School: moving to Sweden

In Sweden, school is compulsory from the autumn of the year your child turns 6 (förskoleklass, the preparatory class), then for the nine years of the grundskola (basic school): ten years in all. It is free, including lunch, textbooks and materials, in municipal schools as well as in friskolor (independent schools funded by the state). You enrol your child with your municipality, or directly with the friskola; in Stockholm, the Lycée français Saint-Louis follows the French curriculum, from CP (the first year of primary school) to the terminale (the final year).

Steps

Register in the population register (see SE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). Compulsory schooling (skolplikt) applies to children who must be registered; some children without registration (asylum seekers, temporary protection, undocumented) are also entitled to school. A child who is not considered to be living in Sweden may be accepted by the school, without it being obliged to do so (Skolverket).
Contact your municipality (kommun) for a municipal school: you can say which school you prefer. For a friskola, contact it directly: it has its own admission rules.
Age group: most children start förskoleklass at 6 (up to 6 hours a day), then the first year of grundskola in the year they turn 7. The grundskola runs from year 1 to year 9.
Mother tongue: if you speak a language other than Swedish at home, your child may be entitled to mother-tongue lessons (modersmålsundervisning) and to support in their own language (studiehandledning). Ask the head teacher.
Care before and after school: the fritidshem (after-school care), see SE-ECOLE-TOUS-002.
After year 9: the gymnasium (upper secondary school) is optional and free, with vocational and general tracks.

Documents

The child's personnummer (or proof of your move).
Previous school reports and school certificates, useful for placing the child in the right class.
For the Lycée français: the school's own application file (see lfsl.net).

Costs and timelines

Municipal school and friskola: free, lunch, textbooks and materials included. No enrolment fees and no waiting list. Small occasional costs (museum entry, a transport ticket) remain possible.
Grades: from year 6 to year 9, grades from A to F; before that, assessments.
Calendar: the school year runs from August to June, with at least 178 school days and 12 days of holiday (skolförordningen, chapter 3, sections 2 and 3). The start and end dates of the autumn term and the spring term are set by each school organiser (your municipality or the friskola): check its website.
Lycée français Saint-Louis de Stockholm (Essingestråket 24, Stockholm): a school in the AEFE network, accreditation renewed from CP to terminale, with a förskola (Swedish nursery school). School fees for 2026-2027 (subsidised rate, for pupils with a valid personnummer, living and enrolled in Sweden and benefiting from local subsidies; a samordningsnummer or a temporary personnummer does not count): 14,550 SEK a year from CP to CM2 (the last year of primary), 16,020 SEK from 6e to 3e (lower secondary), 18,210 SEK from 2nde to terminale (upper secondary). Full rate of 157,590 SEK: without a personnummer, at the upper secondary level if the parents are not nationals of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, and for any level if the school has not obtained a funding guarantee from the municipality at the date of the offer of a place. Förskola and after-school care at the capped rate of the City of Stockholm (maxtaxa). AEFE school grants exist for French families (conditions: see lfsl.net).
International schools (internationella skolor): outside the ordinary school system, they may charge fees to cover the costs of the foreign or international curriculum (accreditation, pupils in Sweden for a short time), provided they remain reasonable (förordning 2015:801, section 9). Each school sets its own fees: ask the school; your municipality knows those in its area.

Common pitfalls

Waiting for the personnummer to enrol your child. If your child has to be registered in the population register (lasting move), school is compulsory and free for them: contact the municipality straight away, without waiting for the number.
Mother-tongue lessons are not a given. The school only has to organise them if there are at least five pupils for the language and a teacher is available (no minimum for the national minority languages: Finnish, Yiddish, Meänkieli, Romani chib and Sami).
Places at the Lycée français. Find out early about the enrolment process.
A long absence abroad. A child who lives abroad on a lasting basis no longer has a Swedish schooling obligation; the municipality decides.
Relocation with expertskatt: if your employer pays for school (compulsory or upper secondary), this payment is exempt (see SE-IMPOTS-TOUS-002).

What changes by country of origin

French citizens: Lycée français Saint-Louis in Stockholm; elsewhere, the French embassy lists French-speaking nurseries and nursery schools in Stockholm, Göteborg and Lund, and French lessons for children, including FLAM associations (Français langue maternelle) in Stockholm and Malmö.
All: to have your own qualifications recognised (work, studies), contact the UHR (Universitets- och högskolerådet, the Swedish ENIC-NARIC centre): online application, individual recognition certificate. The assessment is free (UHR: recognition certificate or online assessment tool, free of charge); ask the UHR about the processing time. For a regulated profession, a licence or authorisation is needed: contact the authority responsible for the profession (the UHR publishes a list of regulated professions).
Finnish citizens: Finnish is a national minority language; for a child who belongs to a national minority, mother-tongue lessons are due from a single pupil, if a teacher is available, with no requirement to speak the language at home (Skolverket).

The förskola (nursery and nursery school in one) takes children from about 1 to 6 years old; the municipality must offer you a place, in particular if you work, study or are looking for a job. The fee depends on your income but is capped everywhere by the maxtaxa (maximum fee), meals included, and 525 hours a year become free from the autumn of the year a child turns 3. After school, the fritidshem (after-school care) takes over from age 6 until the spring of the year a child turns 13.

Steps

Register in the population register (see SE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001), then contact your municipality for a municipal förskola, or directly the independent förskola of your choice (run by a company, a foundation or an association, with the same rules).
From age 1: the municipality must offer a place when the parents work or study, are unemployed or on parental leave for another child (at least 3 hours a day or 15 hours a week in these last two cases), or if the child has special needs.
The year of the 3rd birthday: from the autumn of the year a child turns 3, every child is entitled to at least 525 hours a year of förskola, whatever their parents' situation. In some cases, the municipality must even make you an offer of a place without your having asked for it: if your child, registered in the population register, was born abroad and has lived in Sweden for five years at most, or if their guardians living in Sweden were born abroad and have lived there for five years at most (unless the offer is clearly unnecessary). The offer is made at least three months before the start date; the place is kept until one month after that date and you are free to turn it down (Skolverket).
For the fritidshem: your child is entitled to it if you work or study, or in the case of a special need (a language other than Swedish spoken at home, a sparsely populated area, a need for support). Ask your municipality, or the friskola if your child goes to school there. The place must be offered as soon as possible, at the school or near the school.

Documents

The personnummer of the child and of the parents.
A certificate of work or study from the parents (to show the need, depending on the municipality).
Your income for the calculation of the fee.

Costs and timelines

Maxtaxa: all municipalities apply this cap; once it is reached, nothing more is charged. Meals are included: no extra charge is possible. Amounts from 1 July 2026 (Skolverket): 10,000 SEK is first deducted from the household's monthly income (no fee below 10,001 SEK), and the income taken into account is capped at 51,560 SEK. Förskola: 3% for the first child (1,547 SEK a month at most), 2% for the second (1,031 SEK), 1% for the third (516 SEK), free from the fourth. Fritidshem: 2% (1,031 SEK), then 1% (516 SEK) for the second and third, free from the fourth. Your municipality may charge less.
Partial free provision: from the autumn of the year a child turns 3, 525 hours a year are free; only the hours beyond that are charged.
Child who needs particular support: only hours beyond 15 a week may be charged.
Time to be allocated a place: the municipality must offer a place in a public förskola within 4 months of your application (skollagen, chapter 8, section 14), sooner if the child needs particular support. So submit your application at least 4 months before the date you want. Right to a place from age 1.

Common pitfalls

Waiting to apply. The time varies by municipality: apply as soon as you move.
Confusing förskola and förskoleklass. The förskola is optional (ages 1 to 6); the förskoleklass, at age 6, is compulsory and free (see SE-ECOLE-TOUS-001).
Forgetting to declare a change in income. The fee depends on your income: tell the municipality.

What changes by country of origin

French citizens: the French embassy lists French-speaking nurseries in Stockholm (Östermalm, Vasastan, Kungsholmen, Södermalm) and in Göteborg, and the Lycée français Saint-Louis has its own förskola in Stockholm.
All: a language other than Swedish spoken at home may justify a place in a fritidshem even if you do not work.

Steps

Register in the population register (see SE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). Compulsory schooling (skolplikt) applies to children who must be registered; some children without registration (asylum seekers, temporary protection, undocumented) are also entitled to school. A child who is not considered to be living in Sweden may be accepted by the school, without it being obliged to do so (Skolverket).
Contact your municipality (kommun) for a municipal school: you can say which school you prefer. For a friskola, contact it directly: it has its own admission rules.
Age group: most children start förskoleklass at 6 (up to 6 hours a day), then the first year of grundskola in the year they turn 7. The grundskola runs from year 1 to year 9.
Mother tongue: if you speak a language other than Swedish at home, your child may be entitled to mother-tongue lessons (modersmålsundervisning) and to support in their own language (studiehandledning). Ask the head teacher.
Care before and after school: the fritidshem (after-school care), see SE-ECOLE-TOUS-002.
After year 9: the gymnasium (upper secondary school) is optional and free, with vocational and general tracks.

Documents

The child's personnummer (or proof of your move).
Previous school reports and school certificates, useful for placing the child in the right class.
For the Lycée français: the school's own application file (see lfsl.net).

Costs and timelines

Municipal school and friskola: free, lunch, textbooks and materials included. No enrolment fees and no waiting list. Small occasional costs (museum entry, a transport ticket) remain possible.
Grades: from year 6 to year 9, grades from A to F; before that, assessments.
Calendar: the school year runs from August to June, with at least 178 school days and 12 days of holiday (skolförordningen, chapter 3, sections 2 and 3). The start and end dates of the autumn term and the spring term are set by each school organiser (your municipality or the friskola): check its website.
Lycée français Saint-Louis de Stockholm (Essingestråket 24, Stockholm): a school in the AEFE network, accreditation renewed from CP to terminale, with a förskola (Swedish nursery school). School fees for 2026-2027 (subsidised rate, for pupils with a valid personnummer, living and enrolled in Sweden and benefiting from local subsidies; a samordningsnummer or a temporary personnummer does not count): 14,550 SEK a year from CP to CM2 (the last year of primary), 16,020 SEK from 6e to 3e (lower secondary), 18,210 SEK from 2nde to terminale (upper secondary). Full rate of 157,590 SEK: without a personnummer, at the upper secondary level if the parents are not nationals of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, and for any level if the school has not obtained a funding guarantee from the municipality at the date of the offer of a place. Förskola and after-school care at the capped rate of the City of Stockholm (maxtaxa). AEFE school grants exist for French families (conditions: see lfsl.net).
International schools (internationella skolor): outside the ordinary school system, they may charge fees to cover the costs of the foreign or international curriculum (accreditation, pupils in Sweden for a short time), provided they remain reasonable (förordning 2015:801, section 9). Each school sets its own fees: ask the school; your municipality knows those in its area.

Common pitfalls

Waiting for the personnummer to enrol your child. If your child has to be registered in the population register (lasting move), school is compulsory and free for them: contact the municipality straight away, without waiting for the number.
Mother-tongue lessons are not a given. The school only has to organise them if there are at least five pupils for the language and a teacher is available (no minimum for the national minority languages: Finnish, Yiddish, Meänkieli, Romani chib and Sami).
Places at the Lycée français. Find out early about the enrolment process.
A long absence abroad. A child who lives abroad on a lasting basis no longer has a Swedish schooling obligation; the municipality decides.
Relocation with expertskatt: if your employer pays for school (compulsory or upper secondary), this payment is exempt (see SE-IMPOTS-TOUS-002).

What changes by country of origin

French citizens: Lycée français Saint-Louis in Stockholm; elsewhere, the French embassy lists French-speaking nurseries and nursery schools in Stockholm, Göteborg and Lund, and French lessons for children, including FLAM associations (Français langue maternelle) in Stockholm and Malmö.
All: to have your own qualifications recognised (work, studies), contact the UHR (Universitets- och högskolerådet, the Swedish ENIC-NARIC centre): online application, individual recognition certificate. The assessment is free (UHR: recognition certificate or online assessment tool, free of charge); ask the UHR about the processing time. For a regulated profession, a licence or authorisation is needed: contact the authority responsible for the profession (the UHR publishes a list of regulated professions).
Finnish citizens: Finnish is a national minority language; for a child who belongs to a national minority, mother-tongue lessons are due from a single pupil, if a teacher is available, with no requirement to speak the language at home (Skolverket).

Steps

Register in the population register (see SE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001), then contact your municipality for a municipal förskola, or directly the independent förskola of your choice (run by a company, a foundation or an association, with the same rules).
From age 1: the municipality must offer a place when the parents work or study, are unemployed or on parental leave for another child (at least 3 hours a day or 15 hours a week in these last two cases), or if the child has special needs.
The year of the 3rd birthday: from the autumn of the year a child turns 3, every child is entitled to at least 525 hours a year of förskola, whatever their parents' situation. In some cases, the municipality must even make you an offer of a place without your having asked for it: if your child, registered in the population register, was born abroad and has lived in Sweden for five years at most, or if their guardians living in Sweden were born abroad and have lived there for five years at most (unless the offer is clearly unnecessary). The offer is made at least three months before the start date; the place is kept until one month after that date and you are free to turn it down (Skolverket).
For the fritidshem: your child is entitled to it if you work or study, or in the case of a special need (a language other than Swedish spoken at home, a sparsely populated area, a need for support). Ask your municipality, or the friskola if your child goes to school there. The place must be offered as soon as possible, at the school or near the school.

Documents

The personnummer of the child and of the parents.
A certificate of work or study from the parents (to show the need, depending on the municipality).
Your income for the calculation of the fee.

Costs and timelines

Maxtaxa: all municipalities apply this cap; once it is reached, nothing more is charged. Meals are included: no extra charge is possible. Amounts from 1 July 2026 (Skolverket): 10,000 SEK is first deducted from the household's monthly income (no fee below 10,001 SEK), and the income taken into account is capped at 51,560 SEK. Förskola: 3% for the first child (1,547 SEK a month at most), 2% for the second (1,031 SEK), 1% for the third (516 SEK), free from the fourth. Fritidshem: 2% (1,031 SEK), then 1% (516 SEK) for the second and third, free from the fourth. Your municipality may charge less.
Partial free provision: from the autumn of the year a child turns 3, 525 hours a year are free; only the hours beyond that are charged.
Child who needs particular support: only hours beyond 15 a week may be charged.
Time to be allocated a place: the municipality must offer a place in a public förskola within 4 months of your application (skollagen, chapter 8, section 14), sooner if the child needs particular support. So submit your application at least 4 months before the date you want. Right to a place from age 1.

Common pitfalls

Waiting to apply. The time varies by municipality: apply as soon as you move.
Confusing förskola and förskoleklass. The förskola is optional (ages 1 to 6); the förskoleklass, at age 6, is compulsory and free (see SE-ECOLE-TOUS-001).
Forgetting to declare a change in income. The fee depends on your income: tell the municipality.

What changes by country of origin

French citizens: the French embassy lists French-speaking nurseries in Stockholm (Östermalm, Vasastan, Kungsholmen, Södermalm) and in Göteborg, and the Lycée français Saint-Louis has its own förskola in Stockholm.
All: a language other than Swedish spoken at home may justify a place in a fritidshem even if you do not work.

School

Schooling my children in Sweden: compulsory school, enrolment, the French school and recognition of qualifications

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

Nursery and after-school care in Sweden: förskola from age 1, fritidshem and maxtaxa

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

Other topics

School

Schooling my children in Sweden: compulsory school, enrolment, the French school and recognition of qualifications

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

Nursery and after-school care in Sweden: förskola from age 1, fritidshem and maxtaxa

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

Other topics