Bachelor's requirements

To be eligible for bachelor's courses and programmes taught in English, you must meet the general and specific entry requirements.

If you meet these requirements, you'll then compete for a place with other eligible applicants.

General entry requirements

To meet the general entry requirements for bachelor's studies, you must:

• have successfully completed your upper secondary (high school) education (post-16), and

• be able to demonstrate proficiency in English. The entry requirement for bachelor's studies in Sweden is to have studied the equivalent of the Swedish upper secondary course English 6. See English Language Requirements for more information.

• For applicants who received their final school grades after 31 December 2009, there is an additional mathematics requirement. You must have successfully completed courses equivalent to the Swedish courses Mathematics 1a, 1b or 1c.

Specific entry requirements

Most courses and programmes have specific entry requirements in addition to the general requirements. These are often linked to the area of study. For example, an economics course may require a higher level of upper secondary school mathematics.

These specific requirements are outlined in the individual course and programme descriptions found on universities' websites. You can find a link to these description pages from both your search results and your application here at Universityadmissions.se. 

Understanding Swedish courses and subject levels

To meet the specific entry requirements for most Swedish courses and programmes, you must have studied certain subjects at a certain level.

We've provided this guide to help you better understand Swedish courses and their levels. 

The equivalents listed are estimates

Because each country has different requirements, curricula, and syllabi for their upper secondary programmes, it’s possible that what's required for studies in Sweden is different than what's listed. We've provided estimates and guidance to give you a better idea if you’re likely to meet the specific entry requirements. 

Even if you have the same number of years of studies in a subject, you may still not meet the requirements.

Courses included in specific entry requirements

Specific entry requirements list the upper secondary Swedish courses you must have the equivalent of from your previous studies. Swedish upper secondary courses have a number after them; the higher the number, the higher the level (and in most cases time) you must have studied. Courses can have different number ranges – some go up to 7, while others to 2. Here are some examples for specific subject areas.

Mathematics

In Sweden, you can study upper secondary mathematics from level 1 to 5. 

• For Mathematics 1, it's usually enough to have passed mathematics at an upper secondary school.
• For Mathematics 4 or 5, you would need to have specialised in mathematics. Note that even then, you may not meet the requirement.

Science

In Swedish upper secondary school, Natural Sciences 1 and 2 are general science courses that are at a lower level and studied by most students. They include several science subjects.

Students can also study the specific subjects Biology, Chemistry, and Physics at levels 1 and 2. All of these courses are at a higher level than Natural Science. In order to have the equivalent, you usually must have specialised in the subject in upper secondary school. Note that even then, you may not meet the requirement.

Social sciences

In Sweden, students can study Social sciences 1 and 2, and History 1 and 2 in upper secondary school. To meet the requirement, you must have studied:

• social sciences for Social sciences 1 and 2
• history for History 1 and 2
• one or more general subjects within humanities/social sciences that to a large extent contain the required subject (social sciences or history).

Modern languages

Studying modern languages at upper secondary school in Sweden means studying a language that isn’t Swedish, English, classical Greek, classical Latin or sign language. You can study a modern language from level 1 to 7. Some bachelor’s courses in Sweden require the equivalent of a Swedish modern language course, at a level from 1 to 7.