Study the Swedish Way

Academic culture in Sweden

Equality and critical thinking

Sweden is founded on democracy where everyone has the same right to give their opinion. This principle is present in all parts of the society and plays an important role in the academic world, where discussions are encouraged. Don’t be surprised if the teacher asks you for your opinion during class as this is a way of involving you as a student and developing critical thinking.

These values also reflect the hierarchy of the University, and you might be even more surprised that your teachers prefer you to call them by their first name and encourage you to come by their office if you have any questions.

Self-studies

In Sweden you are in charge of your own studies to a large extent. As a full-time student, you are expected to spend around 40 hours per week studying. Not all of this time will be spent in class with a teacher, you also need to prepare for quite a lot of self-studies. We advise you to make study groups together with your classmates to make the studies both more fun and rewarding. We also advice you to make a study schedule to avoid procrastination and stress prior to examinations.

Academic writing

In Sweden, there are set rules on how to write academic papers, where it is specifically important to reference sources of information in a correct way. When using another author’s text, this needs to be either rephrased or put into quotation marks. This way of writing can be quite complex in the beginning and we advise you to learn the system correctly at an early stage in your study period, in order to get it right. The study support centre offers support regarding academic writing and citing.

Study Support Centre External link.

Group work

Working together with classmates from different cultures to solve a task or writing a paper is a part of your academic studies in Sweden. This might be challenging at times but will be a valuable experience for your future employments. Sometimes you will end up in a group of students with different ambitions and goals, similar to the fact that you will work with people with different agendas during your career. Try to focus on the learnings and take advantage of the possiblity to practise your communications skills.

Educational content

Teaching methods

Your courses will consist of a combination of below teaching methods:

• Lectures is a common teching method, where your teacher or professor spekas about a certain topic.
• Laborations is common whithin technical and scientific subjects. You will learn practical skills based on what you previously learned in theory. Laborations can be done individually or in group, and you often make a written report afterwards.
• Group work is conducted together with other students in your class. You will work with solving a problem or specific task which you will present in a written report and/or verbally in front of your classmates. Working with classmates from different cultures might be challenging at times but will be a valuable experience when building your career, especially if you want to work in an international environment.
• Project work is often conducted in collaboration with local companies or organisations and is based on solving an existing problem. The project can be done individually or in a group.
• Seminars are discussions of a specific topic between the teacher and a smaller group of students. Seminars often takes place in connection to graduation projects.
• Self studies means that you read course litterature and prepare yourself for exams.

Forms of examination

All courses your are taking will be ended with some form of examination.

• Written exam is a written test made during a limited amount of time.
  
• A group work examination means that you are solving a task together with a group of students.
• A home exam is a written exam conducted at home.You will use your course literature in addition to other sources.
• A verbal exam takes place either individual or with a group, where you meet a teacher and discuss a relevant subject for the examination.
• A laboration consists of one or several practical tasks which often ends with the writing of a written report where you describe the process and your results.
  
• A Graduation project or thesis is a larger examination that takes up to a full semester to finish. The thesis is a study you conduct, where you choose problems and method and analyse your findings in an extensive report.

Grading systems

At Halmstad University we do not use ECTS grades or GPA. Instead we use one of the following grading systems with their respective gradings:

• Pass or Fail
• VG, G, U (Fail)
• 5, 4, 3, U (Fail)
• A, B, C, D, E, F (Fail)

All of the above grades are in descending order.

Degree levels

First level

University Diploma, 120 HE credits (two years)

Degree of Bachelor, 180 HE credits (three years)

In Sweden, a Bachelor’s Degree requires 180 Swedish higher education credits (HE credits) at first level, of which at least 90 credits with increasingly in-depth studies have to be in the main field of study. The main field of study must also include a diploma project of 15 credits.

In order to get accepted to first level studies, a student needs to have a completed programme in the upper-secondary school or the equivalent and fulfil the specified admission requirements.

Second level

Halmstad University offers both one year and two years master’s degrees and all our degrees are fully recognised internationally.

Degree of Master (One Year), 60 HE credits

A Swedish Degree of Master (One Year) requires 60 Swedish higher education credits, of which 30 credits have to be within the main field of study. The main field of study must include one independent thesis of 15 credits.

Degree of Master (Two Years), 120 HE credits

A Swedish Degree of Master (Two Years) requires 120 Swedish higher education credits, of which 60 credits have to be within the main field of study. The main field of study must include one independent thesis of 30 credits.

In order to get accepted to the second level, a student needs to hold a Bachelor’s Degree of at least 180 Swedish higher education credits or an equivalent foreign degree and fulfil the specified admission requirements.

Study abroad

As a student with us, you have the opportunity to spend part of your education in another country. You will get to know yet another culture, improve your language skills and make new contacts in another country. It's a great opportunity to further explore the world and is a great addition to your CV when it's time to apply for a job!

There are many opportunities if you want to study at a foreign university or do your internship or thesis abroad. Halmstad University has exchange agreements and collaborations with more than 50 universities around the world.