Validity and use

Swedex is an exam in Swedish as a foreign language which can be taken both in Sweden and an increasing number of countries outside Sweden. Swedex is available at two levels, A2 and B1, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages and is the only international exam in Swedish at these levels. Swedex can currently be taken in Germany, Poland, Austria, Estonia, Iceland, Bulgaria, Holland, Switzerland, Greece, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Thailand, and Argentina. In total, there are more than 40 test centres outside Sweden who offer the Swedex exam. A brochure describing the exam is available in Swedish and English. See below.

Swedex has been developed in a project within the Socrates Lingua 2 programme and has been co-financed by the EU Commission. The project, which was completed in December 2003, was coordinated by the International Certificate Conference, an organisation with considerable knowledge and experience of language testing. Experts in the testing of German and English as a foreign language were a part of the team cooperating during the project. The Swedish partners were Folkuniversitetet and the Swedish Institute. 

During the work with the project, the exam format, specifications, and specimen test papers were all produced. These are now referred to whenever new test papers are constructed. Folkuniversitetet is responsible for the construction of all test papers. The first exams became available in May 2005. Since then, the number of candidates has increased every year and new test centres have become established.

In common with many other language exams in Europe, Swedex is linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. This makes the Swedex certificate acceptable throughout Europe.