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Asylum-seeking children have full access to the Swedish preschool and school system, and they are largely integrated in regular schools. The municipality where the asylum seeker live is responsible for ensuring that asylum seeking children and young people get access to preschool and school under the same conditions as other children living in the municipality. Small children who have turned one year old can attend preschool while their parents work or study. From the autumn term of the year in which the child turns three, he or she is also entitled to 15 hours of preschool per week without paying any fees.[1] Asylum seeking children are not covered by the law obliging children between the ages of 6 and 16 to attend school but have the right to attend if they wish so. The right to go to school has also been confirmed in law for those children still present in Sweden with an expulsion order and who have absconded with their parents.[2]
Children between 16 and 18 often have to attend a preparatory course to improve their skills in Swedish and other core subjects before being able to access vocational education. Nevertheless, once they have gone through this preparatory phase, in theory, they are not prohibited from taking a vocational course. If a teenager begins a 3-year course at the age of 16 or 17 and is still in Sweden without a permit 2 years later, they will be allowed to continue their studies. However, persons who are over 18 upon arrival in Sweden have no right to access upper secondary education. This being said, there is nothing that officially restricts or stops municipalities from offering upper secondary education if they have the possibility to enrol more students.[3]
Children also have the right to lessons in their own mother tongue on a regular basis, if there are more than 5 pupils with the same language in the area. Itinerant mother tongue teachers are employed for that purpose.[4]
Following several legislative changes,[5] it was at some point possible to get a residence permit allowing applicants to continue their studies in upper secondary school.[6] This option ended in 20 December 2023, together with the end of the chance to obtain a permit for continued studies at an introductory programme. It is therefore no longer possible to be granted a residence permit for studies at upper secondary level. The possibility for holders of permits for studies in upper secondary school to obtain permanent residence permits ended on 20 January 2025.[7]
[1] Migration Agency, Education – School for asylum seeking children, available in Swedish here.
[2]Swedish Parliament, Betänkande 2012/13:UbU12 Utbildning för barn som vistas i landet utan tillstånd, available in Swedish here.
[3] Skolverket, Nyanländas rätt till utbildning, available in Swedish here.
[4] The 2011 School Regulation (Skolförordningen 2011:185), Chapter 5, Paragraph 7.
[5] For an overview see AIDA, Country Report Sweden, 2021 Update, May 2022, available here, 101.
[6] Migration Agency, ‘Frågor och svar om uppehållstillstånd för gymnasiestudier’, available in Swedish at https://www.migrationsverket.se/du-vill-ansoka/studera/ovriga-studier-och-utbytesstudier-pa-gymnasium.html.
[7] Migration Agency, ‘permanent residence permit for holders of permits for studies at upper secondary level, available in Swedish here.