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.

Senast uppdaterad 21 juni 2022

FAQ

What is the status of my case?

We process a lot of applications and are unable to say when we will decide in your case.

We handle all applications in the order in which we received them. The processing time may vary depending on which type of degree you have and which school forms, subjects, and grades you want eligibility to teach. Sometimes, we also have reason to contact agencies or universities in your country of education, which may prolong the process.

How long is the processing time?

For applications with foreign qualifications, the processing time is approximately 8-16 weeks. We need this time in order to contact other government agencies and universities to assess your case. You will be contacted by e-mail if we need any additional documents or information, so it is important that you have provided an e-mail address that you check frequently.

You have sent me a summary of findings (yttrande) from UHR. What should I do now?

Read the summary from UHR as well as the accompanying message from the National Agency for Education carefully. If there is anything that you would like to comment on, clarify or add, you can submit a statement to us. You can also supplement your case with additional documents. If you do not wish to submit a statement nor additional documents, you do not need to do anything in response to the message.

I have an evaluation of my foreign credentials (utlåtande), issued by the Council for Higher Education (UHR). The evaluation states that I have a teaching degree. Will I be granted certification if I apply and submit the evaluation from UHR?

You are not guaranteed certification, even if your evaluation shows that you have a teaching degree. In an evaluation of foreign degrees (utlåtande), UHR merely determines which Swedish type of degree the foreign merits most closely correspond to.

After reviewing your application for certification, however, we will send your documents to UHR where your qualifications will be assessed according to the specific requirements for Swedish teaching degrees, preschool teaching degrees and recreation instructor degrees. UHR will summarise their findings in a so-called “yttrande” to the National Agency for Education. Such a summary contains different information from an evaluation (“utlåtande”).

I have received the summary of findings from UHR as well as an attached request for additional documents or information, but I need more information on what documents you want me to submit.

The Council for Higher Education (UHR) assesses your documents according to the specific requirements for a Swedish degree for the school forms, grades and subjects that correspond to your qualifications. After the assessment, they submit a summary of findings to the National Agency for Education.

Before we decide in your case, you have an opportunity to submit further documents or a statement with comments on the summary of findings. If you have no further documents to submit and you do not wish to comment on the summary of findings, you do not need to do anything in response to the message.

When you have received the summary of findings:

  • Read the summary from UHR as well as the accompanying message from the National Agency for Education carefully.
  • If there is anything that you would like to comment on, clarify or add, you can submit a statement to us. You can also supplement your case with additional documents.
  • If you do not wish to submit a statement nor additional documents, you do not need to do anything in response to the message.
How can I prove that I meet the requirement for swimming and lifesaving (a national requirements for teachers of physical education)?

For example, we will accept a certificate from a swimming hall in your municipality or a similar provider of courses in lifesaving out of water. The important part is that you submit documentation showing that you have successfully completed training in lifesaving specifically out of water.

What does “contrastive competence” mean (a national requirement for teachers of languages)?

Contrastive competence means that you are able to teach modern languages or English from a Swedish language perspective. You do not need to have taught in Swedish, but you must show that you have taught the modern language or English based on the Swedish language perspective. You will need to submit a certificate of studies or experience in order to show that you fulfil the requirement.

I applied for certification at the same time as a coursemate. They have already received their decision from the National Agency for Education, but my case is still being processed. How come?

The processing time varies depending on which type of degree you have and which school forms, subjects, and grades you want eligibility to teach. When your case has been registered, we categorise it into different queues depending on those factors. The queues vary in length according to the number of- and complexity of cases, which means that the processing time may vary between cases. Because of this, people who have applied within the same time period may not receive their decisions at the same time.

When should I use the cover page?

Use the cover page that we have provided when you submit additional documents by mail.