What happens after I have applied?
We process applications in the order in which they were received. You will be contacted if we need any additional documents or information. You can also submit further documents that we have not specifically requested during the processing of your case.
When will you decide in my case?
If you have applied with a foreign teaching degree, the processing time is approximately 8–16 weeks. Some cases are processed faster, and a few take longer.
The processing time in your case may be affected by the following factors:
- Which type of degree you have
- Which school forms, subjects, and grades you have applied for eligibility to teach
- Whether the Swedish Council for Higher Education (Universitets- och högskolerådet) has a reason to contact any agencies in your country of education
If we have taken longer than 6 months to decide in your case, you have the right to request a decision. The request must be made in writing, by mail or e-mail. You have the right to request a decision once and have your request reviewed within 4 weeks.
What is the process after application?
1. We register and review your application
If you submit your application by e-mail, we will register your case as soon as possible, most often on the same date that you have submitted the application. If you apply by mail, we will register your case on the same day that we receive your application. It can take up to a week before we register documents that you have submitted by mail.
You will receive a confirmation message when we have registered your application. The message will also contain your unique case number, a cover page to use when submitting additional documents, as well as information regarding the application fee. If we have not received your payment on time, we will reject your application.
We review your application to ensure that it is complete and that you have submitted all documents that are needed to assess your case. If we need further documentation, we will contact you with information on how to supplement your case. You will have two weeks to submit the documents that we have requested.
Once your application is complete, we send your documents to the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) for assessment.
Your documents will also be archived with both agencies.
2. UHR assesses your foreign credentials
The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) is the government agency responsible for assessment of foreign studies. UHR will review your case and determine whether your foreign credentials entitle you to a teaching qualification in your country of education and whether it corresponds to a Swedish teaching degree, preschool teaching degree, or recreation instructor degree (for the equivalent of the Swedish school form “fritidshemmet”). In certain cases, UHR will also be in contact with government agencies, places of employment or universities in your country of education.
Once UHR has assessed your case, they send a summary of findings (yttrande) to us. After receiving the summary, we will inform you about whether your foreign credentials correspond to a Swedish degree and whether you meet all of the requirements for certification. If we find that you do not meet the requirements, we may also request further documents at this stage.
If you submit additional foreign merits while your case is ongoing, we will send them on to UHR for assessment.
3. We conduct a comprehensive evaluation of your case
We conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the summary of findings from UHR regarding your foreign credentials, as well as your Swedish credentials. We will contact you if we need any further information or documentation.
4. We decide in your case
The decision will primarily be sent to your e-mail address. Secondarily, it may be sent through physical mail to your home address.
When we have requested additional documents
If any of the required documents are missing from your application, we will contact you and request them. In order to process your application, you must submit the following:
- A completed application form
- A copy of your teaching degree, preschool teaching degree or recreation instructor degree (all pages), in the language in which it was issued
- Your transcript of records: a list of the courses you have completed, including grades specified for each course, in the language in which it was issued
- Translations of your degree and transcript to Swedish or English. You do not need to translate documents that have been issued in Danish, Finnish, Faeroese, Icelandic, Meänkieli, Norwegian or Sami.
- A certificate of proficiency in Swedish
- A certificate of your teaching experience, if you have worked as a teacher or preschool teacher (in Sweden or abroad)
- Proof of payment of the application fee
In certain cases, we may request additional documents even if you fulfil the requirements above, for example if you have sent in documents that may lead to extended eligibility to teach.
Submit your documents on time
You have two weeks to submit documents that we have requested. We will not decide in your case before this deadline. If you are unable to submit your documents within the time frame, we are able to extend the deadline by one week, upon request. If you have not submitted your documents on time, you may risk having your application dismissed or not being granted eligibility to teach in all school forms, grades, and subjects that you are entitled to.
Submit additional documents
Submit additional documents using our digital form or by mail. Please submit the documents as pdf.
Digital form Länk till annan webbplats.
By mail:
Skolverket
Box 758
981 27 Kiruna
Sweden
When you want to submit additional documents after you have applied
You are able to submit additional documents to your case, until we have made our decision. Please note that you should not send in a new application, but simply send in the documents that you want to add to your ongoing case. Use the cover page with your unique case number if you send the documents by mail.
Submit additional documents
You can submit additional documents to your case, until we have made our decision. Please note that you should not send us a new application, but simply submit the documents that you want to add to your ongoing case. Submit additional documents using our digital form or by mail. Please submit the documents as pdf.
Digital form Länk till annan webbplats.
By mail:
Skolverket
Box 758
981 27 Kiruna
Sweden
Remember to use the cover page
When you submit documents by mail, we ask that you use the cover page containing your unique case number, which you received from us. You can find the cover page in the confirmation message we sent out when your application was registered, or in our request for additional documents, if you have received such a message. Please ensure that the cover page is at the top of your documents since they will be automatically scanned on arrival. Without a cover page, your documents may not be scanned correctly.
When we have notified you of a summary of findings (yttrande) from UHR
As a part of evaluating your case, your documents are sent to the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) for assessment. UHR reviews your case and issues a summary of findings where your foreign credentials are compared to a Swedish teaching degree, preschool teaching degree or recreation instructor degree. If UHR has determined that there are requirements that are not met by your foreign credentials, we will inform you of their findings before we decide in your case. We will also inform you if there are additional documents that you can send in to show that you meet the requirements, for example certificates of experience or further university studies.