FAQ Tisus – Frequently asked questions

Tisus is a qualifying test in Swedish, intended for anyone with an upper secondary school diploma from a foreign country who is planning to apply for academic studies in Sweden and lacks a certificate in Swedish.

In order to fulfil the qualification requirements in Swedish when applying for university studies in Sweden, you will need an approved grade in one of the upper secondary school courses Svenska 3 or Svenska som andraspråk 3. You will need at minimum the grade E.

If you are not duly qualified in Swedish, Tisus is one way of showing your knowledge in Swedish and achieving qualification. 

More information on qualification requirements in Swedish, and other ways of demonstrating your knowledge in Swedish, is available at antagning.se (in Swedish):

Behörighet i svenska

What level of Swedish that is required for job purposes varies. Information about assessment of qualifications for job purposes can be found at studera.nu (Swedish Council for Higher Education)

Ny i Sverige

If you pass Tisus, you can apply for academic studies in Sweden, you should therefore have finished foreign upper secondary school (or be studying your last year) at the time of taking Tisus.

Your proficiency in Swedish needs to be at a high enough level so to be suitable for academic studies in Swedish.

The sample tests can give you an indication of whether you have sufficient knowledge in order to achieve an approved result.

Reading comprehension, sample assignments

Writing, sample test

Speaking Proficiency Sweden, sample test

Speaking Proficiency abroad, sample test

If you do not have sufficient knowledge of Swedish to do Tisus, there are courses in Swedish as a foreign language (Kurser i svenska som främmande språk). They give the same qualifications in Swedish for university and college studies as Tisus. 

Kurser i svenska som främmande språk

The proficiency level in Tisus corresponds to that of Swedish 3 and Swedish as a second language 3 at the upper secondary school level. However, Tisus is not linked to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). Therefore, a Tisus certificate is not an official confirmation that your language proficiency corresponds to a specific CEFR level (i.e., A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, or C2).

We advise you not to take Tisus if you are very young. Since you should demonstrate that you have knowledge enough to start university studies in Swedish, it can be difficult to pass the test if you are too young.

In order to pass Tisus, you need to have knowledge in Swedish equivalent to Svenska 3 in Swedish upper secondary school.

The sample tests  can give you an indication of whether you have sufficient knowledge in order to achieve an approved result.

There are no specific preparatory courses for Tisus, as the test is a proficiency test; consequently, there is no specific literature or curriculum that needs to be studied to prepare for the test.

Read the information under "Preparing for the test" to find information on how to prepare for Tisus.

Preparing for the test

The pass percentage varies, but is usually around 50 %.

We cannot announce a passing score for an upcoming reading test in advance, as the passing score is defined after the test, through extensive analysis.

This post analysis is a guarantee that the difficulty level remains the same in every reading test. In general, the passing score varies, but it is normally set at around 28-32 points of a maximum 45 points.

The application fee can be refunded no later than 11 calendar days prior to the exam. After this deadline, the application is binding.

If you cancel no later than 11 calendar days prior to the exam, an administrative fee will be deducted from the refund. Consequently, you cannot receive a full refund of the application fee.

The application fee cannot be transferred to a later examination date or to another individual.”

The most common accommodation for test takers with dyslexia or another disability is 50% extra time to complete the test.

When you register for Tisus, you must provide us with a professional assessment report of your dyslexia or other disability, no later than 6 weeks before the test (Tisus abroad) or 4 weeks before the test (Tisus Sweden).

Accommodations, other than extra time, can usually only be implemented at the test locations in Sweden. If you take Tisus abroad, the possibility of extended writing time is limited and depends on the local test leader’s availability.

For questions regarding accommodations, please contact the Tisus administration. Find our contact information under Contact further down on this page.

Unfortunately, Tisus needs to be administered these weeks in order to match the application time for university studies and last date to supplement diplomas.

The alternatives are to choose to study Swedish A in your IB, if possible, do a so-called special individual examination (särskild prövning) in Swedish at Komvux, or to take Tisus at a different time, earlier or later.

We do not translate Tisus certificates, because the purpose of the test is university entry in Sweden.

An approved Tisus result is equivalent to a grade, that is, it has no expiration date.

By registering for Tisus, you agree to that your personal data is stored and processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We use your information to register your results on the test.

Handling of personal data in the speaking proficiency test

The speaking proficiency test is videorecorded to enable further assessment if necessary. Legal ground for collecting the personal data: Article 6.1 of EU 2016:679, GDPR.

The recordings are necessary to ensure an equal and fair assessment. Each test is assessed by two raters who are present during the test. The recordings are used by the raters to review the conversation afterwards and/or when a third rater is consulted for additional assessment. The recordings can also be used for the analysis and development of the speaking proficiency test as well as for the training of raters.

The recordings are saved for 5 years and are subject to confidentiality according to the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400) ch. 17 § 3c.

Stockholm University (org. no. 202100-3062) is responsible for handling of the personal data. If you have any questions about the data protection regulation, you can send an e-mail to: dso@su.se.

More information about how personal data is handled at Stockholm University: 
Processing of personal data at Stockholm University

The Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY) has more information about personal data processing and you can file GDPR-complaints to them.
imy.se