Study Guidance

You can apply to all universities in Sweden at University Admissions.

The courses and study programmes offered at the University of Gothenburg can be found here:

https://www.gu.se/en/study-gothenburg/study-options/find-courses

In order to be admitted to a Swedish university, you need to meet a set of general entry requirements, and in some cases you also need to meet certain specific entry requirements. In each course or programme description you will find the prerequisites.

Each study programme in Sweden has room for a certain number of students. If the number of applicants exceeds this number (which is often the case), a selection of applicants must be made. The selection is based on upper-secondary grades, scores on the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test or previously completed higher education.

Read more about the selection process here

Study and career counsellors are available to discuss your thoughts about studies and work and answer questions you may have. They always act neutrally and provide unbiased information based on your thoughts and concerns, and your dialogue with them is covered by professional secrecy. You can meet with, phone or email them before, during and after your studies as often as you want.

The first step is to schedule a meeting (face-to-face or via telephone) with a study and career counsellor. If you already know what field of study you are interested in, schedule a meeting with a study and career counsellor specialising in that particular field. Gather as much information about the courses and programmes you are interested in, compare them and listen to your heart – what appeals to you and what doesn’t? Also reflect on what’s important to you – what type of job can the course or programme lead to, and what will you be doing every day at work after graduating? Does it seem interesting, do you think you will enjoy it?

It is usually a good idea to begin by looking at programmes you feel passionate about. You also need to be realistic and consider things such as allergies, forecasted job opportunities in the area in which you want to live and simply whether you would be able to work in the intended field.

These are things you can discuss with a study and career counsellor. You can tell the counsellor who you are, what you want and what you can or will be able to do, and together discuss what programme and career may be right for you.

The most important success factor is that you are motivated to acquire more knowledge in the chosen field of study. Successful studies also require hard work. You will need to attend and participate actively in lectures, seminars and group projects, and in between the class meetings, you may need to read long texts and prepare yourself in other ways. Set up a plan for your studies based on your learning style. Plan your time so you have time not only to make preparations, develop your notes and read, but also to see your classmates and maybe study together. If you are a full-time student, you should think of your studies as a 40-hour per week commitment. Even if you don’t have a class meeting every day, remember that you are expected to study for an equivalent of a full workday.

Each year, various forecasts and surveys identifying occupations that are expected to face an under- or oversupply of qualified labour in the future are presented.

If you let these predictions guide your choice of education, you let the market decide what you are going to be doing at the university for 40-or-so hours a week for several years.
Instead, let your heart decide. Let your interests and passion determine what education to pursue.

You should of course also use your brain. Prepare yourself for your future by acquiring knowledge, but you don’t need to know everything when you begin your studies.

A lot will become clear along the way, and remember that you can always contact your study and career counsellors for support.

Dare to choose what you really want to do!

The website of the Swedish Public Employment Service offers a lot of useful information about occupations in the Swedish labour market. You can search for occupational titles and get a good description of what it entails and what education it requires. Search for an occupation at the webpage for occupational descriptions (in Swedish). You may also be interested in the descriptions available at SACO (also in Swedish).

When you study you can apply for financial aid (studiestöd). Financial aid for studies refers to the various grants and loans for which you may be eligible when you study. Your age is one of the factors that determine the kind of aid that you may receive. More information about this and how to apply is available at CSN’s website.

If you have applied for your course or study programme based on prior learning, we will receive a request from the Admissions Office for an assessment of this.

Prior learning:

To be able to assess prior learning, we require written documentation which clearly shows the qualifications that your prior learning is equivalent to in your view.

Prior learning in relation to entry requirements:

We can offer you the opportunity to demonstrate your prior learning by means of a written test at the Department.
This does not apply to all languages and it requires you to have good abilities in the language, which you may have because the language is your native language, or because you have studied or lived in the country where the language in question is spoken. This applies to our first-cycle courses. You cannot be admitted to other levels of study without academic studies that are assessed to be equivalent to previous levels.

Contact the study counsellor of the language in which you believe you have sufficient entry requirements.

Diagnostic test

You can do a diagnostic test in English, French, Spanish or German to test your prior learning. A diagnostic test can only be taken once. You can find information and a link to apply for this test on the following page:

Diagnostic test – prior learning (link to page in Student Portal)

At the Department of Languages and Literatures, we only assess qualifications subsequent to a request from the Admissions Office or the Bridging Teacher Education Programmes at a higher rate of study (KPU), Complementary Education for Teachers (VAL) or Complimentary Education for Foreign Teachers (ULV).

To see if your qualifications match the entry requirements stated in the syllabus of the course you have applied for and to make a correct assessment, we need written documentation from you: transcripts of academic records, excerpts from LADOK, course syllabi, and reading lists. The Admissions Office requires that these documents are certified.

To be able to assess qualifications undertaken at Swedish universities, we need:

• An extract from LADOK/transcript of academic records
• Course syllabus and reading list.

For studies you have undertaken at universities abroad:

• Transcript of Records clearly stating your grades, course content and number of credits/hours
• Course syllabus, documentation describing the course and the number of credits/hours
• Reading list

Although you can state the scope of the course in number of credits or number of hours, it must be clear which measure you have used. Assessments are made only on request from the Admissions Office or Teacher Education via KPU, VAL or ULV. All documentation is scanned in via www.antagning.se