In its final assessment, the council – which is responsible for arranging the tests – said that it would be impossible to carry out the tests by October 1st, 2027, the deadline the government agreed in February.
"UHR's overall assessment is that the conditions are not in place to implement stage two, which covers tests in reading and listening, by October 1st, 2027," it wrote in a press release announcing its conclusions. "This conclusion is based on the fact that Stockholm University still does not see any possibility to produce a fully developed, quality-assured test by that time."
The conclusions will come as a blow to Sweden's government, which initially called for the first tests to be held by August 17th 2026, but had to push back the deadline to October 2027, after Stockholm University, which is responsible for developing the language tests, said that developing them would take at least two years.
The agency said it believed it made most sense to hold the tests digitally, as developing both written and digital tests would be inefficient.
"Given the tight timeframes in both the development of tests and the acquisition of a digital testing platform, UHR therefore recommends that stage two be introduced in the fall of 2029. This provides opportunities to ensure a stable and well-tested exam with high quality and to create the necessary conditions for the acquisition and implementation of a digital testing platform."
The oral and written proficiency tests, meanwhile, cannot, UHR estimates, be held until 2030 at the earliest.
While Stockholm University said it was impossible to meet the government's deadline, Gothenburg University, which was responsible for developing the test in civics knowledge, had its a test ready by this summer, with the first test held in Stockholm in August.