In Sweden, as in many other countries, the health and social care sector are in great need of staff recruitment and are therefore a secure road into the labour market for people who are unemployed or risk being unemployed (Torres, 2010a; Ahnlund & Johansson, 2010; SCB, 2014). To secure employment in the workplace, for example in elderly care, there is a requirement for a formal education: the adult education program in health and social care (SOU 2008:126). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the students’ experiences of their education, with a focus on what competence and knowledge they describe as necessary in their future work in health and social care. The data is collected from 15 in-depth interviews with students in adult education programs in health and social care at different schools.

Theoretical framework is based mainly on Lave and Wenger theory of Legitimate Peripheral Participation and Learning (Lave & Wenger 1991/2011). The analysis also includes a sociocultural theory according to Säljö (2000/2005). The result shows that the requirement of cultural and linguistic competence is paramount. It also became clear that during the education, the student will meet several complex mediating artifacts, some of them can make the work even more complicated. Furthermore, it became clear that personal qualities can be crucial to whether education is finished.