2026

New model for short courses to benefit professionals

Published 1 October 2025 

The labour market is changing rapidly and therefore it needs to be easier for professionals to study while in the middle of their careers. In the budget bill for 2026, the Government proposes that a few universities will receive a total of SEK 20 million (EUR 1.8 million) in 2026 to develop short courses that are relevant to professionals. This sum will double for the years following. 

The current resource allocation system for higher education is mainly focused on undergraduate courses for full-time entry-level students. Courses for professionals are disadvantaged because the courses are more specialised and thus attract fewer students. In order for universities and colleges to be able to prioritise meeting the need for flexible and shorter courses for professionals to a sufficient extent, measures are required. A better adapted course offering for professionals strengthens both the individual and Swedish competitiveness. 

The Government is also continuing the ongoing investment in short courses in strategic areas. The focus of the investment is, among other things, green transition, batteries and production technology, artificial intelligence and nuclear power technology. The purpose of the investment is for universities to be able to develop a particularly qualified range of education aimed at professionals with specialist skills. The Government proposes SEK 50 million (EUR 4.6 million) per year from 2026 onwards to make this investment permanent.

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2025

A special reimbursement model for transition training and further training for professionals

Being able to change careers and develop one's skills during working life is crucial to meeting the rapid changes and needs of the labour market. Therefore, more short courses within higher education institutions that are relevant to professionals are needed. The Ministry of Education is now submitting a proposal for a model for how the educational offer of higher education institutions can be developed. 

The inquiry proposes a new remuneration model with two components. One component is a special remuneration for training courses for the skills development and transition of professionals. Remuneration is paid for short part-time courses that are adapted to the needs of the labour market and professionals. The special remuneration makes it possible to hold high-quality training courses, even with few participants. The second component consists of a model for redistributing funding between higher education institutions. The model is intended to provide financial incentives for higher education institutions to develop new training courses for professionals. The proposal is proposed to enter into force on 1 January 2026. 

More information (in Swedish) 

Even more information (in Swedish)

Strengthened opportunities for the unemployed to attend municipal adult education

Unemployed people who do not have a high school education have difficulty competing in the labor market. More unemployed people therefore need to take part in municipal adult education in order to be able to find work. The Public Employment Service's access to information about job seekers' participation in municipal adult education also needs to be improved. The government has therefore decided on a legislative referral. It contains, among other things, proposals for a duty of information for municipalities towards the Public Employment Service. 

In recent years, several measures have been implemented to make it easier for job seekers to take part in municipal adult education. This is to strengthen the individual's opportunities in the labor market. However, several challenges remain. One such is that the Public Employment Service does not have access to the information required to be able to follow up and monitor job seekers who study in municipal adult education. 

In the legislative referral, the government therefore proposes that municipalities should be obliged to provide relevant information about job seekers to the Public Employment Service. This would enable the Public Employment Service to follow up on the support provided to job seekers during their studies. It would also create better conditions for the Public Employment Service to detect mismanagement among participants in labor market policy programmes and decide on sanctions, for example if a participant has not applied for a training programme he or she has been instructed to apply for. In this way, the risk of incorrect payments will also be reduced. 

The legislative amendments are proposed to enter into force on March 1, 2026.

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Stricter requirements in Swedish for immigrants

The legislative council's report contains proposals for amendments to the Education Act that will strengthen municipal adult education in Swedish for immigrants (SFI).

The proposals entail the following:

• The right to participate in SFI shall, as a general rule, apply for three years from the time when the person was first accepted for the education.
• The municipality shall draw up an action plan for its efforts to reach the people in the municipality who are entitled to SFI and to motivate them to participate in the education. The action plan shall be continuously monitored and revised if necessary.
• Those who are entitled to SFI shall also have the right to participate in the education in a municipality other than their home municipality if there are special reasons. A municipality that accepts a student from their home municipality in SFI shall receive compensation for its costs for the student's education from the student's home municipality.
• When a student is accepted for SFI, the student's knowledge shall be assessed, unless such an assessment is clearly unnecessary. The result of the assessment shall form the basis for the individual study plan.
• The individual study plan for a student in SFI shall contain information about the time when the student was first accepted for the education. If the student transfers to SFI with another principal, the principal the student leaves must hand over the student's individual study plan to the receiving principal.

The amendments to the Education Act will enter into force on 1 January 2025. For those who have been accepted to SFI before the entry into force, the right to participate in the education will apply until 31 December 2027.

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2024

Bildung, education and participation

The Government's special investigator has handed over the Liberal Adult Education Investigation's report "Bildung, education and participation – liberal adult education policy in a new era". 

There have been recurring problems with cheating and inaccuracies within the adult educational associations' activities, and the investigation proposes several measures to strengthen control and increase transparency. The proposals will hopefully sort out the problems so that liberal adult education can focus on the important work that is being done, not least for groups with disabilities. 

The Liberal Adult Education Investigation has had a broad mission to propose changes aimed at ensuring appropriate management, follow-up and control of the state subsidy to liberal adult education, while the intention of the mission was that liberal adult education should be given the best conditions to operate in the future. An overarching issue has been to analyze the current control and distribution model for the state grant with the aim of making it more effective, transparent and predictable and reducing the risk of fraud and errors. 

The investigation's proposal also includes:  

• a new goal and a new goal structure for liberal adult education policy
• indicators for monitoring liberal adult education
• a new model for regular follow-up and evaluation of the state contribution to liberal adult education
• strengthened control of the state subsidy
• a new model for state participation in the audit of the The Swedish National Council of Adult Education (Folkbildningsrådet) and SISU Sports Trainers
• a system for withdrawing state grants and handling unused funds. 

All of the investigation's proposals are proposed to enter into force on 1 January 2026.

For more information (in Swedish)