Choosing a school for preschool class and year 7

Everyone must choose a school prior to their child starting preschool class and some must choose a school prior to starting year 7. As far as possible, we will allocate a place according to your wishes. If there are more applicants than places at the school you have applied for, the municipality decides the distribution of places in accordance with the rules established by the Board of Preschool and Compulsory School Education. The application period for choosing a school is normally in January.

All children who are going to start preschool class need to choose a school. Preschool class is mandatory. We guarantee a place in a municipal preschool class to all children.

Pupils who are in year 6 at a school that does not have years 7 - 9 also need to choose a school for year 7.

When is it time to choose a school?

The application period for choosing a school is normally in January. Prior to the application period, parents/guardians will receive information via email or a regular letter about when and how to choose school.

During the late autumn of each year, the municipal compulsory schools usually arrange Open Days when you can visit the schools you are interested in. Information in Swedish about Open Days can be found on our “How to choose school” page, usually during October and November.

The easiest way to choose school is to use the municipality's e-service "välja skola" and sign using your BankID. Please note that all parents/guardians must sign the application. You should list three schools that are ranked in order of preference.

If you cannot use our e-service, you can apply by using the paper form below. The form is in Swedish.

Form of choosing school , 136.7 kB, opens in new window.

If you or your child has protected personal data

If the Swedish Tax Agency has given you or your child protected personal data, you should not use the e-service but instead make your application on a paper form.

Remember to state clearly on the form that you or your child has protected personal data as this will affect the way your application is processed.

If parents/guardians do not make an active choice, the municipality will place your child at a school near your child's address, as stated in the Swedish population register. If there is no school nearby, the child will be given a place at a school served by a school transport service.

Bear in mind that there may be several schools located close to your home and that by making an active choice, you increase your chances of being allocated a place at your preferred school.

There are many schools to choose from in Skellefteå, both municipal and independent. We have made a compilation of all the schools so you can see where they are located.

Compulsory schools a-ö (this page is in Swedish)

You can apply to both municipal and independent schools. Any parent who would like their child to attend an independent school should apply to the school in question. Independent schools have their own queueing and admission systems.

You can find a list of independent schools here (this page is in Swedish)

Relative distance

We investigate the "relative distance" of the pupils and rank the pupils accordingly. This means that the distance from the pupil’s home address to the desired school is compared with the distance from the home address to the alternative school. When pupils are compared, the pupil who has the largest difference in distance will be given the place. The distance used is not as the crow flies but the shortest route to school via approved pedestrian and cycling paths. If there are no pedestrian or cycling paths, the distance is calculated based on public roads, with or without pavements.

The video below explains relative distance in more detail..

Sibling priority

Sibling priority applies to children in preschool class and years 1, 2 and 3 if they have a sister or brother in school up to year 3. Parents/guardians must actively apply for a place in the school attended by the older child in the academic year to which the application relates.

Absolute distance

If two pupils have the same relative distance and both, or neither, of them have a sister or brother at the desired school, the pupil with the shortest distance to the school will be allocated the place.

When the decision is made

By the end of March, you will be informed which school your child has been allocated a place at. You will be sent the decision by email or, if you do not have an email address, by regular post.

If you are not satisfied with the decision, you have the right to appeal. Information on how to appeal will be included with the decision on the school placement.

If your circumstances change

If, after receiving the decision, you want to change your choice of school and your child's placement, you must apply for a change of school.

Read more about changing schools (this page is in Swedish)

When we have received all the applications, we go through them and see how many applications there are for each school compared with how many places each school has.

If a school has more applicants than available places, first of all we prioritise the pupils who have that school as the destination of their school transport service.

According to the Education Act, in the first instance, the municipality must take the parents/guardians’ wishes into account when deciding school placements.

The Board of Preschool and Compulsory School Education in Skellefteå municipality has also taken a decision on continuity across certain years which means that pupils who, for example, attend year 6 at a school that also has lower secondary years (an F-9 school) will automatically start year 7 at the same school. If a pupil who is in year 6 at an F-9 school does not want to start in year 7 at the same school, an application for a school change must be made.

Read more about changing schools (this page is in Swedish)

We do everything we can to ensure that everyone, as far as possible, gets the placement they have asked for or a place at a nearby school. What counts as “nearby” is decided by the municipality's school transport rules. Whether or not a child is allocated a place depends on the number of applicants to the school in question and where the family lives in relation to the school.

Read more about school transport rules (this page is in Swedish)

If you as a parent/guardian do not want your child to start preschool class for some reason, you must apply for deferred compulsory schooling.

Read more about deferred compulsory schooling (this page is in Swedish)

If your child needs transport to and from school, it is important you apply in good time to ensure that the transport service will be in operation from the start of the school year.

Read more about school transport (this page is in Swedish)

Do you want your child to change school? If so, you need to submit an application for a change of school. Changes of school will be granted subject to places being available.

Read more about changing schools (this page is in Swedish)

If you are moving into Skellefteå municipality and have children in school-age, you should choose a school for your child.

If you are registered in another swedish municipality when you apply for compulsory school in Skellefteå municipality, you need to send in a receipt of the change of address notification from the Swedish Tax Agency.

A notification of change of address can be made for an upcoming address.

How to contact Customer Services


If you are newly arrived, i.e. have lived in Sweden for less than 4 years, you can register your child via our online service. An administrator will then call you and help you further.

You can read more about the e-service on the page "Apply for pre-school and school for newly arrived children and pupils".

We have compiled information about school for new children and the registration form here.

Do you have any questions about choosing school?

Contact the municipality’s Customer Services by calling 0910 73 50 00 or emailing kundtjanst@skelleftea.se

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