How to become a teacher in Sweden – with foreign credentials

Are you interested in working as a teacher or preschool teacher in Sweden? Ola Berg, HR-specialist at the City of Gothenburg, provides some guidance on how to make it happen.

As a teacher who recently moved to Gothenburg, what would be the first steps towards working for a Swedish teaching certification?

The first thing would be to sign up for SFI (Svenska för invandrare/Swedish for immigrants) in your municipality or city of residence. Furthermore, it is important to get your education evaluated by sending your documents/certificates for evaluation to UHR, which in English is the Swedish Council for Higher Education: https://www.uhr.se/en/start/. This page can be translated into several languages.

Can teachers from abroad without a Swedish license work part-time in Swedish or bilingual preschools and schools?

If you have a statement from UHR where it’s stated that you have a passable teacher-training, then this could enable you to attain time-limited employment as a teacher’s assistant, for example.

Where can these types of jobs be found?

You might find them via Arbetsförmedlingen which is the Swedish Public Employment Service website https://arbetsformedlingen.se/ or on the vacancy pages of municipality websites. For example, in Gothenburg, you can check the page: https://goteborg.se/wps/portal/start/jobb/lediga-jobb-i-goteborgs

Each city/municipality is responsible for its own schools and preschools. Good knowledge in the Swedish language is often required.

There is also the option to directly approach recruiting principals at international and/or bilingual preschools and schools in the region, where mostly English or other languages are used in the teaching besides Swedish.

Are there education programmes for teachers with teacher diplomas from another country? If so, what are the requirements to enrol and where can I find out more?

Yes, at the University of Gothenburg there is a programme called ULV (utländska lärare och akademikers vidareutbildning) which is a supplementary education-training programme designed for foreign teachers. My advice is, as soon as you have received your statement from UHR, visit the university’s drop-in study advisory service for guidance.  

Study Advisory Service:

Visiting address: Skolgatan 2, Gothenburg (Drop-in is closed for now due to Covid, stay updated here https://www.gu.se/studera/hitta-utbildning/ulv)

E-mail: ulv@gu.se

Phone: +46 31-786 6916 | Phone hours: Wednesday 1-3pm

Good to know:

In Sweden, it is the National Agency for Education (Skolverket) which authorises and issues teacher licenses. You may apply for a Swedish teacher license directly to this agency if you know you have an approved teacher-training diploma and you have attained Swedish language requirements. The fee for applying is 1,500 SEK and you can find more information on https://www.skolverket.se/andra-sprak-other-languages/english-engelska#h-Contactus