New tailor-made science and technology preparatory year

Among those who have come to Sweden in recent years, there are many who have studied in their home countries, but need to supplement with Swedish and other subjects to be able to apply for a Swedish university programme. This autumn, Uppsala University is starting a tailor-made science and technology preparatory year with qualifying Swedish to meet this group's needs.

To meet the need of qualifying studies for recently arrived immigrants, the university took the initiative in 2016 of a pilot in the form of a contract education in cooperation with Uppsala Municipality. The aim was to offer recently arrived immigrants in Uppsala an opportunity to supplement natural sciences subjects and at the same time study Swedish. A collaboration within the university between the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Scandinavian Languages was established to develop the contents. In December, the Educational Board of Science decided to take the step to establish a new specialisation in the preparatory year programme that is already at the university and aims to supplement qualification in science subjects.

"We have learned a great deal during the pilot and believe in the idea of combining language, science and an introduction to university studies. We want to do something good for a target group that otherwise does not have a simple route to university studies and at the same time contribute to giving society important expertise in the labour market," says Lisa Freyhult, Director of Studies at the Department of Physics and Astronomy and involved in the pilot programme.

The programme is intended for people with foreign prior studies who lack qualification in Swedish. Swedish skills are necessary, however, and are tested in an entrance exam. After the preparatory year, the students have the qualification required to apply for many programmes in science and technology at the university. There is also a possibility to get a reserved place for continued studies in the subject teacher programme at Uppsala University.

In the first semester, the students study science subjects (physics, mathematics, chemistry) they have already studied in their home country, in Swedish. In the second semester, they take courses that supplement the qualification from their home country. In parallel, they study the qualifying course in Swedish throughout the year.

Provided by Uppsala University