School and förskola in Sweden: free from six, and the childcare you apply for four months ahead
Swedish school is free, including books and a hot lunch, and compulsory from the autumn of the year your child turns six. The förskola starts from age one and costs according to income, with a ceiling: since 1 July 2026 at most 1,547 kronor a month for the first child. The clock is in the application — four months ahead — and in the barnbidrag, which does not start by itself after a move.
Yes, your children go to a free school in Sweden, and free is literal here: the law forbids fees in the compulsory school forms, textbooks and learning materials are free of charge, and the school serves a nutritious hot lunch without a bill. Compulsory schooling starts in the autumn of the calendar year in which your child turns six, in the förskoleklass. What does cost is the childcare before that: the förskola from age one, according to income, with a ceiling that since 1 July 2026 stands at 1,547 kronor a month for the first child. The trap is the clock: you apply for the place four months ahead, and after a move the child benefit only starts once you have informed Försäkringskassan yourself.
When does compulsory schooling start?
Skolverket is precise: compulsory schooling starts at the autumn term of the calendar year in which the child turns six, and at the parents' request, for special reasons, it can be postponed by a year to the autumn of the year in which the child turns seven. Every child under compulsory schooling has a constitutional right to free education; children who are not registered as resident but live in Sweden under EU law have that same right. Whoever arrives mid-year reports to the municipality (the hemkommun), which is obliged to arrange a place.
| Stage | Age | Compulsory? | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Förskola | from age 1, as much as the parents' work or studies require | no | according to income, up to the maxtaxa; from the autumn of the year the child turns three, 525 hours a year are free |
| Förskoleklass | the autumn of the year the child turns six | yes | free |
| Grundskola | following on, until the end of compulsory schooling | yes | free, including books and lunch |
| Fritidshem (after-school care) | alongside school | no | according to income, up to the maxtaxa |
How does the förskola work, and what does it cost?
From the first birthday the municipality must offer your child a place in the förskola, in the scope the parents' work or studies require. Anyone unemployed or on parental leave with another child is entitled to at least three hours a day or fifteen hours a week. And from the autumn term of the year in which the child turns three, 525 hours a year are free — the so-called allmän förskola; only the hours above that cost money.
The contribution is a percentage of household income up to a ceiling, the maxtaxa. From 1 July 2026 the calculation has been softened: income below 10,001 kronor a month does not count, and above 51,560 kronor a month neither.
| Since 1 July 2026 | Förskola | Fritidshem |
|---|---|---|
| First child | 3% of income, at most 1,547 kronor a month | 2%, at most 1,031 kronor |
| Second child | 2%, at most 1,031 kronor | 1%, at most 516 kronor |
| Third child | 1%, at most 516 kronor | 1%, at most 516 kronor |
| Household income up to 10,000 kronor a month | no contribution | no contribution |
Four months ahead is the rule, not the exception. Malmö describes the guarantee as most municipalities know it: whoever applies for a place for a date more than four months in the future is guaranteed a place on that date. Whoever asks at shorter notice gets a place as soon as there is one. So apply as soon as you have an address, not as soon as you need the place.
Which child benefit goes with it, and why doesn't it come by itself?
The barnbidrag is 1,250 kronor per child per month, tax-free, shared between both parents, with a flerbarnstillägg of 150 kronor from two children that rises with more children. For anyone who has a child in Sweden it starts automatically. For anyone who moves it does not: Försäkringskassan first determines whether you are insured in Sweden, and for that you submit details via the e-service — for yourself and for every family member moving with you and every child under eighteen. If you come from an EU country, Försäkringskassan asks for written proof from the Dutch authority that you are no longer insured there: within the EU you cannot be insured in two countries at once. At the same time tell the SVB that you are applying in Sweden, so that the Dutch child benefit stops on the right date.
How does this fit in the chain?
The school can take your child in as soon as you have an address; the förskola and the barnbidrag hang on the personnummer from the folkbokföring, and that chain takes weeks — see personnummer and BankID. In the step-by-step plan the förskola application therefore sits in the week you have the address, and the report to Försäkringskassan in phase 4; the order is at /zweden.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Sweden or go straight to step 5.4 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change — when in doubt the source is leading, not this article.
- Skolverket — the right to förskola from age one, and the 525 free hours from age three — skolverket.se
- Skolverket — compulsory schooling and the right to education: from the autumn of the year the child turns six — skolverket.se
- Skolverket — which costs are allowed: teaching, learning materials and school meals are free — skolverket.se
- Skolverket — the 2026 maxtaxa, the new ceilings from 1 July 2026 — skolverket.se
- City of Malmö — the four-month place guarantee in the förskola — malmo.se
- Försäkringskassan — barnbidrag and flerbarnstillägg, 1,250 kronor per child — forsakringskassan.se
- Försäkringskassan — moving to Sweden: submitting details for every family member — forsakringskassan.se
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