How to get your foreign education assessed in Sweden in 2026

Do you have a degree, a vocational qualification or upper secondary grades from another country? Then you can have your education assessed in Sweden, so that an employer or a school can more easily understand what you have studied. The route depends on your profession. In many professions the employer decides whether your education is enough, and a comparison from UHR can help. In professions that need a licence, for example in healthcare and schools, another authority assesses your education. Here are the routes, what they cost and where to start.

Universitets- och högskolerådet (UHR, the Swedish Council for Higher Education) assesses foreign education, while Socialstyrelsen (the National Board of Health and Welfare) issues licences in healthcare and Skolverket (the Swedish National Agency for Education) in schools. We checked the details on the authorities’ own pages on 10 October 2026. SverigeFokus is independent and has no connection to UHR or the other authorities.

Which route applies to you?

In our Your degree tool you choose your type of education and see the steps for your route, with links to the authorities’ own pages. If you are new to Sweden, you can also read the first steps.

Does your profession need a licence?

Many professions in Sweden are not regulated. Then the employer decides which qualifications are needed, and you can apply for jobs without an assessment. Some trades have their own industry requirements, and trade organisations and unions can tell you what applies.

In a regulated profession, Swedish law says what you need to work, for example a certain degree or a licence. Then you apply to the authority responsible for the profession. Some examples from UHR’s list:

Lawyers (advokater), auditors and jobs at sea and in aviation have their own rules, and some jobs, for example in the police, require Swedish citizenship. You can email questions about regulated professions to UHR at ykinfo@uhr.se.

UHR’s assessment tool and statement

UHR assesses completed foreign education: upper secondary education, post-secondary vocational education of at least one year full time, and higher education. There are two routes:

• The Qualifications Assessment Tool (bedömningstjänsten) on uhr.se. You choose the country and your education and see straight away which Swedish education it compares to, and whether it gives basic eligibility (grundläggande behörighet) for university studies. The tool has over 1,000 qualifications from 93 countries. You save the result as a pdf, but it is not an individual statement.
• A statement (utlåtande). If your education is not in the tool, you can apply for a statement, whatever the country. It is a free digital document that shows what UHR has assessed your education to correspond to in Sweden.

A statement is not a Swedish degree, only a comparison. For upper secondary education it shows whether it gives basic eligibility for university, and your merit rating (meritvärde). For vocational education after upper secondary school and for higher education it shows which Swedish degree the education most closely corresponds to, but not whether you are eligible for studies.

UHR does not assess unfinished education, preparatory years, entrance tests, language tests, or post-secondary vocational education that is shorter than a year or does not lead to a recognised qualification.

What you use the statement for

Jobs. Send the statement, or the pdf from the assessment tool, together with your degree certificates, transcripts and CV. It can make it easier for the employer to understand your education, and the employer can contact UHR with questions.

Studies. You do not need a statement. You apply directly on Antagning.se, and it is the university that decides on eligibility and admission. An assessment of, for example, a bachelor’s degree does not mean that you are eligible for a master’s. If you want credit for courses you have already taken (tillgodoräknande), ask the university where you want to study, and according to UHR it is important to ask for a written answer.

Who can apply to UHR?

You need to meet one of these:

• You have a Swedish personnummer.
• You are a citizen of an EU/EEA country.
• You are a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA and have a residence permit or work permit. If you are in Sweden waiting for a decision, include confirmation that Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency) has received your application.
• You are a family member of an EU citizen and have a residence card or a certificate of right of residence, or you are a long-term resident of another EU country.

If you live outside the EU/EEA and none of these applies, you cannot apply.

Have you applied for asylum? UHR’s pages still mention a “valid LMA card” (giltigt LMA-kort), but according to Migrationsverket LMA cards are no longer valid after 1 October 2026. Asylum seekers now have an application card (ansökningskort) instead. Ask UHR what to send.

How to apply to UHR

1. First check whether your profession is regulated. If it needs a licence, for example in healthcare or schools, it is Socialstyrelsen or Skolverket that assesses your education.
2. Search the Qualifications Assessment Tool. If your education is there, you can save the result as a pdf and use it when you apply for jobs.
3. Gather and translate your documents. You usually need your degree certificate (front and back), your transcript (ämnesförteckning), a population registration certificate (personbevis) or a copy of your passport, and proof of a name change if you have changed your name. Scan the originals as pdf. Documents in languages other than English, French, Spanish, German and the Nordic languages must be translated by an authorised translator, and you can find one in the register of Kammarkollegiet. From some countries, for example Nigeria, Ethiopia, Canada and the USA, the school must send documents directly to UHR.
4. Apply in UHR’s web application. With an e-ID, for example BankID, you can save the application and continue later. Without an e-ID, and even without a personnummer, you apply with your email address and finish the application in one go. If you have several educations, you fill in details and upload documents for each one.
5. Save the statement. It comes as a pdf by email and is always written in Swedish. A blue band shows that it is genuine, but it is only visible in Adobe Reader on a computer. Save the file somewhere safe, because a printout is only a copy.

According to UHR it takes about 2 to 4 months, counted from when all documents have arrived, not from the day you apply. A couple of UHR’s pages say about 2 to 5 months instead. If you think the decision is wrong, you can ask UHR to review it or appeal. The appeal must reach UHR within three weeks of the day you were notified of the decision.

Missing your documents?

If you have completed post-secondary education but cannot get hold of your documents, for example because you have fled, you can apply for a description of your foreign educational background (beskrivning av utländsk utbildningsbakgrund) instead of a statement. You fill in UHR’s form and send what you have, for example certificates, photos or your thesis. A description is based on your information, while in a statement UHR has reviewed at least one official document. You can use either when you apply for jobs or education.

Vocational and upper secondary education

Foreign vocational education is also assessed by UHR. Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan (MYH, the Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education) refers people there and says that it does not validate individuals. Post-secondary vocational education must be part of the country’s formal education system, lead to a recognised qualification and be at least one year full time. UHR compares it with the two Swedish higher vocational degrees, yrkeshögskoleexamen and kvalificerad yrkeshögskoleexamen. For upper secondary vocational education, the statement shows its vocational focus.

If you have no papers for what you can do, there is validation (validering). Someone assesses your skills with practical and theoretical tests, and afterwards you may get a certificate, grades or a professional certificate. It takes from a few days to a few weeks. At Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish Public Employment Service) you need to be registered as a job seeker and meet one of their conditions, for example that you have grades or certificates from abroad that are not recognised on the Swedish labour market. Arbetsförmedlingen assesses whether validation suits you.

If you want to study at a higher vocational school (yrkeshögskola), you apply directly to the school.

Healthcare: a licence from Socialstyrelsen

In healthcare, a licence (legitimation) is required for 22 professions, for example doctor, nurse, midwife, dentist and psychologist. The title is protected: only someone with a licence may, for example, call themselves a nurse (sjuksköterska). While you wait, you can work in a healthcare job that does not need a licence, and then the employer decides whether you have the right skills.

If you were educated outside the EU/EEA, the route through Socialstyrelsen has five steps. This is how it looks for nurses (always read the page for your own profession):

1. Have your education reviewed. The fee is SEK 990 and the review takes about 3 months. For this step you do not need to know Swedish or have a personnummer or residence permit.
2. Take the knowledge test. It is in Swedish and has a theoretical and a practical part.
3. Take the course in Swedish healthcare laws and regulations (svenska författningar). It is online and free.
4. Do clinical training (praktisk tjänstgöring), for nurses 3 months. You find the workplace yourself.
5. Apply for the licence. If you paid SEK 990 in step 1, you do not pay again. Now you need a personnummer or a coordination number (read how long it takes to get a personnummer).

It usually takes 2 to 4 years from applying for the review to getting the licence. The other route is a supplementary programme (kompletterande utbildning) at a university, usually 1 to 3 years from when you are admitted. From step 2 you need to know Swedish, and you can show it, for example, with a pass in Svenska 3 or Svenska som andraspråk 3 (Swedish as a second language 3), or with Swedish at level C1.

Assistant nurse (undersköterska) has been a protected title since 1 July 2023. Applying to Socialstyrelsen for proof of the protected title costs SEK 360, and you show your Swedish, for example, with Svenska 1, Svenska som andraspråk 1 or level B2. If you were educated outside the EU/EEA, you usually do clinical training first, for 6 months or sometimes 3, but not if you have worked as an assistant nurse in Sweden for at least a year.

Educated in the EU/EEA or Switzerland? Then Socialstyrelsen assesses your professional qualifications under the law on the recognition of professional qualifications. For nurses the fee is also SEK 990. A recognition is not a licence: you also need to show knowledge of Swedish, Danish or Norwegian.

Schools: a licence from Skolverket

As a main rule, you may only teach in a Swedish school if you have a teacher or preschool teacher licence (lärarlegitimation or förskollärarlegitimation) and are qualified, and only those with a licence can get a permanent job. There are exceptions. If it is not possible to employ a licensed teacher, you can, for example, be employed one year at a time.

For a licence with a foreign degree you need a teacher, preschool teacher or recreation instructor (fritidspedagog) education that corresponds closely enough to a Swedish one, enough pedagogy and didactics, enough subject knowledge and good Swedish. You can show your Swedish, for example, with Svenska 3 or Svenska som andraspråk 3, the TISUS test or level C1.

The application costs SEK 1,890. The fee was raised on 1 September 2025 by a government decision. With BankID or Freja eID+ you apply and pay in Skolverket’s e-service, and otherwise you send the form by post.

Skolverket sends the application to UHR, which assesses the foreign education. Then Skolverket makes an overall assessment and decides. For foreign studies, Skolverket says it currently takes about 12 to 16 weeks before the processing starts, and the decision can take longer.

If you were educated outside the EU/EEA and do not meet all the requirements, your application is rejected, and the decision says what you need to supplement. One route is ULV, further education for foreign-trained teachers (Utlandsutbildade lärares vidareutbildning), of at most 120 credits at six universities. You apply on Antagning.se, usually 15 March to 15 April for the autumn and 15 September to 15 October for the spring.

Summary

• UHR’s statement is free and takes about 2 to 4 months from when all documents have arrived. Start with the Qualifications Assessment Tool.
• A statement is not a Swedish degree, and you do not need one to apply for jobs or to university.
• Healthcare: a licence from Socialstyrelsen. The fee is SEK 990, paid once, and for someone educated outside the EU/EEA the route usually takes 2 to 4 years.
• Schools: a teacher or preschool teacher licence from Skolverket, SEK 1,890 since 1 September 2025.
• Vocational and upper secondary education is also assessed by UHR. If you have no papers, there is validation and UHR’s description of foreign educational background.

Sources

• UHR: Vad din utbildning motsvarar i Sverige (in Swedish)
• UHR: Bedömningstjänsten (in Swedish)
• UHR: Att ansöka om bedömning (in Swedish)
• UHR: Dokument som du behöver skicka in (in Swedish)
• UHR: Instruktioner, så ansöker du (in Swedish)
• UHR: Digitalt utlåtande (in Swedish)
• UHR: Bedömningsprocessen (in Swedish)
• UHR: Frågor och svar om bedömning av utländsk utbildning (in Swedish)
• UHR: Arbeta i Sverige (in Swedish)
• UHR: Studera i Sverige (in Swedish)
• UHR: Reglerade yrken (in Swedish)
• Migrationsverket: LMA-kort ogiltiga från 1 oktober (in Swedish)
• Kammarkollegiet: Sök översättare i vårt register (in Swedish)
• Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan: Bedömning av utländsk utbildning och kompetens (in Swedish)
• Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan: För dig som vill validera din kompetens (in Swedish)
• Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan: Tillträde (in Swedish)
• Arbetsförmedlingen: Validering (in Swedish)
• Socialstyrelsen: Sjuksköterska utbildad utanför EU och EES (in Swedish)
• Socialstyrelsen: Få din utbildning granskad som grund för legitimation (in Swedish)
• Socialstyrelsen: Gör kunskapsprov (in Swedish)
• Socialstyrelsen: Gå kurs i svenska författningar (in Swedish)
• Socialstyrelsen: Gör praktisk tjänstgöring (in Swedish)
• Socialstyrelsen: Skicka in ansökan om legitimation (in Swedish)
• Socialstyrelsen: Undersköterska utbildad utanför Sverige (in Swedish)
• Socialstyrelsen: Utbildad inom EU/EES, inför din ansökan om legitimation (in Swedish)
• Socialstyrelsen: Sjuksköterska utbildad inom EU eller EES (in Swedish)
• Skolverket: Ansök om legitimation med utländsk examen (in Swedish)
• Skolverket: Krav för att få legitimation, utländsk examen (in Swedish)
• Skolverket: Avgift för att ansöka om legitimation (in Swedish)
• Skolverket: Från ansökan till beslut, utländsk examen (in Swedish)
• Skolverket: Aktuell handläggningstid (in Swedish)
• Skolverket: Krav för att få undervisa (in Swedish)
• Skolverket: Krav för att få anställning (in Swedish)
• Studera.nu: Utlandsutbildade lärares vidareutbildning (ULV) (in Swedish)