The possibility of combining Swedish-for-immigrants (sfi) with vocational training
What's at stake: Being able to combine sfi with vocational training has proven to be a route to both employment and integration, while also helping meet skills needs in the labour market. If the ability to combine the two forms of instruction is weakened, it risks creating lock-in effects, where newly arrived immigrants hesitate to take a job or vocational course for fear of losing their entitlement to sfi.
Case texts and AI reasoning are AI-translated from the Swedish originals; the Swedish text is authoritative.
What the vote decides
The question is whether the government should take specific steps to strengthen and safeguard the ability to combine sfi with vocational training, or whether the proposed tightening of sfi - with a clearer timeframe and more cohesive instruction - already provides sufficient conditions for such a combination without further initiatives.
Yes Yes — the committee proposal
The committee rejects the motions. The reason is that the proposed tightening - a clearer and more cohesive timeframe for sfi along with the possibility of an extension for special reasons - is judged by the committee to provide sufficient flexibility for different groups of students, so no further formal statement specifically safeguarding the combination with vocational training is considered necessary.
No No — the reservations
Reservation 2 (S, V, MP)
The reservation (S, V, MP) calls for the government to take action to keep strengthening the possibility of combining sfi with vocational training. The reasoning is that an overly rigid time limit for sfi risks undermining flexibility and thereby the ability of sfi and vocational training to contribute to skills provision, jobs and integration, and that the system must remain flexible to avoid lock-in effects where people forgo work so as not to lose their entitlement to sfi.
Summarised from the committee report. Party labels in the summary come from the report, not from the vote.
V–
S–
MP–
C–
L–
KD–
M–
SD–
YesNoAbstainAbsent
What do the votes mean here?
Yes The committee proposal: rejecting the motions (keeping things as they are).
No Backing the counter-proposal: reservation 2 by S, V, MP.
Abstain The party marks a position of its own that is not one of the two final alternatives.
The plan's stance / Actual vote
AI
Vote
Confidence
Evidence
Vown reservation
–
No 0/18/0/4
Sown reservation
–
No 0/93/0/13
MPown reservation
–
No 0/15/0/3
C
–
Yes 19/0/0/5
L
–
Yes 13/0/0/3
KD
–
Yes 16/0/0/3
M
–
Yes 60/0/0/8
SD
–
Yes 61/0/0/11
Committee proposal
The Riksdag rejects motions
2025/26:319 by Åsa Westlund et al. (S) amendment 3,
2025/26:357 by Camilla Hansén et al. (MP) amendment 2, and
2025/26:3810 by Anders Ygeman et al. (S) amendment 75.
Original (Swedish)
Riksdagen avslår motionerna
2025/26:319 av Åsa Westlund m.fl. (S) yrkande 3,
2025/26:357 av Camilla Hansén m.fl. (MP) yrkande 2 och
2025/26:3810 av Anders Ygeman m.fl. (S) yrkande 75.
Riksdag decision: The Riksdag approved the government's proposal to strengthen requirements in municipal adult education in Swedish for immigrants (sfi).
The proposals entail essentially the following:
The right to participate in sfi shall apply for three years from the time the person was first admitted to the education, with certain possibilities for extension.
The municipality shall establish an action plan for its efforts to reach the persons in the municipality who have the right to sfi.
A person who has the right to sfi shall have the right to participate in the education in another municipality than their home municipality, if the person based on their personal circumstances has special grounds.
When a person is admitted to sfi, their knowledge shall be assessed, unless such an assessment is obviously unnecessary. The result of the assessment shall form the basis for the individual study plan.
The individual study plan for a student in sfi shall contain information about the time the student was first admitted to the education.
The purpose of the government's proposal is, among other things, to make sfi education more efficient and coherent so that more individuals acquire sufficient knowledge of Swedish for further studies or to establish themselves in the labor market.
The legislative changes come into force on January 1, 2026.
Counter-proposals
The counter-proposal wants the right to sfi to extend for four years with the possibility of extension by one year at a time. (S, V, MP) — Reservation 2
Motion 2025/26:319 — med anledning av prop. 2025/26:10 Skärpta krav i kommunal vuxenutbildning i svenska för invandrare (sfi) av Åsa Westlund m.fl. (S)
Motion 2025/26:357 — med anledning av prop. 2025/26:10 Skärpta krav i kommunal vuxenutbildning i svenska för invandrare (sfi) av Camilla Hansén m.fl. (MP)
Motion 2025/26:3810 — Utgiftsområde 16 Utbildning och universitetsforskning av Anders Ygeman m.fl. (S)
Proposition 2025/26:10 — Skärpta krav i kommunal vuxenutbildning i svenska för invandrare (sfi)