VOCATIONAL PROGRAMME LEADING TO AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL VOCATIONAL DIPLOMA
The Building and Construction Programme
Do you like to be creative and find practical solutions to problems? In the Building and Construction Programme, you will learn how to construct, maintain and renovate buildings and facilities.
Video: Video briefly describing the Building and Construction Programme (runtime 4:55)
What you will learn in the Building and Construction Programme
You will learn how to construct buildings and facilities. You will gain basic knowledge of how to build, from idea to completed construction. You will also learn about how to plan, build and manage a community (urban planning). You will gain knowledge about how to build rationally, safely and in an environmentally sound manner. You will learn about the various professions and work processes of the industry.
You will have the opportunity to develop your creative ability in order to find solutions to various situations that arise at work and learn to work both independently and with others.
You will learn how to handle high-tech machines and tools. You will get to practice planning, implementing, documenting and quality-assuring your work using modern methods. You will learn how to choose equipment and methods and conduct your work safely.
The programme places significant emphasis on occupational health and safety issues, with the aim of preventing injuries at work and promoting good health.
The internship was the most fun – getting to do real work and not just read about it in theory. I had an internship at a painting company three days a week for my entire second and third years in the programme.
Jacob / specialised in Painting
Intended learning outcomes
The intended learning outcomes define what a learner will have acquired and will be able to do upon successfully completing their studies in a particular upper secondary school programme.
The intended learning outcomes for the Building and Construction Programme (skolverket.se)
Programme structure
In the programme structure, you can see which subjects and courses are included in the educational programme. You can also see how many credits are earned for each course.
Programme structure for the Building and Construction Programme (pdf)
Specialisations
Construction vehicles
- You will learn about earthworks such as excavating and moving materials in order to re-lay or build new roads or draw out various kinds of electricity, water and wastewater lines. You will also learn about ballast and gain expanded knowledge of traffic. This specialisation provides the opportunity to work as a construction machine operator, for example.
House building
- You will learn about new construction, renovation and remodelling of homes and other premises. The teaching will also cover bridges and other civil engineering structures. This specialisation provides the opportunity to work with both wood and concrete. You can also work on assembling interior fittings and furnishings, such as kitchens and office environments.
Land and Construction
- In the Land and Construction specialisation, you will gain knowledge about earthworks for building roads and railways. You will also gain knowledge about earthworks for house foundations that involve preparation for connection to electricity, water and wastewater networks. Additionally, teaching will cover earthworks to renovate or draw new lines and prepare for the laying of green surfaces and hardened surfaces such as asphalt, stone slabs and paving stones. This specialisation provides the opportunity to work as a road and construction worker or railway technician.
Painting
- In the Painting specialisation, you will gain knowledge of how to paint internal and external surfaces, both in terms of new painting and repainting. You will also gain knowledge about how to apply various wall covering materials, such as wallpaper. You will gain knowledge about both the aesthetic and protective properties of different paints. You will be prepared for a varied and often independent job in which you work both with private customers and in new production.
Sheet Metal
- In the Sheet Metal specialisation, you will learn about both sheet metal for both construction and ventilation. Sheet metal construction involves providing buildings with external climate protection (such as metal roofs), and ventilation sheet metalwork involves building ventilation pipes and shafts for a functioning indoor climate, in a solution that takes both design and technical function into account. You will get to be creative and find your own solutions. This specialisation provides the opportunity to work as a sheet metal construction worker or ventilation sheet metal worker.
Diploma project
At the end of the Building and Construction Programme, you will complete a diploma project in your chosen professional field in which you must show evidence that you have the ability to perform the most common tasks necessary to start working in the field in which you have received your education.
Learning in a Work Environment
Parts of the educational programme are conducted at one or more workplaces and lasts for a period of at least 15 weeks. These elements are called Learning in a Work Environment (“APL”). This is an important element of your education. APL gives you experience and contacts that may be beneficial when you are looking for a job.
Through your APL in the Building and Construction Programme, you will learn how to use what you have read about in school. You get to use what you have learned in working life and meet new people.
Through your APL in the Building and Construction Programme, you will get to work with and for other people. You will handle a wide range of tasks and learn something new every day. You will work both indoors and outdoors and get to try out working with high-tech tools and machines.
Apprenticeships
If your school offers upper secondary school apprenticeships within the framework of the programme, you can choose to take advantage of this opportunity. This means that you gain the same knowledge but carry out at least half of your studies in one or more workplaces.
Click here to learn more about apprenticeships as part of an upper secondary school education
Eligibility to continue your studies after graduation
Do you want to continue your studies at a university or other higher education institution after completing the programme? This programme provides you with the general entry requirements for studying at an institution of higher education. After completing the programme, you also have the opportunity to continue your education at a polytechnic or independent adult education college (folkhögskola).
Entering the workforce after graduation and examples of career paths
You can start working immediately after completing the programme. Below you will find examples of career paths for graduates, i.e., the professions in which you can look for work after graduating from the programme. Next to each profession is a link to facts about the responsibilities of the position and average wages/salary.
Construction machine operator, paving worker
Mining support worker
- Additional information about working as a mining support worker in the mining industry
- Further information about the rock drilling profession in the construction and civil engineering industry
Concrete worker
Building painter, painter
Sheet metal construction worker
Glass technician, glazier
Floor layer
Piercer
Railway technician
Bricklayer
Tiler
Stone fitter
Scaffolding builder
Roof fitter, ceiling fitter
Woodworker
Ventilation sheet metal worker
- Additional information about working as an insulation fitter
- Additional information about working as a sheet metal worker specialising in thin metal sheeting
Road and construction worker
Further information about the responsibilities of these professions and forecasts regarding the future prospects of each profession can be found in the “Hitta yrken A–Ö” service (“Find a profession, A–Z”).
Search various professions in the “Hitta yrken A–Ö” (“Find a profession, A–Z”) service