The educational framework

Uppsala University offers education at Bachelor’s level, Master’s level and doctoral level. The University also arranges supplementary teacher training, bridge programmes for foreign academics, access programmes and contract education.

Education at Bachelor’s and Master’s level

The Bachelor’s and Master’s level education is organised into courses and degree programmes, while doctoral-level education and is divided into academic years and semesters. Each academic year includes an autumn and a spring semester and each semester consists of twenty weeks. During the period between the spring and autumn semesters, summer courses can be given.

The levels of education are regulated in the Higher Education Act and further provisions concerning the programmes are laid out in the Higher Education Ordinance.

The process for planning and announcement of courses and programmes

Establish a course

In line with the Higher Education Ordinance, all Bachelor’s and Master’s-level education is to be offered in the form of courses. Decisions to establish a course are made by the faculty board or its delegation.

For every course there must be a syllabus. Decisions to approve syllabuses are made by the faculty board or its delegation.

About course syllabuses

Establish a programme

Courses may be amalgamated into degree programmes. Decisions to establish or phase out degree programmes are taken by the Vice-Chancellor, within the framework approved by the University Board and based on a proposal by the faculty board.

There must be a programme syllabus for every degree programme. Decisions to approve programme syllabuses are made by the faculty board or its delegation. At certain faculties, decisions to approve and/or amend programme syllabuses are delegated to boards or committees under the faculty board.

About programme syllabuses

Announcement of courses and programmes

The work on compiling the university's range of courses and programmes in the first and second cycles continues for a large part of the year. It is divided into different stages based on when the offer must be ready for our different groups of applicants.

The freestanding courses, courses for exchange students and degree programmes offered by the University are planned and reported per academic year. Courses applied for within programmes are dealt with per semester.

Decisions on offerings and announcement

The faculty boards decide on the courses and programmes offered by the faculty. The head of the Student Affairs and Academic Registry Division, acting on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, approves the announcement of all Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes and freestanding courses at Uppsala University.

Late changes

Following decision and publication of the offering of freestanding courses and programmes, adjustments are sometimes necessary when errors are discovered or the conditions for offering a course or programme change.

Discontinuation of courses

When a course is no longer going to be offered, it is important to inform students affected by this in good time so that they have a chance to complete the course or adapt their study choices. This is particularly important if the course is needed in order to take a degree with a certain main field of study. See below on the discontinuation of main fields of study.

Under the University’s Guidelines on working conditions for first- and second-cycle students, when courses have been discontinued or have undergone major changes, at least three opportunities must be given for assessment during a time period that should extend over at least three semesters.

A course that is no longer offered must be marked as discontinued in the study administration systems. This provides a better overview of the courses that can actually be included in the offering and prevents courses being used by mistake.

Discontinuation means that it is no longer possible to create instances of the course, which in turn means it is not possible to register or reregister students on the course. However, it is possible to report results or credit transfers for students who are already registered. The possibility of counting the course towards a degree or for credit transfers is not affected by discontinuation.

The information about discontinuation is entered in our course database Selma and from there it is fed into other systems. Instructions are available in the course syllabus section of the Selma user manual.

If the discontinuation marking needs to be removed for some reason, Ladok and Selma support can help with this.

Discontinuation of degree programmes, main fields of study and subsidiary fields of study

Decisions on the discontinuation of degree programmes and of main and subsidiary fields of study in degrees are taken by the Vice-Chancellor acting on proposals from a disciplinary domain board or faculty board.

The University’s “Guidelines for approving, monitoring and phasing out degree programmes, main fields of study and subsidiary fields of study” specify points to consider and decision-making procedures. The Swedish Higher Education Authority also has a guidance document on the legal rights of students when a degree programme is phased out.

Doctoral-level education

Doctoral studies are organised in subjects. A general study syllabus is required for each subject. Faculty boards decide on the establishment and discontinuation of subjects in doctoral studies and adopt general syllabuses.

Contract education

Contract education is education that the University provides for a fee paid by a client, for example, a company, a municipality or a central government authority. The client selects the participants in the course.

Contract education must be connected with education provided by the University at Bachelor’s or Master’s level. For any such courses to qualify for higher education credits, the same quality must be required as in equivalent higher education courses.