Breaking down the university admissions timeline in Sweden

For students seeking to pursue their undergraduate or graduate studies in Sweden, it’s important to keep your eyes on their central University Admissions website. This serves both as the admissions portal and a reservoir for all information related to Swedish universities, programmes, and degrees.

Typically, Sweden has two intakes a year, and the dates are the same for both undergraduate and graduate studies admissions. The intakes are for the Autumn semester, which typically begins in August or September, and for the Spring semester, which commences in January.

The application process is conducted in two rounds, the first of which is for international students, as it takes into account the timeline for acquiring residence permits and relocation. The second round is generally designated for Swedish students or students living in the European Union, European Economic Area, or Switzerland region.

Dates and Deadlines for International Students

Autumn Semester: The admission portals open for application in mid-October. For the studies commencing in Autumn 2026, the application portal was opened on October 16, 2025.

The last day to submit applications generally falls around mid-January. For Autumn 2026, the deadline for this was January 15, 2026. You have to select and rank your programmes within this time frame.

The last day to submit all your supporting documents will be late January to early February. For Autumn 2026, this date fell on February 2, 2026. This is also the deadline within which you must submit your application fees, which is typically SEK 900.

The results are published in late March. For the latest intake, the results were published on March 26, 2026 for master’s programmes, and March 31, 2026 for undergraduate ones.

Note that most programmes commence with the Autumn semester, so this is the general timeline you must maintain if you’re aspiring to study in Sweden.

Spring Semester: While most programmes begin with the Autumn semester, there are a handful that also have a spring intake. For the Spring intake, the application portal generally opens around early June. For Spring 2026, the application portal opened on June 2, 2025.

The last day to submit applications and rank your programmes will typically fall around mid-August, which was August 15, 2025 for Spring 2026.

Just like the Autumn semester, there’s a deadline by which you must submit your application fees and all your documents. This falls in early September. For Spring 2026, this was on September 1, 2025.

The results are published in early October. Last year, the bachelor’s results were published on October 2, 2025 and master’s results on October 9, 2025.

Top universities in Sweden

*Rankings based on QS World University Rankings (published on 19 June, 2025) 

1. Lund University

Ranked 72 globally, Lund University has strong positions in subject areas such as environmental sciences, architecture, and finance and marketing, making it a top choice of international students.

2. KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Boasting over 60 master’s programmes in English along with a global ranking of 78, KTH offers their students world-class research opportunities in various technology and engineering fields.

3. Uppsala University

Renowned as a comprehensive international research university, Uppsala is ranked among the top 100 universities in the world. The university grants its students access to high quality education, which is recognised both internationally and across Sweden.

4. Stockholm University

Stockholm University offers 75 master’s programmes and three bachelor’s programmes taught in English within science, the humanities, social sciences and law. It is ranked amongst the top 150 universities globally.

5. Chalmers University of Technology

Frequently rated as the best known as well as the best reputed university in the country, Chalmers has also secured top scores on learning in the International Students Barometer. It is ranked 165 globally.