What Swedish Level Do I Need?

"What level do I need?" depends entirely on what you need Swedish for. Citizenship, university study and licensed professions each set their own bar, and each one measures it differently: some in CEFR levels, some in Swedish school courses, some in specific tests. This guide goes through the main goals and links to the official rules for each.

A quick note on CEFR levels

Most requirements are written with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). In Sweden it's called GERS. It has six levels: A1 and A2 for beginners, B1 and B2 for independent users, and C1 and C2 for advanced users (Skolverket).

Requirements don't always ask for one level across the board. A rule can set a higher level for understanding than for speaking and writing, and the citizenship rule does exactly that.

Citizenship: B1 to understand, A2 to speak and write

Since 6 June 2026, applicants for Swedish citizenship aged 16 to 66 must show (Migrationsverket):

• Reading and listening comprehension at B1
• Speaking and writing at A2

You don't have to prove each level separately with a test. Migrationsverket accepts documents such as a pass in the highest SFI course, a pass in Swedish or Swedish as a second language from Swedish school or Komvux, or a pass on Tisus. The Swedish part of the state citizenship test hasn't been introduced yet, and on 30 September 2026 Migrationsverket said it may be postponed. Full details, including exemptions, are in our citizenship language requirement guide.

University study in Swedish: Swedish 3 or equivalent

Swedish universities don't express their requirement as a CEFR level. For applicants with upper secondary education from outside Sweden, the Swedish part of basic eligibility (grundläggande behörighet) is met by one of these (Antagning.se):

• a pass in Swedish 3 or Swedish as a second language 3 (Svenska 3 / Svenska som andraspråk 3), for example from Komvux,
• a pass in the older Swedish B or Swedish as a second language B, if dated no later than 30 June 2013,
• a pass on Tisus, which all Swedish universities recognise as proof of eligibility in Swedish. Tisus isn't linked to CEFR; its level corresponds to Swedish 3 (Tisus FAQ),
• a pass in an eligibility-giving Swedish course at a university (behörighetsgivande kurs),
• in some countries, mainly in the Nordic region, your upper secondary grades.

In some countries, a language test taken in your home country can also count; see the Antagning.se page on Swedish eligibility for which.

Individual programmes can add higher requirements (särskild behörighet). If your programme is taught in English, its requirements are listed on the course page at universityadmissions.se.

Licensed healthcare jobs: often C1 or Swedish 3

For licensed healthcare professions, Socialstyrelsen sets the language rule, and requirements vary by profession and by where you trained. EU/EEA rules differ from those for people trained outside the EU/EEA.

The page we cite here covers one route: psychologists trained outside the EU/EEA. They can show their Swedish with Swedish 3 or Swedish as a second language 3, Swedish at C1, a course or exam that gives eligibility for higher education, or an assessment by a healthcare employer. Equivalent Norwegian or Danish also counts (Socialstyrelsen). Don't assume the same list applies to your profession. Check your own profession's page on Socialstyrelsen's licensing site.

Folkuniversitetet says Socialstyrelsen accepts Swedex at C1 (FAQ). That route disappears when Swedex ends on 31 December 2026.

Other jobs

This guide doesn't cover sector-by-sector rules. Outside licensed professions, read the job ad and ask the employer what level of Swedish the role needs. If they want proof, SFI or Komvux grades are documents you get anyway along the way. Swedex, a certificate that reports a CEFR level for each skill, is being discontinued: Folkuniversitetet says it can't be taken from 31 December 2026.

How SFI courses relate to CEFR

SFI (Svenska för invandrare) runs from course A to course D. You'll often see SFI courses converted into CEFR levels, but that conversion is older than the current course plan:

• The SFI syllabus in force until the end of 2017 stated that course A ≈ A1-/A1, course B ≈ A1/A2, course C ≈ A2/A2+ and course D ≈ B1/B1+ (SKOLFS 2017:77).
• The syllabus that replaced it in 2018 has no such table, and Skolverket now says the pass criteria for the four SFI courses are not linked to levels on the European scale (Skolverket).
• New SFI syllabi apply to courses that start from 1 January 2027, with courses named by study path and level, from 1A to 3D (SKOLFS 2026:67).

So treat "SFI D = B1" as a rough guide, not an official equivalence. For citizenship it matters less than you might think: Migrationsverket accepts a pass in the highest SFI course directly, without converting it to a CEFR level.

Working out your next step

1. Name your goal. Citizenship, Swedish-taught study, a licensed job, or something else. Each has its own proof.
2. Find the exact rule. Use the official pages linked above, since requirements are set by different authorities.
3. Check what you already have. SFI or Komvux grades may already meet the requirement.
4. Choose a route. In Sweden, a pass in SFI course D is accepted for citizenship, and Komvux Swedish can take you on to Swedish 3 for university. Our SFI guide explains how SFI works, and Swedex vs TISUS compares the two best-known tests.

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