FAQ about exchange studies

To apply for an exchange semester at Örebro University, you must first be nominated by your home university. Nomination is only possible if there is an existing agreement for student mobility between your university and Örebro University.

If no agreement exists, please discuss with your coordinator whether your university is interested in establishing one. Your coordinator can contact us at exchange@oru.se, providing details about your university’s course offerings in English for evaluation.

We do not except applications for exchange studies from freemover students.

Application periods:

• Autumn semester & Full academic year: 15 March – 15 April
• Spring semester: 15 September – 15 October

Our application process is straight forward and just a few documents are required. 

Official Transcript of Records (in English):

• The transcript must list all courses, grades, and credits obtained at the university level, including undergraduate/bachelor-level studies and, if applicable, postgraduate/master-level studies.
• The transcript must be uploaded as a PDF file.

Just transcripts issued in English can be evaluated. Pleae note that you might be limited to take courses without any specific entry requirements if your university can't provide an English version.

Entrance Test (if applicable):

• If you are applying for courses at the School of Music, some courses require an entrance test (recordings).
• These recordings must be sent directly to the School of Music at studievagledning.mh@oru.se.

English language requirments:

• Exchange studies at Örebro University requires that your English proficiency correspond to at least B2 level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Your home institution is responsible to check your level of English proficiency before nomination.
• Please note that you do not need to send any proof of your English proficiency.

After the application deadline, our study advisors will review your course selection, to ensure you meet the entry requirements for your chosen courses. The processing time may vary depending on the specific courses you have selected. If your course selection differs from other students at your home university, you might therefore receive your letter of acceptance at a different time.

For courses with only general entry requirements, students may receive their letter of acceptance even before the application deadline, depending on available processing time.

We prioritize applications from students outside the EU to help them start their residence permit process promptly. However, all students can expect to receive their letter of acceptance via email no later than 4–6 weeks after the application deadline.

Yes, you can apply directly for a full academic year (autumn and spring semesters). The application deadline is 15 April each year. However, your coordinator must in that case also nominate you for both semesters.

If you are nominated only for the autumn semester, we will contact students late September/early October with information about the possibility of extending their exchange even for the spring semester.

Please note that it is not possible to apply for the spring and autumn semesters at the same time. In this case, you would first need to apply for the spring semester (application deadline: 15 October) and then submit a separate application for the autumn semester (application deadline: 15 April).

You can find our course catalogue with courses given for exchange students here:  Course catalogue for exchange students.

The catalogue will be updated in February for the upcoming academic year. While many courses will remain the same, we cannot guarantee that all courses will be offered next year until the official update is released. After the update, there may be minor changes, such as new courses being added or some being cancelled. However, these changes are generally small, and the catalogue will be as final as possible in February.

Yes, you can choose any course you like, as long as you meet the entry requirements for that course. You can find the prerequisites for each course on its respective page by clicking on the small plus sign under "When is the course offered?"

Yes, we require students to be enrolled full-time during their semester with us, which means completing 30 ECTS, regardless of the requirements at your home university. Most exchange students will take one course at a time, and selecting fewer than 30 ECTS would therefore leave you without studies, which is not acceptanble from our side. 

Additionally, full-time enrollment is required to obtain a residence permit (if applicable) and is necessary to be eligible for our insurance StudentIN, which includes home insurance mandatory for staying in our student apartments. 

The first cycle is generally equivalent to undergraduate or bachelor's level studies, while the second cycle corresponds to graduate or master's level studies.

Generally, you can choose any course you like, as long as you meet the entry requirements for that course. Please note that some Master's courses require you to have comepleted an independent project/bachelor thesis, making it not possible for you to study that course if you are still studying on Bachelor's level. 

You can find the prerequisites for each course on its respective page by clicking on the small plus sign under "When is the course offered?"

Yes, the entry requirements for each course are binding and should not be considered as recommendations. It is your responsibility to provide sufficient documentation during your application to demonstrate that you meet the requirements.

The schedule for each course is preliminary up to six weeks prior to the start of the course, you will then be able to see the schedule via https://kronox.oru.se/. To be able to find your course schedule please type in your course code that can be found on your Letter of Acceptance or in the course syllabus in the search field. As you read one course at a time it might be that the schedule for the last course might first be published after the semester has already started. 

The number of lectures per week differs from course to course and week to week. There might be some information in the course syllabus which you can find in the course catalogue. Keep in mind that full-time does not necessarily mean lectures every day of the week - it includes the time the students are supposed to put into their work outside of class too. If you need any more detailed information please contact the study administrators of the course: 

School of Business
utbildningsadm.HH@oru.se

School of Science and Technology
utbildningsadm.NT@oru.se

School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences utbildningsadm.HumUS@oru.se

School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences
utbildningsadm.BSR@oru.se

School of Health Science
utbildningsadm.HV@oru.se

School of Music, Theatre and Art
utbildningsadm.MH@oru.se

The International Office will assist you with registration for your first course. However, for all subsequent courses, you will need to register yourself through our study platform to confirm your participation. The registration period typically opens about two weeks before the course begins and closes approximately one week prior to the start date.

If you miss the registration deadline, you must contact the study administrators of the course immediately. They will determine whether your spot has already been given to a student on the waiting list or if they can manually register you late. Please note that the International Office can only assist with the registration of your first course.

School of Business
utbildningsadm.HH@oru.se

School of Science and Technology
utbildningsadm.NT@oru.se

School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences utbildningsadm.HumUS@oru.se

School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences
utbildningsadm.BSR@oru.se

School of Health Science
utbildningsadm.HV@oru.se

School of Music, Theatre and Art
utbildningsadm.MH@oru.se

If you have forgotten to register for a written exam, you cannot do so afterward and there are no exceptions made for exchange students. You will need to wait for the reexamination or until the next time the exam is offered.

If you are taking a take-home exam or another form of assessment, registration may be mandatory, but not always. If you are unsure whether registration is required for your specific exam, you can ask your teacher. 

If registration is required, you can register in Studenttjänster. Registration opens approximately 25 days before the exam and closes 7 days prior.

There are no official breaks and students might be required to submit essays or write exams throughout the whole semester. There is usually a short teaching break at Christmas, but we would advise you to check with your teacher of your course for essay/exam timetables before making any travel arrangements. 

There is no teaching during publich holidays

Public holidays in Sweden

Please wait to send your (Online) Learning Agreement until after you have received your Letter of Acceptance as there is otherwise a possibility that you may need to adjust your course selection.

Online Learning Ageement
The Online Learning Agreements will be signed by the International Office. Please fill in contact person: Ulrika Kvist, email adress: exchange@oru.se.

(PDF) Learning Agreement
If you do have a PDF Learning Agreement, it will be signed by the study advisors at the school where you study the majority of your courses. Please send it to the respective study advisor and do not send it before December (if you start during the spring semester) or June (if you start during the autumn semester). 

Contact information to the study advisors 

Exception: at the School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, the Learning Agreements should be sent to the study administrators at utbildningsadm.HumUS@oru.se.

The StudentIN insurance provided by Örebro University is a comprehensive insurance policy for international students in Sweden. However, whether you need additional insurance depends on your specific circumstances and needs. We recommend that you carefully review their conditions to determine whether you need additional insurance.

Terms and Conditions Insurance for exchange students in Sweden (Student IN)

All students are provided with in insurance certificate together with their Letter of Acceptance. 

As a student and youth (16-25 years old), you can get a 15 % discount on the ticket for all SJ trains. 

Student cards that gives you access to the student discount
• The Mecenat card with SJ logo (or SMS verification). The text Verified by Mecenat must be found on the card, and the the orange circles must pulsate in the app.
 •The STUK card with SJ logo.
 •The ISIC card.

The Mecenat student card is a free discount card that gives students in Sweden access to a number of discounts on certain products and services, many shops and businesses, as well as on public transportation. However. please note that you can first get access to the card after you have been officially regsiered here at Örebro University. That means that if you are not a youth (16-25 years old) we strongly recommend you to buy an adult ticket for your first travel to Örebro as the train company is not required to accept the student ID card from your home country. 

More information on discounts on SJ trains

As an exchange student, you are guaranteed housing at Campus Örebro on the condition that your housing application is submitted correctly and received on time. The application deadline for housing are April 15 for the autumn semester/full academic year and October 15 for the spring semester.

No separate housing application is required. You apply for housing within the same application that you apply with for exchange studies at Örebro University.

Yes, students can generally find their own accommodation. However, it can be extremely difficult to secure housing independently, especially if you do not have a Swedish Personal Identity Number, which most landlords require. We do not have the possibility to support students in finding their own housing, and we cannot guarantee availability of rooms if you do not apply for on-campus housing by the deadline. Therefore, we highly recommend that students use the accommodation provided by our housing office.

There are several parking spaces around the University / student accommodations. You can by a daily or monthly ticket. The price varies depending on which parking space you want to use. You can buy a ticket via app, and at some places you can also buy a ticket at a machine which is located on the parking space.

For further information, please check the following websites:

• Home (aimopark.se)  - You can just search for ‘Örebro University‘
• Getting to Örero University - See under "by car"

Please note that the International Office and the Housing Office are separate offices, each belonging to different departments. As a result, the International Office is unable to address housing-related inquiries. For any housing-related questions, please contact the Housing Coordinators directly at housing@oru.se.

The Housing Office can assist with inquiries regarding:

• Rent, deposits, and payments
• Available housing options and room allocations
• Rental contract and rental period
• Sending packages to campus
• Key pick-up for students arriving after the official arrival days
• Condition and complaints
• Depature and returing keys
• Visiting hours

Website: Housing for exchange students