Studiestöd för utbildning på grundskole- och gymnasienivå

Most jobs require you to have basic education. To increase your chances of a job, you might need a vocational education or upper-secondary education. Through us and other authorities, you can get support to study.

Study with student aid

Student aid consists of grants and loans for studies from CSN. These may include studies in adult education, folk high schools, universities or vocational universities, and certain courses abroad. In some cases, you may even receive a higher grant from CSN to complete an upper-secondary education. The higher grant means that you do not have to take as much loans. On the CSN website, you can read more about the applicable regulations.

CSN.se - Student finance

CSN.se - Higher grant for some educations

Student finance for transition and retraining

Student finance for transition and retraining from the CSN (Swedish National Board of Student Aid) is for those who are working or have recently become unemployed and wish to study to improve their skills and become more attractive in the labour market.

Student finance for transition and retraining consists of a grant of up to 80 per cent of your pay, up to a certain maximum amount. You can supplement the grant with a loan if you wish. To receive student finance for transition and retraining, you must fulfil certain conditions; for example, you must have worked at least 12 of the last 24 months before applying for support from the CSN.

CSN – Student finance for transition and retraining (csn.se) 

Study with education entry grants

Education entry grants is a grant that some unemployed people can receive to study and thereby increase their chances of finding employment. Education entry grants consists only of grants, which means that you do not have to take out a loan. It is possible to receive education entry grants for studies in adult education at upper-secondary or primary and lower-secondary level or for general courses at folk high schools. You can receive education entry grants for up to 50 weeks if you are studying full-time and 100 weeks if you are studying part-time.

In order to receive education entry grants, you need to

  • be between 25 and 60 years of age
  • have a short previous education
  • have a significant need for education at primary and lower-secondary or upper-secondary level in order to be able to find a job
  • have been unemployed or participated in a programme from the Swedish Public Employment Service for a total of at least six months for a period of 12 months prior to the start of the application or the start of the education
  • have not received financial aid from CSN for the last three years.

Before you apply for education entry grants, you will meet with a guidance counsellor at the municipality. You will set up a plan for your studies together and discuss what grants and loans may be relevant to you. If you agree that education entry grants would be right for you, you will submit an application.

You can read more about the applicable regulations on the CSN website.

CSN.se - education entry grants

Study with support from Arbetsförmedlingen

You can receive activity support or development allowance for a maximum of 12 months while you are studying. You may be pursuing a full study programme or starting your studies with activity support so that you can study later with student aid. It is Arbetsförmedlingen that performs an assessment of whether you can study with activity support in order to get closer to a job.

Study with support from Arbetsförmedlingen

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In this video, with english subtitles, we inform about studying with activity support or development allowance.

In order to study with activity support or development allowance, you must be registered at Arbetsförmedlingen and be completely unemployed or participating in the job and development guarantee programme. If you are participating in the job guarantee programme for young people, you cannot study with activity support unless you are studying Swedish for Immigrants within the job guarantee programme. If you are in the introduction programme, you study with introduction benefit instead of with activity support.

You can claim activity support for studies if you are studying:

  • municipal adult education at upper secondary level
  • municipal adult education at basic level
  • general course at folk high school
  • Swedish for Immigrants, for example in combination with other parts of the adult education programme
  • municipal adult education as a special programme, i.e. adult education for anyone with a developmental disorder.

Studies with activity support can mean that you are studying a vocational programme, studying Swedish as a second language or studying towards an upper secondary qualification, for example if you have not completed your upper secondary education. It may also be that you are taking a general course at folk high school or studying subjects at compulsory school level in adult education.

If you are participating in the job and development guarantee programme, you can also study with activity support in higher vocational education, at institutes of higher education or in post-secondary study programmes at folk high schools.

Motivational and guidance-based courses

There are many ways to prepare for studies. Maybe you don’t have a particular competence or you don’t know which study programme you should take. Or maybe you’re not sure whether you want or are able to study. The Public Employment Service has a number of motivational and guidance-based courses that can help you.

There are several motivational and preparatory courses you can take via the Public Employment Service to prepare you ahead of your studies. Here are a few examples:

  • Establishment course at a folk high school. For those who are part of the establishment programme. You study Swedish, often interspersed with study visits, internships, and other initiatives that prepare you for further studies or jobs.