Practising with old SFI national tests

Search for old SFI national tests and you will find plenty online, but little of it comes from Skolverket, the Swedish National Agency for Education. Today’s tests stay confidential for years, so there is no official archive of complete tests. There are example tasks for all four parts, though, and they take you a long way if you practise the format rather than chase questions.

What is officially available

As of September 2026, Skolverket’s page of old national tests (in Swedish) has no complete SFI tests, only example tasks for all four parts:

• Höra (listening): five tasks with audio files, from course B to course D.
• Läsa (reading): example tasks (pdf) with adverts, text messages, a chart and, for course D, an interview where you match questions to answers.
• Skriva (writing): a letter to a friend, course C (pdf) and a reply to a letter to the editor, course D (pdf).
• Tala (speaking): individual and pair tasks (pdf).

Skolverket notes that the levels are approximate and that the tasks mainly show the format.

Stockholm University’s test group, which writes the tests for Skolverket, also publishes assessment grids for writing and speaking (bedömningsmatriser) that show what your teacher looks for. For the test as a whole, see our guide to the SFI national test.

What is confidential, and why

The tests are confidential (sekretess) under Sweden’s Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, even after you have taken them, because Skolverket reuses tasks. According to Skolverket’s table, every SFI test from 2022 onwards is reused until 30 June 2032–2036, depending on the test. Only the very oldest tests are no longer reused, and they are not on Skolverket’s page either.

No new tests come out in autumn 2026: schools may use test numbers 6–10, and two new tests arrive in spring 2027. Nor can your teacher give you a real national test as practice, since the tests may only be taken at the end of the course.

Do not trust leaked tests

Skolverket says it regularly hears of SFI tests spread on social media and answers shared in closed groups, and it asks teachers to look closely at results that differ unexpectedly from a student’s other work. If your teacher can establish that you cheated, the result cannot count towards your grade, and you lose the evidence that normally carries special weight (how the SFI test is graded).

You cannot verify such material either, and a memorised answer key is no help in writing and speaking, where you produce your own Swedish.

How to practise the format instead

The test group says the tasks mirror everyday life, such as finding information in an advert or writing to a neighbour, so practise with real everyday texts.

Reading against the clock

The test has a set time limit, so practise with a timer. Courses C and D always include a longer article, where you answer questions about the content or decide which statements match the text. Read the questions first, then look for the answers. Practise without your phone, since phones are not allowed during the test.

Listening without a pause button

Play Skolverket’s example recordings straight through without pausing, and use the time before each passage to read the questions. In the real test, extra playbacks or longer pauses to answer are an adaptation used only in individual cases.

Writing to a task and a reader

Course C has one fairly informal writing task, course D two, one of them more formal (see our guides to the C test and the D test). The course C example asks for a letter to a friend about a trip, and Skolverket notes that it lacks the requirement to give reasons and arguments, so back up your opinions when you practise.

Use the grid as a checklist. Have you answered the task? Does the text suit the reader? Does it have an opening, a middle and an ending? Do you link sentences with och (and), men (but), sedan (then) and eftersom (because)? The language need not be fully correct as long as mistakes do not block understanding, so try longer sentences.

Speaking in pairs, with a timer

Courses C and D include one individual speaking task and one in pairs. In Skolverket’s example, a pair talks for about ten minutes around a mind map while the teacher just listens, and in the course D example they must also agree on what matters most.

Practise the same way with a classmate: ten minutes on a timer, a mind map with five points, and questions like Vad tycker du? (What do you think?) and Varför? (Why?). Share the talking time evenly. Do not memorise a speech: the test group’s guidance tells the teacher to ask a new question when a student is clearly reciting one.

What your school can do for you

• A review afterwards. Your teacher can go through your test with you, without revealing the right answers to questions you missed. You can, however, get a copy of your score summary.
• Filmed example conversations. Samtal på gång, a password-protected teacher resource, has filmed test conversations that, according to the test group, can be shown to students before the speaking test, so ask your teacher.
• Adaptations. If you have a disability or reading and writing difficulties, ask early about adaptations such as extra time. No formal diagnosis is required.

Summary

Skolverket publishes no complete SFI tests, because they are reused and stay confidential for years. Use its example tasks for all four parts and the test group’s assessment grids instead. Do not trust material that claims to be the real test. Practise the format: read against the clock, listen without pausing, write to a reader and speak in pairs.

For full practice tests, you can use the free SFI Prov app. Its practice tests for SFI C and D are built on the test’s published format: reading with mixed task types, listening with recorded audio and writing with AI feedback, in new combinations every time. It contains no real or leaked test questions. It also has vocabulary with recorded Swedish audio at normal and slow speed, and an interface in Swedish, English, Arabic, Persian and Somali.

Download SFI Prov on the App Store → · Google Play →

Sources

All sources are in Swedish.

• Skolverket: Old national tests
• Skolverket: Confidentiality of tests
• Skolverket: Test dates for SFI
• Skolverket: Test parts and content, SFI
• Skolverket: When national tests are spread
• Skolverket: Assessment support for SFI
• Stockholm University: About the SFI tests
• Stockholm University: Frequently asked questions

SFI Prov is independent practice material from SverigeFokus and is not affiliated with Skolverket, Stockholm University or any other authority. Always confirm current test rules with your SFI school.