Allmän förskola (universal preschool) means that every child, from the autumn term of the year they turn three, is entitled to 525 fee-free hours of förskola (municipal preschool, from age one) a year, in practice 15 hours a week during school terms. It applies whether the parents work, study or are at home, and it is the municipality that must offer the place.
Allmän förskola is a phrase that turns up on the invoice and in letters from the municipality, and that few parents have had explained. It is simple: the state has decided that förskola matters so much for children's language and development that every child should get part of it free from the age of three. Here is what that means for you.
A family in Järfälla with a three year old and a four month old baby. Mum is on parental leave, and the three year old has been at home since the baby arrived, because the förskola fee felt unnecessary when she was at home anyway. In August the letter came from the municipality: the three year old is entitled to allmän förskola, 15 hours a week, with no fee. It changed the whole autumn. The three year old got her friends back for three hours a day, and mum got mornings with just the baby.
Who is entitled to allmän förskola?
Every child, from the autumn term of the year the child turns three, until they start school. It makes no difference whether the parents work, are on parental leave with a sibling, are looking for work or are at home for other reasons. The right belongs to the child, and it is written into the Education Act. The municipality must offer the place, and it must be offered in a förskola, not in some other kind of provision.
The entitlement used to start at four. Since 2010 it has started at three, because the research was clear: children who have been to förskola find language easier when they start school, and that applies most to the children who otherwise would not have gone. That is why it is free, and that is why it is for everyone.
How the hours are laid out
| Model | What it looks like | Common in |
|---|---|---|
| Three hours a day | For example 9 to 12, five days a week | Many municipalities |
| Two or three longer days | For example three days from 8 to 13 | Where parents work part time |
| Built into a full-time place | The child attends as usual, the fee is reduced | Most children who already attend full time |
The three-hours-a-day model is the most common for children who are otherwise at home. The advantage is that the child comes every day and has time to become part of the group. The disadvantage is that you collect in the middle of the day, often just before lunch or just after, which means the child misses rest time and sometimes the meal. Ask the förskola whether lunch is included in the 15 hours where you are. It varies, and it is a question worth asking before you settle on times.
What happens to the fee?
If your child only attends the 15 hours, förskola is free during term time. If your child attends more, you pay a fee under the How much does förskola cost? Maxtaxa and fees explained (the national fee cap), but most municipalities reduce the fee for children from three because part of the time is fee-free. How much varies: some deduct a third during term time, others calculate it differently. During school holidays you pay the full fee.
The reduction applies from September of the year the child turns three, and it appears on the invoice without you applying. If you see no difference between the August and September invoices that year, call the municipality. It does get missed, especially if the child changed förskola that same autumn.
How to apply
- If your child is not at förskola: apply for a place through the municipality's online service, just as for any förskola place, and state that you want allmän förskola. The queue works the same way as for other places, so apply well before August.
- If your child already attends full time and you want to go down to 15 hours: tell the förskola and the municipality. It may mean new times, and sometimes a different group.
- If you are at home with a sibling and want more than 15 hours: you are entitled to whatever the municipality offers parents on parental leave, often 15 to 30 hours a week, with a fee for anything above allmän förskola.
- If you move to a new municipality: the entitlement follows the child, but the place has to be applied for again.
Allmän förskola and the afternoons
Fifteen hours is three hours a day. For parents who work it is rarely the whole solution, and it is not meant to be. Many families combine: the child attends the förskola hours in the morning, and a parent or a nanny takes the afternoon. With us it is the same nanny every time, so the afternoon routine becomes as stable as the morning one. Childcare in the home also qualifies for RUT, the Swedish tax deduction for household services that is taken off the invoice directly, which means a nanny three afternoons a week costs from 165 kr an hour after the deduction.
From allmän förskola to förskoleklass
| Age | What the child is entitled to | Does it cost? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 years | A förskola place if the parents work, study or are looking for work, and 15 hours during parental leave | Yes, a fee under the maxtaxa |
| The autumn the child turns 3, to age 5 | Allmän förskola, 525 hours a year, whatever the parents' situation | No for the 15 hours, a fee for time beyond that |
| The autumn the child turns 6 | Förskoleklass (the compulsory pre-school year), mandatory since 2018 | No. Fritids (after-school care) before and after carries a fee |
Allmän förskola ends automatically in June of the year the child turns six, when förskoleklass takes over. If your child needs förskola over the summer, you pay a fee for those weeks. How Settling in at förskola works is the same whether the child attends 15 hours or full time, allow one to two weeks.
How we do it with our families
We have several families where the youngest child attends allmän förskola in the mornings while a parent is at home with a baby, and where the nanny comes two afternoons a week so the parent can sleep, shop or just breathe. Doaa has a family like that in Barkarby: she collects the three year old from förskola at twelve on Tuesdays and Thursdays, gives lunch at home, and then takes both the three year old and the baby in the pram to the park so that mum gets two hours to herself. The note she leaves says what the three year old ate and whether the baby slept. It is an arrangement that works well, and it qualifies for RUT.
Would you like a nanny who comes on the same days every week and whom the children know? Book a free first meeting with the nanny in your home, and we will work out a price for your hours.
Read more: How much does förskola cost? Maxtaxa and fees explained · Settling in at förskola · Preschool in Stockholm · Prices
Frequently asked questions
From when does allmän förskola apply?
From the autumn term of the year the child turns three. A child who turns three in February gets fee-free hours from August that year, a child who turns three in December gets them from August that year too, that is, before the birthday. The entitlement then runs until the child starts förskoleklass, whatever the parents do during the day.
How many hours are free?
525 hours a year, which municipalities usually lay out as 15 hours a week during school terms, roughly 35 weeks. Summer holidays, höstlov (autumn break), jullov (Christmas break) and sportlov (the February school break) are not included, and during the holidays you pay the full fee if your child attends then. Exactly how the hours are spread over the week is up to the municipality, often three hours a day.
Does my child have to attend allmän förskola?
No, it is a right, not an obligation. The municipality must offer the place, but you choose whether to take it. Compulsory schooling only starts with förskoleklass, in the autumn of the year the child turns six. Many parents who are at home with a sibling take the hours anyway, so the three year old gets friends and language, and because the morning is calmer at home.
Our child is already at förskola full time. Do we get a reduction?
Most municipalities reduce the fee for children covered by allmän förskola, often by a fixed share per month during term time. How big the share is varies: check your municipality's rules on its website, under förskola fees or maxtaxa. The reduction happens automatically from the autumn term the child turns three, you rarely need to apply.
Do we need to apply separately for allmän förskola?
Yes, if your child is not already at förskola. You apply through the municipality's normal application and state that you want allmän förskola. If your child already attends, you usually only need to tell the förskola if you want to go down to the fee-free hours. Bear in mind that going from full time to 15 hours can mean a different group or different times.