What you can study in English in Sweden, and why the bachelor's list is so short

Why searching "study music in Sweden" ends in disappointment

Swedish universities certainly teach music, history, geology and theology at bachelor level. Almost all of it is taught in Swedish. The subject is not missing; the teaching at that level is simply delivered in the country's own language.

Lund University's own admissions page says so directly: most bachelor's programmes are mainly taught in Swedish and require Swedish proficiency, "as at most universities in Sweden", and ten programmes are taught entirely in English and open to eligible international students. The University of Gothenburg's picture is similar, with its international English-taught bachelor's programmes numbering in the low tens.

So if you want a bachelor's in Sweden, the real question is not whether your subject exists. It is whether your subject is one of the handful taught in English.

At master's level it reverses

This is where Sweden is genuinely open to international students, and where its strengths are:

Stockholm University alone runs more than 100 English-taught master's programmes across science, the humanities, social sciences and law. So there is an English-language route into subjects like history or theology after all — at master's level. To see what exists where, use the university matcher.

The application structure is different, and this is what stops most files

You do not apply to each university separately in Sweden. Every application goes through one central portal, universityadmissions.se, which means three things:

• The deadlines are fixed and unforgiving. Applications for the autumn intake usually close in mid-January, about eight months before teaching starts. Miss it and you wait a year.
• One application, several choices, ranked in order of preference — so the list is worth thinking about properly.
• Documents are submitted the portal's way, not each university's way.

Sweden's intakes are August and January; the full calendar is on the deadlines page.

Money, and a work rule that changed

Tuition for non-EU students runs roughly EUR 7,000-13,000 a year, and you must show about SEK 10,656 a month, around EUR 960, set in Swedish kronor. The English requirement is usually IELTS 6.5, with some programmes at 6.0.

⚠️ Since 11 June 2026 term-time work is capped at 15 hours a week. That is stricter than before, and most of what you will read online still describes the older, more permissive arrangement. Limits are relaxed over the summer and for university-related work. If your budget assumed significant part-time earnings, rebuild it on the new number using the cost calculator.

After graduating you can apply for a 12-month job-seeking residence permit. Every figure is in the Sweden country guide.

How to decide

Sweden suits you if you are applying at master's level, your field sits near technology, science or the social sciences, you can meet a January deadline, and your budget does not depend on part-time earnings.

Sweden does not suit you if you want a bachelor's in a subject outside that short English-taught list. Countries with more English-taught undergraduate provision are the more realistic route — start with Finland versus Sweden and Sweden versus Denmark, or take the eligibility check.

Before you accept any offer, confirm that the programme is really taught in English.