Study in Sweden: Step by Step Guide for International Students. This blog (Study in Sweden) shows a complete overview of Sweden for study purposes. So, It covers basic information of Sweden, the education system of Sweden and deadlines you need to follow to get admission in a University. While, You can check basic requirements for admission in a University and Application process in a University. Additionally, Check what is Visa Ratio and scholarship options for international students. At last check what would be living cost and tuition fee, while you would Study at this University.
Table of Contents
General Information about Sweden
Sweden is a country located in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway to the west and Finland to the east and it is along the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia. While, It is one of four Scandinavian countries.
Sweden’s capital and largest city is Stockholm, Other large cities in Sweden are Lund, Göteborg and Malmö.
Sweden is the European Union’s third-largest country but it has a very low population density away from its larger cities.
Economy of Sweden
Sweden’s economy is developed and it is known for its natural environment. While, Sweden currently has a strong, developed economy. According to the CIA World Factbook, Sweden has a mixed system of high-tech capitalism and extensive welfare benefits.”
The country has a high standard of living. While, Sweden’s economy is mainly focused on the service and industrial sectors. Furthermore, Its main industrial products include iron and steel, precision equipment, wood pulp, and paper products, processed foods, and motor vehicles.
Education System in Sweden
Sweden follows the Bologna Education System. While, Sweden offers short courses, Bachelor’s degree courses, Master’s degree courses and PhD to international students. Short Language Courses has a duration of 6 months. Mostly short courses are English Language courses and these courses are available in various universities. Meanwhile, International Student can get admission easily in English courses.
14 reasons to choose Sweden for Studies.
Bachelor’s level is also known as the first cycle in Sweden. It is also called as ‘undergraduate’. In Sweden, there are wide range of courses available at this level. These courses and programmes are taught in English. A student must have completed upper secondary studies in order to be qualified for study at this level.
Master’s level also known as the second cycle in Sweden. The term ‘graduate-level’ can also be used. Universities in Sweden offer a large range of international master’s programmes where the language of instruction is English.
Universities offer PhD to competitive candidates across the globe. PhD is a proper job and paid. While, PhD duration in Sweden is five years. You can get nationality and Passport of Sweden, once you finished your PhD.
Academic year of Sweden:
The academic year is split into autumn and spring semesters.
The majority of courses and study programmes start in the autumn.
Autumn semester starts at the end of August and continues until mid-January of the following year.The admission application deadline is 15 January each year for Autumn intake.
Spring semester usually starts in January and finishes at the end of June. The admission application deadline is 15 August each year.
Most universities offer courses for international students, which are available in Autumn intake.
While few courses are offered in Spring intake also.
Between the spring and autumn semesters, many universities have a short summer session. Summer Session Prolongs up to 2 months, where universities remain closed.
Entry Requirements for admission in University of Sweden
Despite what is Applicant’s study background and which programme he is interested, Applicant should fulfil the entry requirements to get admission in course or programme. Entry requirements are divided into categories, which are general and specific entry requirements.
Specific Entry Requirements
While specific entry requirements vary for each course or programme. Prerequisite subjects are required to be passed to get admission in particular course or programme. Which Previous subjects are supposed to study before, depends on the course’s specialization.
For example, if you want to study medicine or engineering in bachelor’s degree programme, you should have passed biology and mathematics respectively in your high school education. The same rule of specific entry requirements applies for master’s degree programme, where prerequisite subjects are mentioned under each course.
While, Student can get idea about particular course, either this course is relevant to my previous bachelor’s degree. So, If answer is yes, he/she should apply for that particular course and would gave higher chances to get admitted.
General Entry Requirements
Every university or institution set the bench mark for each level of study to ensure that you have basic skills and knowledge to start a course and finally complete it successfully. These bench marks are General entry requirements.
For a Short Language Course
General entry requirements for short language course are as follows:
International students can get admission in English language course with minimum 12 years of education. Student should be able to demonstrate basic proficiency in English. While, Student should have 5.5 IELTS to get admission in short course. Meanwhile, Student should mention bachelor degree course for future during application process of completing short language courses.
For a Bachelor Degree
For many bachelor’s degree programme, general entry requirements remain same. To meet the general entry requirements for bachelor’s level studies, Student should have passed 12 years (High School) education. While, Student should have good Proficiency in English with 6 IELTS. So, A student can get admission in bachelor’s course with moderate percentage in grades of previous degree. Percentage should not be less than 45% marks, when you complete your 12-year education. Gap in studies is acceptable in Sweden up to 5 to 6 years.
Required Documents for Bachelor’s degree admissions
- Officially issued & tested Secondary School Certificate (ISSC) & Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC).
- Statement of marks or other official transcript.
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) & Motivation Letter.
- One Academic reference & one personal reference letter.
- IELTS / TOEFL.
- Payment Proof of University Tuition Fees.
Required Documents for Embassy interview & Visa Process
- Completed and signed visa application form
- Travel & Medical Insurance Certificate for one Year.
- Police Clearance Certificate.
- Passport & four recent passport size pictures.
- Proof of Bank statement, which shows on year living expenses.
For a Master Degree:
To meet the general entry requirements for master’s level studies, student must have 16 years of education from university in his/her homeland. That means you should have Bachelor’s degree in hand to get admission in master’s degree. While, IELTS is optional for master’s course, if you have done your previous studies in English. You only need to submit English proficiency letter. Percentage should not be less than 45% marks, when you complete your 16-year education. Gap in studies is acceptable in Sweden up to 5 to 6 years.
Required Documents for Master’s degree admissions
- Officially issued & tested Secondary School Certificate (ISSC) & Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC).
- Statement of marks or other official transcript.
- Bachelor’s degree Certificates & Transcripts.
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) & Motivation Letter.
- One Academic reference & one personal reference letter.
- IELTS / TOEFL.
- Payment Proof of University Tuition Fees.
Required Documents for Embassy interview & Visa Process
- Completed and signed visa application form
- Travel & Medical Insurance Certificate for one Year.
- Police Clearance Certificate.
- Passport & four recent passport size pictures.
- Proof of Bank statement, which shows on year living expenses.
Application Process in University for Study in Sweden
Sweden is unique in terms of Application Process.
Applicant needs to submit only one Application on universityadmissions.se.
This means that you can apply for courses and programmes at all universities on the same application.
It is very convenient electronic application Process. Create a user account on universityadmissions.se and search for courses and programmes.
So, Your file would be under consideration after you pay application fee.
87 EUR is Application fee, that covers for all universities. You do not need to pay application fee for every university in which you apply.
Now, Upload all required documents and all universities can see your documents at one plate form.
Follow your application and check it regularly.
After selection, You will Receive admission letter and print out your Notification of Selection Results. Sign this admission letter and attach other documents.
Lastly, Get appointment in Swedish embassy for interview. Once you clear interview, you can fly to Sweden to study your desired course.
Important points for application process
For Bachelor Programs and short courses, the student can apply up to 8 different courses in different universities.
While, For Master Programs the student can apply up to 4 different courses in different universities.
You can rank the courses according to your preferences. The course ranked number one, would be considered for selection by specific university.
So, If you selected in that course, the other courses would not consider automatically.
If you do not get selection in high ranked course, then you would be considered for very next course in ranking and so on.
Visa Ratio and Scholarships for students in Sweden
Student Visa depends on embassy interview when it comes for Sweden. Interview can be tricky sometimes, but if applicant is prepared well for interview and show required documents for visa application. Then visa chances are almost 99.9%.
While, The Swedish Institute (SI) Scholarship, a government agency, receives funding each year to use for scholarships to international students. They have several programs available. As complete Package, tuition fee and cost of living including in it.
The Scholarships which are granted by university, covers only Tuition Fee. Applicant needs to apply on university website to get Scholarships for studies.
University Scholarship covers 100%, 75%, 50% or 25% of tuition fee depending upon the grades previous studies of student and number of students enrolled in specific program.
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Total Cost for Student Visa in Sweden?
Swedish currency is the called Krona. It is written as SEK. You can always check currency conversion updated rates.
Normally 100 SEK is equal to EUR 10 or USD 11. Tuition fee vary for each course and university.
Average Tuition fee for bachelor programme is SEK 45000 to SEK 55000 per semester. While for master programmes average tuition fee is SEK 50000 to SEK 60000 per semester.
According to Swedish migration law, each student should have at least SEK 9 514 per month as living cost. Which student need to show in bank statement to get visa.
So, You can survive on SEK 5000 to SEK 7000 per month by sharing accommodation. While, Your living costs in Sweden will naturally depend on your lifestyle.
Eating out and travelling around can be expensive and this is something you may want to consider when planning your budget.
It is common for students to cook their food and bring leftovers for lunch. Many stores and food outlets offer student discounts.
When you join university, you will get student card called ’Studentkortet’. By student card, you can get discounts at cafes, restaurants, relaxation on buss card and other travel tickets. You can travel by air in Europe on discounts through domestic airlines. Student card helps in discounts on computers, mobile phones, fashion and books etc., both in shops and online.
What is Pilot Project?
Swedish Migration Agency and five higher education Institutions of Sweden have signed a contract. Which is a Pilot Project.
While, The pilot project is a cooperation between the migration board and universities which enables students to apply for two-year residence permits for studies.
A student admitted to a multi-year degree Programme at any of 5 higher education institutions will be able to apply for a two-year residence permit for studies in Sweden.
While, The two-year residence permit will help you to get tax Number in Sweden. So, If you have tax Number, you will be able to open a bank account in Sweden.
Two-year residence card can help you to get a permanent job in Sweden, as you would have 24 months to change your study permit into a work permit.
Normally student complete 30 credits in Swedish universities which take up to 6 to 8 months on average for a student. You need a minimum of 30 credits to change study permit into a work permit.
Then the students who want to change study permit into a work permit, need to renew study permit after 12 months. And the renewal of study permit can take up to 4 to 6 months.
On personal experiences, it can be tricky to get a full job contract in Sweden to change your study permit into a work permit. It is time taking process in many cases. So, You can work in Sweden and you will find many opportunities to work in Sweden as a student. But employer hesitates to give a permanent contract to students.
By pilot project, you will have 24 months residence card, you do not need to waste 4 months for renewal of residence card after 12 months. It is a Golden opportunity for students to Settle down in Sweden.
Check here 5 Universities where you can apply for Pilot Project.
- Jönköping University
- KTH University
- Linnaeus University
- Lund University
- Umeå University
Public Universities in Sweden
- KTH University Linnaeus University
- BTH University Luleå University
- Karlstad University Lund University
- Karolinska Institute Malmö University
- Linköping University Mid Sweden University
- Kristianstad University Halmstad University
- Dalarna University Jönköping University
- Uppsala University Umeå University
- University west University of Borås
- University of Gothenburg Chalmers University
- University of Gävle University of Skövde
- Örebro University Stockholm University
Services by Consult Studies Abroad
Consult Studies Abroad provides special attention to student course selection procedure by highlighting their past academic records to avoid error-free application. While, Consult Studies Abroad assists students in choosing the right course as it can change their whole life! With this intention, Consult Studies Abroad always suggests the best courses to all Their students to study abroad.
As our trained counselors have the latest information on job prospects and other required details, we help students to select the right career path for studying abroad. All the Students look for a course that relates to their past academic records and work experience. Meanwhile, We fulfil their requirement by providing them with several options available. We always believe to suggest students all the options so they can make a satisfactory choice.
Lastly, You can approach Consult Studies Abroad for Guidance about scholarships, University admissions and many more useful information. Write your questions in Comment section.
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