Record for spring semester – 257,000 applicants

20 October 2020

Press release 

Application to spring semester’s higher education courses and programmes on Antagning.se and Universityadmissions.se closed at midnight on 15 October. Over 257,000 people applied – an increase with over 28,000 or twelve per cent compared to spring semester 2020, a record year.


”We saw a significant increase in the number of applicants to autumn semester and that trend has continued this spring. The effects of the corona pandemic on society and the labour market have most likely contributed to the increased interest, but we haven’t analysed this further,” said Maria Linna Angestav, acting Director General for the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR).

A total of 257,336 people applied for programmes and courses for spring semester 2021, compared to 228,958 in the spring of 2020. Looking at the individual higher education institutions, 35 of 37 received more applications and four received more than twice as many applications compared to last year:

Higher education institution

Total applications spring 2021

Total applications spring 2020

Change in number

Percent change

Chalmers University of Technology

2,663

281

2,382

848 %

Blekinge Institute of Technology

3,726

1,431

2,295

160 %

Swedish Defence University

1,069

461

608

132 %

University of Borås

13,639

6,099

7,540

124 %


The three programmes with the highest number of first-choice applicants to spring 2021:

Higher education institution

Programme

First-choice applicants spring 2021

Stockholm University

SU-29513 – Lawyer programme

1,715

Lund University

LU-81300 – Lawyer programme

1,408

Karolinska Institute

KI-42002 – Medical doctor programme

1,167

UHR is continuing with the review process for submitted applications, which among other things includes registration and assessment of previous studies along with Sweden’s higher education institutions. Applicants will receive their admissions results from the first selection on 10 December. 

UHR will provide a deeper analysis of application statistics for spring semester 2021 at the end of October. 

Contact

Andreas Sandberg
Head of Unit
010-470 05 80

Press Office
010-470 06 91
press(at)uhr.se