Analysis
Adult education in Sweden
Komvux, SFI and yrkesvux in numbers: 364,810 komvux students and 63,326 SFI students across 244 municipalities. How do results, costs and teacher certification differ?
March 2026 · Source: Kolada
Key findings
Municipal adult education (komvux) covers basic and upper-secondary level adult education as well as vocational adult education (yrkesvux). Data from 244 municipalities shows significant differences in both results and resource allocation. SFI (Swedish for immigrants) is a separate programme with its own challenges.
Komvux students
- students nationwide
- 364,810
- 244 municipalities with data
Passing grades
- basic level (average)
- 68.5 %
- Upper-secondary: 70.6 %
SFI students
- students nationwide
- 63,326
- Passing course D: 96.0 %
Adult education is a central part of lifelong learning and plays a key role in integration, career transition and skills supply. Results vary significantly between municipalities.
Komvux in numbers
Municipal adult education offers education at the basic and upper-secondary levels. Below, key indicators for teacher certification and costs are compared.
Teacher certification, basic
- teachers with certification
- 76.4 %
- 219 municipalities with data
Teacher certification, upper-sec.
- teachers with certification
- 65.4 %
- 217 municipalities with data
Median cost per full-time student
The median cost for a full-time student in komvux is 74,934 SEK/year. The spread is large — from 8,901 SEK in 1270to 247,636 SEK in 2421.
Top 10: Highest share of passing grades (basic level)
| Municipality | Passing % | Students | Certification % | Cost SEK/student |
|---|
| 2326 | 100.0 | 93 | — | 93,262 |
| 2409 | 100.0 | 131 | 0.0 | 76,955 |
| 2513 | 100.0 | 85 | — | 45,714 |
| 0128 | 100.0 | 605 | — | 29,388 |
| 0563 | 100.0 | 46 | — | 62,846 |
| 0488 | 89.0 | 106 | — | 54,533 |
| 2404 | 88.7 | 158 | 100.0 | 61,578 |
| 1460 | 88.2 | 259 | 100.0 | 124,692 |
| 2417 | 88.2 | 152 | 68.8 | 74,849 |
| 2262 | 88.1 | 454 | 75.0 | 93,414 |
Bottom 10: Lowest share of passing grades (basic level)
| Municipality | Passing % | Students | Certification % | Cost SEK/student |
|---|
| 0428 | 18.5 | — | — | 57,792 |
| 0305 | 28.0 | 475 | — | 41,996 |
| 2462 | 30.8 | 317 | 100.0 | 166,328 |
| 0765 | 31.0 | 769 | 57.1 | 82,674 |
| 0761 | 40.7 | 349 | 31.8 | 41,939 |
| 1960 | 40.9 | 342 | 100.0 | 108,200 |
| 2560 | 43.5 | 163 | 100.0 | 90,500 |
| 1441 | 44.2 | 1,303 | — | 115,701 |
| 1489 | 45.8 | 1,294 | 52.6 | 81,699 |
| 2582 | 49.5 | 1,023 | 71.8 | 96,393 |
Share of course participants at the basic level who received a passing grade. Source: Kolada.
SFI — Swedish for immigrants
SFI is a central part of integration efforts in Sweden. The programme is divided into study tracks (1–3) and courses (A–D), where course D is the highest level.
Passing course D
- national average
- 96.0 %
- 237 municipalities
Teacher certification SFI
- with certification
- 55.5 %
- 256 municipalities
Number of SFI students
- nationwide
- 63,326
- 240 municipalities
Important caveats
- Data is sourced from Kolada and refers to the most recently available year (typically the year before publication).
- The share of passing grades refers to course participants, not unique students. A student may participate in multiple courses.
- Cost per full-time student is affected by municipality size, programme offering and special initiatives.
- Small municipalities with few students can produce extreme percentage values. Interpret with caution.
- SFI results are strongly influenced by the student composition (educational background, mother tongue, length of residency).
- Yrkesvux (government-funded vocational adult education) is not reported separately in Kolada.
