Apply for a master's programme
You submit your application to Sweden's central application portal universityadmissions.se. Here is our step-by-step guide on how to apply for a master’s programme.
Application period
- 15 October 2024-15 January 2025: Application period for studies starting in autumn 2025.
- 3 February 2025: Deadline for supporting documentation.
1. Choose your programme
Before you apply your first step is to decide which programme you want to study. If you haven't already decided, you can find a list of our master's programmes with description and syllabus below.
2. Check the entry requirements
To be eligible for a master's programme you need to meet the general and specific entry requirements, and prove your English language proficiency.
You will receive a formal eligibility assessment after you have submitted a complete application to University Admissions in Sweden.
Meeting the general entry requirements
To meet the general entry requirements, you must have been awarded a Bachelor's degree equivalent to a Swedish 180 ECTS Bachelor's degree, from an internationally recognised university. You can find out what previous studies meet the general entry requirements for your country of study on universityadmissions.se.
If you are in your final year of studies
If you are in your final year of studies, you can become conditionally admitted on the condition that you meet the degree requirement by the start of the programme.
Most of our master's programmes have programme specific entry requirements, for example studies in a specific subject area. You can find the programme specific entry requirements on the webpage of the programme that you are applying to.
The English language requirement is a level of English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary school course English 6. There are three ways of proving your English language proficiency:
- Certain upper secondary school studies
- Certain university studies
- Certain English tests
3. Apply
You apply at universityadmissions.se.
Good to know:
- By applying early, you increase the chances of getting notified about missing or incorrect documents before the documentation deadline.
- Ranking your programmes is important! If you are offered your first choice, all other programmes with lower ranking will be deleted from your application. This also applies to programmes you may have applied to at other universities.
- Documents received after the documentation deadline will not be considered.
4. Pay the application fee or document your citizenship
Your application will not be processed until you have paid the application fee (non-EU/EEA) or submitted proof of your citizenship (EU/EEA).
5. Fill out the CV form
All applicants are required to fill out a CV form that will be used in the selection process. You upload your CV form to your account on universityadmissions.se.
6. Follow your application
Once you have applied, be sure to check for messages from University Admissions in your account. University Admissions will notify you if you are missing any documents. However, it may take several weeks for University Admissions to assess your documents, and there is no guarantee that they will notify you before the documentation deadline. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit the correct documents on time.
Good to know:
- The status you can see at your account on University Admissions is not a final admissions result.
What happens now?
As a fee-paying applicant you can apply for the Karolinska Institutet Global Master's Scholarship. Depending on where you are from there may also be other scholarship opportunities. Be sure to read in and check the deadlines.
If you meet the documentation and entry requirements you will compete with the other applicants for available places. All applicants are given a merit rating. The better the merit rating, the better chance you have of being awarded a place.
Who does what?
- University Admissions reviews the general entry requirements, the documentation requirements and the English language requirements.
- The Admissions Office at KI reviews the programme specific entry requirements.
- The academic staff of the programme you have applied for reviews the KI CV form and your certifying documents, and give you a merit rating.
There are several different results you may find on your notification, for example admitted, deleted, reserve, not processed and conditionally admitted.
Confirming your admissions offer
You don't need to accept or reply to your admissions offer to confirm your place.
If you are conditionally admitted
If you've been conditionally admitted, this means that there is something left for you to do to be officially admitted.
It could be one or both of the following:
You are required to pay tuition fees. You must make the first instalment to be considered officially admitted. Your status as conditionally admitted will however not change in your account even after you paid the first instalment.
You need to document your degree. You need to submit documents certifying that you meet the general entry requirements of a degree equivalent to at least 180 ECTS.
How and when to document your degree if you are conditionally admitted
If you are on the reserve list
KI admits a very limited number of students from the reserve list. Reserve means that you are currently not admitted but that you may be admitted in case KI needs to fill the seats for the programme. KI admits more students than the number of seats for the programme. When an admitted student declines their admissions offer, this does not automatically lead to an offer for an applicant on the reserve list.
KI will not admit fee-paying applicants from the reserve list after 14 June.
Official copy of your notifications results
In your account, you can find a PDF-file called ”Notification of Selection”. This document is the official copy of your admissions results. No other admissions letter will be sent to you.
You can appeal decisions regarding eligibility after you have received the Notification of Selection Results on 27 March 2025. You submit your appeal in your University Admission’s account.
Before you submit an appeal, please contact the admissions office at KI regarding your case.
If you need to postpone the start of your studies, you can apply for a deferral if you have a valid reason, and if applicable, meet the conditions for your admission.