Swedish exams — citizenship, university, study & getting started

The Swedish language ladder

The core Swedish-language exams. SFI Courses A–B (≈A1–A2) are the first steps in Svenska för invandrare; SFI Courses C–D (≈A2–B1+) are the exit courses Skolverket places at roughly B1/B1+; Swedish B1–B2 takes you to a comfortable working level; and Tisus (≈C1), run by Stockholms universitet, is the established route into Swedish-taught degree programmes. The SFI scale is not CEFR, so the levels above are approximate.

• ≈A1–A2SFI Courses A–B
  The first steps in Svenska för invandrare — everyday Swedish for work, family and daily life.
• ≈A2–B1+SFI Courses C–D
  The SFI exit courses — Skolverket places Course D at roughly B1/B1+, the level most people aim to finish on.
• B1–B2Swedish B1–B2
  General Swedish beyond SFI — the level that makes work, study and daily life in Sweden genuinely comfortable.
• ≈C1Tisus
  Test i svenska för universitets- och högskolestudier — the established route into Swedish-taught degree programmes, run by Stockholms universitet.

Swedish society knowledge test

Medborgarskapsprovet is a multiple-choice test of knowledge about Swedish society (Samhällskunskap) — not language proficiency. UHR (Universitets- och högskolerådet) develops, administers and marks it; Migrationsverket assesses citizenship applications. The first sitting, on 15 August 2026, is a pilot (utprövningsprov) and free of charge — not a general launch. UHR describes the test provisionally as around 60 multiple-choice questions with four options, in about 90 minutes, in Swedish and on paper, drawn from its own study material Sverige i fokus. UHR has not published a pass mark, and the format may change before the test is established — confirm the current details with UHR. Our questions are original practice, not the official question bank, and AlmiSwedish is not affiliated with UHR.

• Knowledge testMedborgarskapsprovetCitizenship
  Sweden's new citizenship test — knowledge of Swedish society, in multiple-choice form, developed and marked by UHR. Mandatory for applicants aged 16–66. The first sitting, on 15 August 2026, is a pilot.

The language test for citizenship does not exist yet — but the language requirement itself already applies, since 6 June 2026, for applicants aged 16 to 66. Until the test exists, Migrationsverket accepts other evidence instead, such as school grades, SFI course D, komvux or folk high school, so this is not something you have to wait for. The law brings the test in stages: reading and listening from 1 October 2027 at the latest (earlier if the government decides), and writing and speaking on a date the government has not yet set. UHR says only that the Swedish test comes "vid senare tillfälle" and has published no date of its own; some commentary expects it to slip to 2028, but that is an expectation, not an announcement. No CEFR level has been set for any part — the law says reading and listening at a "functional" level and writing and speaking at a "basic" level, not B1 or A2. We do not offer practice for the citizenship language test, because there is nothing published to practise against. The general Swedish ladder below builds the language you will need either way — but it is not the citizenship language test, and we will not pretend otherwise. Confirm your own case with Migrationsverket.