Compulsory school in Sweden begins in the year a child turns six, with a preparatory class rather than a full timetable. Everything that surrounds it, preschool from the age of one, a free school lunch, after-school care, is organised by the municipality and priced by national rules. For parents arriving from abroad, the system is generous, and a little confusing about who to call first.
How are schools in Sweden organised?
Compulsory schooling begins in the autumn of the year a child turns six, in the förskoleklass (preparatory class), for up to six hours a day. Then comes the grundskola, nine years from year 1 to year 9 for children from seven to sixteen. That makes ten years in all. Marks (A to F) start in year 6; before that, assessments. After year 9, the gymnasium (upper secondary) is optional and free, with vocational and general tracks.
The school year runs from August to June, with at least 178 days of teaching and 12 days of holiday. Each organiser, your municipality or the independent school, sets its own term dates.
All of it is free: municipal schools and friskolor (independent schools funded by the state), with lunch, books and materials. Small extras, such as a museum entrance or a travel ticket, can still arise.
How do you enrol your child?
- Register in the population register (see residence in Sweden for EU citizens). The duty to attend school concerns registered children, but children living in Sweden without registration still have the right to school.
- Contact your municipality (kommun) for a municipal school; you may state a preference. For a friskola, apply to the school, which has its own admission rules.
- Bring previous school reports to help place the child in the right year.
- Ask about mother tongue tuition if you speak another language at home. A child may be entitled to modersmålsundervisning and studiehandledning (study guidance in their language). Ask the headteacher.
Do not wait for the personnummer: contact the municipality at once.
Moovy can help you plan the school and preschool steps for your family, from the right municipality to contact, to what to ask about language support, and draft your message in Swedish with an English translation, ready for you to read and send.
What is förskola and how much does it cost?
The förskola is preschool for children from about one to six, optional, with care and early learning together. The municipality must offer a place from age one if parents work, study, are unemployed, or on leave for a younger child, or if the child has special needs. In the autumn of the year a child turns three, the municipality must reserve a place if they do not have one. A public place must be offered within four months of your request, so apply at least four months before you need it.
The fee follows income but is capped by the maxtaxa, meals included. Since 1 July 2026 the Skolverket rules are: 10,000 SEK is first deducted from the household's monthly income, and the income counted is capped at 51,560 SEK. Preschool costs 3 per cent for the first child (maximum 1,547 SEK a month), 2 per cent for the second (1,031 SEK), 1 per cent for the third (516 SEK) and nothing from the fourth. From the autumn of the year a child turns three, 525 hours a year are free.
After school, fritidshem (after-school care) takes children from six until the spring of the year they turn thirteen, if parents work or study or the child has a need, such as another home language. It costs 2 per cent (1,031 SEK), then 1 per cent for the second and third child, nothing from the fourth. Your municipality may charge less. See the cost of living.
What about French or international schools?
The Lycée français Saint-Louis in Stockholm (Essingestråket 24) follows the French curriculum from primary school to the baccalauréat, and is in the network of the French agency for teaching abroad. It has a Swedish förskola. Its 2026-2027 fees for pupils with a personnummer registered in Sweden (subsidised rate) are 14,550 SEK a year in primary, 16,020 SEK at collège and 18,210 SEK at lycée; the full rate is 157,590 SEK without those conditions. Scholarships on income criteria exist for French families. Ask early about places.
Elsewhere, French-speaking nurseries and FLAM associations (French as a mother tongue) are listed by the French embassy for Stockholm, Gothenburg, Lund and Malmö.
Other international schools sit outside the ordinary school system and may charge reasonable fees to cover the cost of a foreign or international programme. Each sets its price: ask the school, and your municipality knows those in its territory.
Which mistakes do parents make?
- Waiting for the personnummer. The right to school starts when you live here.
- Counting on mother tongue lessons. The school must organise them only with five pupils and a teacher.
- Confusing förskola and förskoleklass. The first is optional (ages one to six), the second compulsory and free at six.
- Applying to preschool late. Four months is the legal limit.
- Forgetting to report income changes. The fee depends on income.
- Long absences. A child living durably abroad no longer has Swedish compulsory schooling; the municipality decides.
What do you need from your own country to enrol in schools in Sweden?
Bring school reports and certificates. For your own diplomas, the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) assesses foreign qualifications free of charge online; for a regulated profession it tells you the competent authority. See working in Sweden.
If your employer pays for school under the expert tax relief (a special tax regime; ask the Tax Agency whether you qualify), school fees for compulsory and upper secondary school are exempt.
How does homework, grading and school life work in practice?
From year 6 to year 9, pupils receive marks from A to F; before that, the school reports on progress with written assessments rather than letters. The school year runs from August to June and the dates of the autumn and spring terms are set by your municipality or the independent school, so check the school's own calendar rather than a national one. The state requires at least 178 days of teaching and 12 days of holiday.
Lunch is free for pupils in compulsory school and part of the daily routine. After school, children who need it go to the fritidshem, where they stay until a parent collects them. If you work or study, you have the right to a place, and a place must be offered as soon as possible, at the school or near it.
If your child speaks another language at home, ask the school about study guidance in that language, called studiehandledning, which helps with subjects while the child learns Swedish, and about mother tongue tuition. These are not guaranteed everywhere, and the school may organise them only with at least five pupils for the language and an available teacher, but it costs nothing to ask. A child with special needs may be entitled to extra support from the school; speak to the headteacher in your first meeting.
Think about what happens after year 9. The gymnasium is optional and free, with vocational and general tracks. If your child has attended French schools, ask the Lycée français about continuity towards the baccalauréat, and compare it with the national programmes.
If you have a choice between schools in Sweden, visit more than one. Municipal schools and independent schools are both free, but they differ in size, profile and admission rules, and the best match depends on your child, not on a league table.
What changes by origin?
Nothing in the rules of schooling: EU, Swiss and British children have the same right once they live in Sweden. For Finnish families, Finnish is a national minority language, so mother tongue tuition is due from a single pupil if a teacher is available. For a quick overview of the sequence, read moving to Sweden: the step-by-step guide.