What is SFI? How Swedish for Immigrants works and how to start

Swedish for Immigrants (SFI), in Swedish svenska för invandrare, is free Swedish tuition for adults whose first language is not Swedish. Your home municipality must offer it if you are entitled to it.

What is SFI?

SFI is part of komvux, municipal adult education. You learn to use Swedish in speech and writing, in everyday life, in society and at work, and you can learn to read and write if you need to.

SFI and the books you need are free, but you cannot get student finance from CSN while you study.

Who can study SFI?

You have the right to study SFI from 1 July of the year you turn 16 if you live in Sweden and lack basic Swedish. Living in Sweden normally means being, or about to be, registered in the population register (folkbokförd), but EU/EEA and Swiss citizens can in some cases count as residents without it. There is no upper age limit, and the municipality cannot require a personal identity number (personnummer) before you start.

Asylum seekers and people who already know enough Danish or Norwegian have no right to SFI. Nor do people with temporary protection (for example from Ukraine) who are not to be registered, though the municipality may let them take part.

Study paths and courses A, B, C and D

SFI has four courses, A, B, C and D, with D the highest, spread over three study paths (studievägar) based on how much you have studied before:

• Study path 1: courses A, B, C and D, for people with little or no schooling.
• Study path 2: courses B, C and D, for people who have studied before.
• Study path 3: courses C and D, for people used to studying.

The path decides where you start and how fast you progress, and every path ends with course D.

When you are admitted, the school assesses your Swedish and places you on a suitable path and course, so you will not necessarily start on A. The assessment is the basis for your individual study plan (individuell studieplan). You can stop after any course but have the right to continue to course D.

What changes on 1 January 2027

Courses that start after 31 December 2026 follow new syllabuses, and a course you started before then is finished under the old ones. The change goes by course, not by person: if you are in course C now and move up to D in 2027, your D course follows the new syllabus. The three paths remain, but course names show the path: 1A to 1D, 2B to 2D, and 3C and 3D. Two courses are added: basic literacy, if you have not learned to read and write, and latinisering, if you read and write a language with another alphabet, such as Arabic.

Course sizes show the pace: 1D is 900 credit points, 2D 700 and 3D 300, where a week of full-time study equals 20 points. Grades stay pass or fail. There are still three national tests, at the end of the B, C and D courses, and the new versions apply to courses that start from 2027. More in SFI in 2027: new courses and new national tests.

How to sign up for SFI

SFI is run by your home municipality, the one where you are registered. Its website explains how to apply, usually under SFI or adult education (vuxenutbildning), and the process varies. Wherever you live:

• You have the right to study and career guidance before you start.
• Unless there are special reasons, you should be able to start within three months.
• If you work in another municipality, you may be able to study SFI there.
• To study SFI at a folk high school (folkhögskola), tell your home municipality.

How much and for how long

The municipality must offer at least 15 hours of teaching a week, averaged over four weeks. You can ask for fewer hours, and the school decides whether that works. SFI can be combined with a job, a work placement or other studies.

A time limit has applied since 2026. As of September 2026:

• Three years from the day you were first admitted. The date is in your study plan. The clock runs during breaks and does not restart if you move.
• Extensions of up to six months at a time, to a maximum of six years in total, for special reasons such as illness, parental leave or pausing to work or study. Ask before your three years are up.
• Absence of more than three weeks in a row without illness or approved leave counts as leaving, and you need special reasons to return. Always report illness to the school.
• Started before 2026? Your three years run until 31 December 2028.

How long the courses take is covered in How long does SFI take?

National tests and grades

At the end of courses B, C and D you take a national test in four parts: Läsa (reading), Höra (listening), Skriva (writing) and Tala (speaking). The tests are compulsory but not final exams: the result is one of several things your teacher weighs when grading. After each completed course you get Godkänt (G, pass) or Icke godkänt (IG, fail). If you live in Sweden and already know Swedish, a prövning (an assessment against the syllabus) can get you a grade without taking the course.

More in our guide to the SFI national test and, for course C, our SFI C test guide.

After SFI

Once you reach the SFI goals, you can continue with Swedish as a second language (svenska som andraspråk) at the basic level of komvux. Unlike SFI, it can qualify you for student finance from CSN. You can take it even if your SFI time has run out, as long as you are able to benefit from it. More in After SFI: how Swedish as a second language works.

Some municipalities offer combination programmes: upper secondary vocational training taken alongside SFI or Swedish as a second language.

Thinking about Swedish citizenship? A pass in SFI course D is one way to meet the language requirement: see Does SFI D count for Swedish citizenship?

First steps

1. Find your municipality’s SFI page and apply as it describes.
2. Keep your individual study plan: it shows when your three years started.
3. Start practising before the course begins: common words and how Swedish sounds.

Summary

SFI is free Swedish tuition that you sign up for with the municipality where you are registered. You start on the path that fits your background, and courses B, C and D end with national tests. The rules changed in 2026 and change again in 2027, so always check with your municipality.

SFI Prov is a free app that starts from zero with a beginner path of short lessons and continues with practice for SFI C and D. It has practice tests in Läsa, Höra and Skriva with AI feedback on your writing, vocabulary with recorded Swedish audio at normal and slow speed, short grammar films, and practice conversations with an AI, which need a free account and have a daily time limit. The interface is in Swedish, English, Arabic, Persian and Somali.

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

Sources

In Swedish unless marked.

• Skolverket: Utbildningsguiden on sfi
• Skolverket: The right to sfi
• Skolverket: Stricter requirements in sfi
• Skolverket: sfi syllabus translations, incl. English
• Skolverket: The new sfi syllabuses
• Skolverket: Regulation SKOLFS 2026:67 with the new syllabuses
• Skolverket: Test dates for sfi
• Skolverket: Test parts and content
• Skolverket: Combination programmes
• Stockholm University: The new sfi syllabuses
• Informationsverige.se: Swedish courses (English)
• CSN: Student finance and SFI
• CSN: Student finance and Swedish as a second language

SFI Prov is independent practice material from SverigeFokus and is not affiliated with Skolverket, your municipality or any other authority. Always check current rules with your municipality.