivarintyg (employer's certificate) or employment contract from my most recent employers, or I know who I can ask.
• I have all the betyg, intyg and certificates I already have, even old and foreign ones.
• If I have foreign certificates, I know they may need to be assessed by UHR first (Step 3).
• I have someone at a workplace who can confirm what I do, a manager or a colleague.
• I am registered as living (folkbokförd) in the municipality I am contacting and can show ID.
• I can describe in three sentences what I have done and for how long.
• I know that many valideringar require that I know Swedish at roughly a basic level. I will ask the adviser how this applies to my profession.

Rule of thumb: if you are missing any of the first three points, you are not ready yet. Take it up with your handledare first. This is normal and often goes quickly.

Handledare, tänk på (Job coach, keep in mind): Go through the list together with the participant before they contact the adviser. Then the conversation can start with the actual question instead of with collecting documents. The kompetensöversikt and the email in Step 4 can be written together.

Step 3. Choose a route

About Arbetsförmedlingen: this route is for you if you are registered with them. You must also, for example, be 25 years old or have a disability, or have foreign certificates that are not recognised, or skills you gained in your free time or as a volunteer. The conditions are on their page. Arbetsförmedlingen's search tool showed only five occupational areas in oktober 2026, so check there whether yours is included.

About komvux: you cannot get a validering "just like that". Validering is done for people who are students at komvux and need it for their study plan. That is why Steps 4 and 5 are important.

Handledare, tänk på (Job coach, keep in mind): The question to ask is "what will the document be used for?". The answer picks the row in the table. A participant who is registered with Arbetsförmedlingen should always talk to their caseworker first.

Step 4. Contact the study and career adviser in your hemkommun

This is the first real contact for the komvux route. Every municipality has study and career guidance for adults. Choose your county in the Find your municipality box at the top of the page, and you get links and contact details for your municipality.

Ask for an initial assessment (inledande kartläggning). You have the right to it if you are considering studying at komvux. It is a good idea to email first, attach the kompetensöversikt, and book a time. Here is an email you can copy and change.

Translation of the email, for understanding only (the Swedish version below is the one to send):

Hello!

>

I live in [municipality] and am considering studying at komvux. I have worked as a [profession] for [number] years but have no betyg or intyg for it. I would like an initial assessment of my knowledge under 20 kap. 8 § skollagen, and to hear whether validering could be relevant for me.

>

I have gathered my documents and attach a kompetensöversikt with my workplaces, periods and tasks. I can show employer's certificates and betyg at the meeting.

>

My goal is: [briefly, what you want, for example to work as X or to study Y].

>

Can I book a time? I can also come to your drop-in.

>

Kind regards [Name] [Phone]

Send the Swedish version:

Hej!

Jag bor i [kommun] och överväger att studera på komvux. Jag har arbetat som [yrke] i [antal] år men saknar betyg och intyg på det. Jag vill gärna ha en inledande kartläggning av mina kunskaper enligt 20 kap. 8 § skollagen, och höra om validering kan vara aktuellt för mig.

Jag har samlat mitt underlag och bifogar en kompetensöversikt med mina arbetsplatser, perioder och arbetsuppgifter. Jag kan visa arbetsgivarintyg och betyg vid mötet.

Mitt mål är: [kort om vad du vill, till exempel jobba som X eller läsa Y].

Kan jag boka en tid? Jag kan också komma på er drop-in.

Vänliga hälsningar
[Namn]
[Telefon]

Good to know:

• Phone times are often short. Email or booking on the municipality's website usually works better.
• You need to be registered as living in the municipality to get the guidance.
• Some municipalities state validering and kartläggning explicitly on their pages. In the county lists they are marked with ✓. Others do not state it, but the right applies anyway. Ask.

Step 5. In-depth assessment and evaluation

After the first conversation, the adviser and you make a study plan. If it turns out that validering is relevant, you are admitted as a student and the validering is done in two parts:

1. In-depth assessment (fördjupad kartläggning). You tell and show what you can do, often together with a teacher in the profession. 2. Evaluation (bedömning). Your knowledge is tested in practice, at a workplace or in a school setting, and sometimes with a theory test.

How long it takes and how the evaluation is done differ between municipalities and professions. Some examples from the municipalities' own pages are on the page for your county. You find it in the Find your municipality box at the top.

Ask the adviser and CSN what your finances look like while you study. The CSN page explains the basics.

Step 6. The result: intyg or betyg

After the evaluation you get an intyg of what you can do, issued by the rektor (head of school). You can use it with employers, and it can shorten the rest of your education.

You do not get a betyg automatically. A betyg is given through a prövning, where your knowledge is tested against the course's grading criteria. In several municipalities a prövning costs 500 kr, but it is free if you have the grade F in the course. Check with your municipality.

If the result is that you can do everything the course requires, you may be able to skip the course completely. If you can do parts of it, you study the rest.

Step 7. Use the document

• Put the intyg in your CV under education and skills.
• Mention it in the cover letter. An employer who sees the intyg does not need to ask whether you can do it.
• If you need more courses: Applying and Eligibility.
• If you want to study further: CSN explains the money.
• Keep the intyg digitally and on paper. Ask the school how to get a new copy.

Four examples (made-up people)

Amir, a cook without betyg. Amir has worked eight years in kitchens but has never taken a restaurant course. His goal is to get a document that shows what he can do. He fills in the kompetensöversikt together with his handledare, sends the email in Step 4 and gets an initial assessment. The adviser suggests validering in restaurant work. After the practical evaluation Amir gets an intyg and only has to study two courses, not the whole programme.

Sara, a care assistant with long experience. Sara has worked in home care for twelve years and wants to be able to call herself an undersköterska. She starts with Socialstyrelsen's page on the protected professional title, where the conditions are stated, and then brings employer's certificates to the adviser. Her documents are already ready, so the first meeting is about how she goes on, not about what she needs to collect.

Elena, foreign education. Elena has an education from another country. She first applies to UHR, which is free and can take several months. While she waits, she gathers her documents. When the statement arrives she takes it to the adviser, who can see what the education corresponds to and what is missing.

Kim, who just wants a document. Kim has worked in a warehouse for ten years and wants a betyg without studying. At komvux this is not possible: validering is done for students, and betyg are given through prövning. Kim and the handledare go back to Steps 1 and 3. If Kim is registered with Arbetsförmedlingen, Kim asks the caseworker. Otherwise they find out whether the industry has its own model, or whether Kim can take a prövning in a single course.

Checklist to print

For the participant

• My goal for the document is clear in one sentence.
• The kompetensöversikt is filled in.
• I have arbetsgivarintyg, or I know who to ask.
• Betyg, intyg and certificates are gathered.
• Foreign certificates have been sent to UHR if needed.
• I have sent the email to my hemkommun's adviser.
• I have booked a time or I know the drop-in time.
• I have my ID with me.

For the handledare

• We have gone through "Am I ready?" together.
• The participant has formulated the goal themselves.
• We have chosen a route in Step 3 (komvux, Arbetsförmedlingen, industry, YH, UHR).
• The email was sent by the participant, not by me.
• I have noted the time and place of the meeting.
• After the meeting I ask what the next step became.

Links

• Skolverket: validering och kartläggning inom komvux
• Skolverkets stöd och verktyg för inledande kartläggning
• Skolverket: prövning för betyg
• Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan: validera din kompetens
• Branschvalideringskartan (MYH)
• Praktiska exempel på validering (MYH)
• Arbetsförmedlingen: validering
• Arbetsförmedlingen: hitta validering
• UHR: bedömning av utländsk utbildning
• Socialstyrelsen: skyddad yrkestitel undersköterska
• Yrkeshögskolan: reell kompetens och behörighet