Child care and schools

If you have children, you should locate a pre-school or school and apply for a place as early as possible.

To get help with the process of application for schools in Uppsala please contact the municipality of Uppsala, department for newly arrived: skola.nyanlanda@uppsala.se. Read more about registration for school or preschool at Uppsala Municipality’s website.

Pre-school

Childcare services are available for children from one year of age. You pay a fee based on your household income as well as the number of children you currently have enrolled. The maximum monthly cost for your first child is SEK 1 572 kr (2022).

There are about 200 pre-schools in Uppsala, of which two have English-speaking departments:

Ringarens förskola, Kvarngärdet
Kids2Home Karlsro

Complete list of all pre-school options in Uppsala (only in Swedish)

Application for pre-school in Uppsala is made through the Child Care Administration at the municipality. The relevant pages are only available in Swedish, but if you contact the Child Care Administration, they will guide you through the application process.

Tel.: +46 18 727 55 00. Mon–Fri 09:30 to 16:00, Thu–Fri 09:30 to 11:30
Email: antagning.forskola@uppsala.se
Address: Municipal Information, Stationsgatan 12 (Open Monday, Wednesday and Friday 09:00 to 17:00)

There are about 20 pre-schools in Visby (Gotland). You can read more about pre-schools in Visby at Region Gotland.

Primary School and Upper Secondary School

According to Swedish law, all children between the ages of seven and sixteen must attend primary school. If the parents request it, a child may start a preparatory school at the age of six, which the majority of Swedish children do. The school in Sweden is free of charge and includes a cooked lunch meal. School hours vary by age and municipality. After-school care is available for children whose parents work longer hours.

Upper secondary school (gymnasieskola) is a voluntary continuation of the nine-year compulsory school. There is a great variety of educational programmes, and the period of study is usually three years.

Most schools are run by the municipality and provide free instruction, books, and lunches. There are also private schools supported by the municipality. The school year runs for 40 weeks and has two semesters.

The majority of teaching at Swedish schools takes place in Swedish, but the schools may offer study assistance in the native language to children who are learning Swedish as a second language. Your child may also have the right to some mother tongue instruction in primary school, regardless of where you are from. Mother tongue instruction is offered if there are at least five pupils in the municipality who request it and if there is a suitable teacher.

Some schools in Uppsala have international classes where lessons are given in English.

Kvarngärdesskolan - Uppsala International School, is a school in Uppsala where tuition in English is offered as early as at Junior School (grades 0–9). Kvarngärdesskolan has a long history of working with language development and they also have great experience in welcoming families from many parts of the world.

The International English School in Uppsala offers tuition in English from grade four to nine.

An International Baccalaureate programme is offered at Katedralskolan.

For information about enrolling a child in school, you should contact the Admissions Office at the municipality. It may be useful to contact them in advance to get further information about the schools in Uppsala and on Gotland. In such case, you can approach the school authorities so that they know about your child(ren) and can make the necessary arrangements.

Tel.: +46 18 727 04 00 (Monday–Thursday 09:30–11:30)
Email: antagning.grundskola@uppsala.se
Visiting address: Municipal Information, Stationsgatan 12 (Open Monday, Wednesday and Friday 09:00 to 17:00)

For more information about schools in Uppsala please contact Uppsala municipality.

For more information about schools in Visby please contact Visby municipality.

After-School Care

Applications for after-school care are handled through the Child Care Administration at Uppsala municipality. Please note that the relevant pages are only available in Swedish, but if you contact the Child Care Administration, (tel. +46 18 727 00 00 or antagning.forskola@uppsala.se) they will guide you through the application process.

Open Pree-School

Open pre-school is a meeting place for adults and their children aged 0 to 5 years. At the open pre-school you can meet other parents and share your thoughts, ideas and experiences of being a parent while the children play. Usually, activities such as singing together, reading stories, playing games, painting and drawing are organised. Parents are responsible for their children during the time they spend at an open pre-school.

Open pre-school is free of charge and you can come and go during opening hours. In Uppsala, some open pre-schools are run by the municipality and some by churches or other organisations. Contact information to some of the open pre-schools (only in Swedish).