SFI: learning Swedish for free

Who can study

• You live in Sweden and do not yet have basic Swedish.
• From 1 July of the year you turn 16. There is no upper age limit.
• You apply to the municipality you live in. It cannot demand a personnummer before you start, though it needs some way to identify you.

Study paths and courses

SFI has four courses, A, B, C and D, and three study paths depending on your schooling. Path 1 is for people with little or no schooling and covers A to D. Path 2 is for people who finished school in their home country and covers B to D. Path 3 is for people with upper secondary school or university and covers C and D.

You can study full time or part time, in the daytime or evenings, so it fits next to a job. Some municipalities also offer SFI combined with vocational training.

Time limits since 2026

If you start SFI on or after 1 January 2026, you have three years from when you are registered on the course to finish. People who started earlier have until 31 December 2028. The time can be extended for special reasons, such as parental leave, illness or work.

Why Sweden pays for it

Swedish is seen as the key to work, to studies and to taking part in society. Many Swedes speak excellent English, but most jobs, forms and everyday conversations still happen in Swedish, so the state pays for anyone who lives here to learn it.

Questions and answers

More about life in Sweden

• What it's like to live in Sweden
• How the bostadskö works
• What is fika?
• The tvättstuga and the arga lappar
• The personnummer, and why you need one
• Working in Sweden, and why it works that way
• The dark winter and the light summer
• Swedish holidays through the year