Kompletterande utbildning för tandläkare (KUT): the application, the selection, and the three universities

If you're a dentist who qualified outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, there's a second route to a Swedish dental license. Plenty of people have heard of it without really understanding how it works. It's called Kompletterande utbildning för tandläkare, usually shortened to KUT.

KUT is a one year university programme worth 60 credits that leads straight to a Swedish dental license. It runs full time, in Swedish, at three universities: Malmö University, Karolinska Institutet and Gothenburg University. Graduate, and you apply to Socialstyrelsen for your license directly, without sitting the kunskapsprov.

This guide covers what the programme is, who can apply, how selection actually works at each university, and how the route compares to the kunskapsprov.

First things first: the three universities are not one process

This is the most common and most expensive misconception about KUT. They share a purpose and a size, but they are three separate programmes with three separate admissions. The application windows sit six months apart.

Miss the fact that Karolinska and Gothenburg close their applications in March and you wait a full year. Check the university's own page before you plan, since the dates shift slightly between intakes.

Who can apply?

Eligibility rests on three things.

A dental degree from a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland.

Documentation from Socialstyrelsen. The universities differ here, and the difference is worth knowing. Malmö requires a decision from Socialstyrelsen on assessment in the form of the kunskapsprov. Karolinska Institutet and Gothenburg University accept either that decision or at least a completed four year education plus one year of documented clinical experience. So if your Socialstyrelsen decision hasn't come through yet, that door isn't closed everywhere.

One important thing to understand here: this is about eligibility, meaning whether your application is considered at all. Selection is a separate step, and it ranks eligible applicants on their score from the theoretical part of the kunskapsprov.

Karolinska Institutet is explicit about how the two connect. Eligible applicants without a valid exam result go into their own selection group, ÖS, meaning other eligible applicants, and they do not advance to stage 2. So the alternative eligibility route makes your application valid, but without an exam result you are not in the running for a place.

Swedish language skills equivalent to Svenska B or Svenska 3, with a minimum grade of godkänd or E.

The language requirement is not trivial. Svenska 3 sits at upper secondary level, and most applicants get there through SFI followed by SAS. If you're still early in your Swedish, this is where most of your preparation time will go. We've covered the language requirements in detail in their own guide.

How selection works

All three universities start in the same place: a ranking based on your score in the theoretical part of the kunskapsprov, the exam Karolinska Institutet runs on behalf of Socialstyrelsen. Your result can be no more than five years old.

And here is the number that tells you most about what KUT actually demands.

The cutoff to be called to stage 2 at Karolinska Institutet was 97.59 percent for the autumn 2026 intake.

That number is easy to misread, so read it carefully. It is not your share of the maximum score. KI rescales your result against the mark that was required to pass at your particular exam sitting, so 100 percent equals the pass mark. 97.59 percent therefore means a result just below a pass.

Which is why you don't need to have passed the exam to compete for a place. You do need to have sat it and to land close to the pass mark. Your theoretical score is the entire entry ticket to stage 2, so that is where preparation decides it.

Malmö University: three stages, 21 points

The 40 highest ranked applicants are called to a practical test and patient case on 4 November. Practical skills are worth up to 3 points, the patient case analysis up to 6.

The top 24 from there are called to interview on 19 to 20 November, worth up to 12 points.

Maximum combined merit score is 21. The interview carries the most weight, but you need to be strong throughout. No single component carries you in on its own.

Karolinska Institutet: two interviews and a practical test, 16 points

Around 48 applicants are called to stage 2, held during May.

You sit two separate interviews in Swedish, 30 minutes each, with different examiners. They assess four things: knowledge and experience, attitude and personal qualities, social communication skills, and language proficiency. Each interview is worth up to 5 points.

The practical test has you complete three dental preparations in two hours at the university clinic, in groups of no more than eight. Up to 6 points.

Maximum merit score is 16. Tied candidates are separated by drawing lots. Results go up on antagning.se around 12 June.

Gothenburg University: interview

The roughly 40 applicants with the best kunskapsprov results are called to interview in Gothenburg. Gothenburg doesn't publish a detailed points breakdown the way the other two do, so assume the interview carries real weight and that your exam score decides whether you get there at all.

What you actually study

The 60 credits split across two terms. At Malmö the courses are Odontologi: Kompletterande utbildning för tandläkare I (TV650A, 30 credits) and II (TV651A, 30 credits).

The content covers the breadth of Swedish dentistry: clinical cariology, endodontics, periodontology, prosthodontics, oral surgery, paediatric dentistry, orthodontics, gerodontology, oral diagnostics, radiology, pharmacology, and Swedish healthcare law. The point of the programme is to close the gap between the training you already have and what the Swedish system expects of a licensed dentist.

Supervised clinical training is built in, and part of it happens out in the public dental service. Karolinska's students are placed with Folktandvården Dalarna. Gothenburg's students go to Folktandvården Västra Götaland, which spreads the placements across a number of designated clinics in the region. The number of places and which clinics take part change from year to year, so work from the region's own current list.

So you graduate ready to work, not just ready to sit another exam.

KUT or the kunskapsprov, which should you choose?

Both routes lead to the same license. Here's the honest comparison.

KUT suits you if

you've sat the theoretical exam with a strong score but stalled on the practical, you want a structured and supervised route rather than studying alone, you do well in academic settings, and you already have Svenska 3 in hand.

The kunskapsprov suits you if

you want the cheapest route, you prefer to study at your own pace, you're already working as a dental assistant and can't give up a full time year, or you're still a long way from the pass mark on the theoretical exam.

That last one matters more than it sounds. The stage 2 cutoff sat just below the pass mark for the autumn 2026 intake, so KUT is not a way around the kunskapsprov for someone with a long way to go. You need to get close to a pass just to be called.

Which leads to the conclusion that applies to almost everyone: you don't choose between the routes at the start. A strong theoretical score gives you the kunskapsprov route and makes you a competitive KUT applicant. The same preparation keeps both doors open. For the full picture of the licensing process, see our guide for non-EU/EEA dentists and our tips for passing the kunskapsprov.

Life during the programme

A full time year at advanced level is intense. The days are long, the clinical rotation is demanding, and all of it happens in Swedish. Most students don't work during the programme, or only very part time.

Plan the money side early. Tuition if it applies to you, living costs in Malmö, Stockholm or Gothenburg, and the general cost of being a student. CSN may be available depending on your residency status.

For a fuller picture of what daily life actually feels like for international dentists in Sweden, read what to expect if you move here as a dentist and working as a dentist in Sweden when you come from outside the EU.

After you graduate

Once you finish the programme with passing grades, you apply to Socialstyrelsen for your license directly. You don't sit the kunskapsprov, and you don't submit separate language evidence either. The documentation checklist for this application has three items: the completed application form, a copy of your passport or Swedish ID card, and the certificate from your complementary education. The programme is taught and examined in Swedish, so it carries the language requirement for you.

Beyond the paperwork, Socialstyrelsen charges a 990 kronor application fee. If you already paid it when you applied for granskning ahead of the kunskapsprov, you don't pay again.

From there you're a licensed dentist in Sweden. You can apply to Folktandvården, join a private clinic, specialise, or eventually run your own practice.

In summary

KUT is a real and workable route to practising dentistry in Sweden, and for some people it's faster. But it isn't easier. Competition is severe, places are few, and your theoretical score decides whether you reach the next selection stage at all.

If you're serious about either route, the single most valuable thing you can do right now is the same: prepare properly for the theoretical kunskapsprov. That score is the foundation for everything that follows.

Diso gives you access to every previous kunskapsprov question with detailed explanations, timed exam simulations, and progress tracking across all 15 dental subject areas. Whether you're aiming for the self study route or a place on KUT, a high score is how you get there.