| Ministry of Education and Research | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Education | Jan Björklund |
| General Details | |
| Primary Languages | Swedish |
| Primary | 891,727[1] |
| Secondary | 394,771[1] |
| Life in Sweden | |
|---|---|
|
• Architecture |
• Geography |
Education in Sweden is mandatory for all children from year 1 to year 9 - generally from the year of the child’s seventh birthday to the year of the child’s 16th birthday.[2] The school year in Sweden runs from mid/late August to early/mid June. The Christmas holiday from mid December to early January divides the Swedish school year into two terms. Homeschooling is forbidden, unless there are "exceptional circumstances".[3]
From the age of one, children can be admitted to pre-school (förskola). Pre-schools both help provide an environment that stimulates children's development and learning, and enable parents to combine parenthood with work or studies.[4] During the year before children start compulsory school, all children are offered a place in a pre-school class (förskoleklass), which combines the pedagogical methods of the pre-school with those of compulsory school.[5] Between ages 6/7 and 15/16, children attend compulsory comprehensive school (grundskola), divided in three stages. The vast majority of schools in Sweden are municipally run, but there are also autonomous and publicly funded schools, known as "free schools". The education in free schools has many objectives in common with the municipal school, but it can have an orientation that differs from that of the municipal schools.[6] A handful of boarding schools, known as "private schools", are funded by privately paid tuition.
In 2008, statistics showed that of all Swedes aged 25–64, 15% have completed only compulsory education (as the highest level of attainment), 46% only upper secondary education, 14% only post-secondary education of less than 3 years, and 22% post-secondary education of 3 years or more. Women are more educated than men (26% of women vs 19% of men have post-secondary education of 3 years or more).[7] The level of education is highest among those aged 25–34, and it decreases with age.[8] Both upper secondary school and university studies are financed by taxes. Some Swedes go straight to work after secondary school. Along with several other European countries, the government used to subsidize tuition of international students pursuing a degree at Swedish institutions, but in 2010 they started charging international students 80,000-100,000 SEK per year .[9] Swedish 15-years-old pupils have the 22nd highest average score in the PISA assessments, being neither significantly higher nor lower than the OECD average.[10] Only Canada, the United States, and Japan have higher levels of tertiary degree holders.
Contents |
| Type of education | School | Designation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forskarutbildning (forskarnivå) Postgraduate programmes (doctoral level) |
Universitet University |
Högskola som har vetenskapsområde University college entitled to conduct research in a particular discipline |
4:e året | |
| 3:e året | ||||
| 2:a året | ||||
| 1:a året | ||||
| Grundläggande högskoleutbildning (grundnivå & avancerad nivå) Higher education (undergraduate & graduate/master's level) |
Universitet University 2–5 years |
Högskola University college 2–5 years |
5:an | Årskurs 5 |
| 4:an | Årskurs 4 | |||
| 3:an | Årskurs 3 | |||
| 2:an | Årskurs 2 | |||
| 1:an | Årskurs 1 | |||
| Gymnasieutbildning Upper secondary school (secondary school) |
Gymnasieskola Upper secondary school Ages 16–19 |
3:an | Årskurs 3 | |
| 2:an | Årskurs 2 | |||
| 1:an | Årskurs 1 | |||
| Grundskoleutbildning Compulsory school (primary school) |
Grundskola Compulsory school Ages 7–16 (compulsory) |
9:an | Årskurs 9 | |
| 8:an | Årskurs 8 | |||
| 7:an | Årskurs 7 | |||
| 6:an | Årskurs 6 | |||
| 5:an | Årskurs 5 | |||
| 4:an | Årskurs 4 | |||
| 3:an | Årskurs 3 | |||
| 2:an | Årskurs 2 | |||
| 1:an | Årskurs 1 | |||
| Förskoleklass Pre-school class (preschool) |
Förskoleklass Preschool class Age 6 |
Årskurs F | ||
| Förskoleverksamheten Preschool activities (preschool) |
Förskola Pre-school Ages 1–5 |
|||
Förskola (literally "preschool"), colloquially daghem or dagis, is the kindergarten. Grundskola is the 1-9 grade primary school. Gymnasieskola (literally "gymnasium school") is the three-year secondary school. Högskola (literally "high school") is a tertiary school (formally translated to university college, less formally to university) and universitet (always translated to university) is a tertiary school with postgraduate education.
Historical terms include småskola ("small school") and folkskola ("people's school") for primary school and läroverk ("learning institute") for secondary school. Formerly, högskola usually meant a one-faculty school – usually professionally oriented – while universitet contained many faculties.
Students in Swedish primary schools have very limited choice in their education. For instance, advanced mathematics courses are available only during the fall term of the seventh grade (the year students will turn 13); until then, all students take the same basic mathematics courses. A similar situation applies to most other subjects. This is the result of a concerted effort to streamline education, in the hope that this will favor students from families with lower levels of educational attainment. Critics claim it has lowered results significantly among talented students without raising them within other groups.
All students between 12–15 years old take math, English, Swedish, foreign language, NO (physics, chemistry, biology, technology), SO (social studies, history, religion, geography), physical education, art, music, carpentry or sewing and a course in home economics.
After students graduate from the nine-year compulsory school, the selection of education, both private and state owned, becomes much broader. As all education is publicly funded, all students have a large selection of choices, which are quite different from some other western nations, where some education costs more money than others, thus limiting the choice for those with a less fortunate background.
The Swedish School Plan[17][18] also highly encourages an individualistic education in which each student has their specific means met. The students are also encouraged not only to participate in student councils, but also to actually form the education they desire together with their teachers, choosing what books to read and how to balance practice with theory depending on which the individual students find most enjoyable to learn from.[19]
The educational system in Sweden is based on a nine year primary school, or "Grundskola" with mandatory attendance.[20] Following this comes an elective three year secondary school, or "Gymnasieskola" which is divided in two instances where you either prepare for higher education or receive vocational education. The preparatory instance allows for specialization in either natural sciences or social sciences.
Three grades were until recently used in elementary school: Pass (godkänd (G)), Pass with distinction (Väl godkänd (VG)) and Pass with special distinction (Mycket väl godkänd (MVG)).[20] The grades are usually referred to by their abbreviation. Note that failed does not exist as a formal grade, but should the student fail to pass a course this is reported as ***, referring to a footnote explaining that the pupil "lacks foundation for a grade", however, many people do consider failed (Icke godkänd (IG)) to be an actual grade and often refer to *** as such. Pupils do not start receiving official grades until the 8th grade, although it's not uncommon that tests are marked with grades prior to that. Compared to course grades, failed tests are often actually marked with IG. This is, however, dependent on the preferences of the teacher and does not make any difference.
The pupil's total score, which is used for application to gymnasium, the secondary schools, is calculated by taking the pupil's 16 best subjects and numerically adding them together, with G = 10, VG = 15 and MVG = 20, yielding a maximum possible score of 320. It is normal for a pupil to have 17 or more grades, as most study a third language - traditionally German or French, but in recent years Spanish has increased in popularity.
The 16 subjects used to calculate the total must include the three core subjects - English, Swedish and Mathematics. If the pupil fails any of the core subjects, she or he lacks qualification to attend secondary school. However, the student can still attend the secondary school individual program (individuellt program (IV)), either to gain competence in the core subjects and start a secondary school program or to complete the individual program and satisfy the requirements for a student degree (see below).
However, from fall 2011, a new grading system has been introduced into the Swedish schoolsystem: A, B, C, D, E as passing grades and F as Failing. B and D works as filling grades, for when you haven't reached all objectives for C or A, but most of them. If the student can't be graded, ie extensive truancy, the student will receive a dash instead of an F. If a student is given an F they will receive a written review of how to improve themselves.
Secondary school, called gymnasieskola, lasts for three years (however some students study for four or more years for various reasons) and is formally elective, although most attend it and there are very few prospects for those who do not attend. Secondary school is divided into so called "programs", e.g. different types of choices of educational focus. The two most common "programs" are "social science" (samhällskunskap) and "natural sciences" (naturvetenskap). The "programs" are further divided into orientations. There are currently 17 different national programs – centrally defined program curricula – with between two and four centrally defined orientations. In addition there are local programs and orientations, but most schools use the national programs. As of Autumn 2011, there will be 18 national programs - six college preparatory programs and 12 vocational programs.
The programs are divided into two general categories, preparatory and vocational. All programs give basic qualification to attend university, but preparatory programs typically satisfy more of the various special qualifications that are required to attend some university courses and programs.
Just over half of upper secondary students follow one of the 13 vocationally oriented programs. these programmes must include at least 15 weeks of workplace training over the three year program.[21]
The courses that a student takes depending on program and orientation can be divided into four levels: Core subjects, program-specific subjects, orientation subjects and individually selected courses. Core courses are courses that everyone, regardless of programme, have to study to satisfy the requirements for a student degree. Program-specific courses are the additional courses that a student is required to take to fulfill the program requirements. If a student for some reason does not fulfill the requirements, for example by electing to replace a program-specific course with another course, the student is considered to have attended a specially designed program – this has no bearing except for what's printed on the school leaving certificate. Orientation subjects are the courses that a student elects to take by selecting an orientation. Normally these courses take place in the 2nd and 3rd year, although in a few cases the courses start earlier. Finally, individually selected courses are courses which the student freely selects for herself/himself in the 2nd and 3rd year. For this specific slots have been set aside in the curriculum and the schedule.
To attend secondary school, the prospective student applies to attend a certain programme at a certain school, competing for entrance based upon his/her elementary school grades. In a few cases, such as the Arts Programme (Estetiska programmet (ES)) at certain schools, the student applies for both programme and orientation. Some programmes, generally the Arts Programme and certain local programmes/orientations, have some form of entrance exam in addition to the elementary school grades.
Prior to the 1990s, there were only a handful of private schools in Sweden, mostly tuition-funded boarding schools, catering primarily for children of Swedish diplomats assigned abroad. In 1992, however, the government decided that independent schools offering primary or secondary education could receive public funding for each student, at a level similar to what public schools receive. This change saw the birth of the Swedish "free schools", and in 2008 there were around 900 of them.[22]
The "free schools", similar to charter schools in the United States or academies in the United Kingdom, are funded with public money from the local municipality, based on the number of pupils they have enrolled, in the same way Swedish public schools are. Consequently, they are not allowed to discriminate or require admission examinations, nor are they not allowed to charge the students any additional fees. They are, however, allowed to accept private donations. Regional economic differences directly affect how much money each municipality can provide per pupil, by as much as SEK 50,000 (around USD 7,700 or GBP 4,700).[23]
Anyone can start an independent for-profit school, or a chain of such schools, in Sweden. Many of them offer an alternate pedagogy (such as Montessori), or a foreign/international, religious or special needs (such as hearing-impaired) profile. There are also several secondary schools with an elite sports profile. Internationella Engelska Skolan and Kunskapsskolan (“Knowledge Schools”) are the two largest "free school" chains. In 2008, more than 10% of Swedish pupils were enrolled in "free schools".[24]
A handful of the old tuition-funded boarding schools still remain, whereof Sigtunaskolan and Lundsbergs skola are the most well known.
The "free school" system has divided public opinion in Sweden. During the 2010 election neither political block suggested abandoning the programme. However, a poll carried out this year (2011) by Synovate found that Swedes who want to ban companies from operating schools for profit now outnumber those that don't. The Swedish model has been put forward as a possible model for similar solutions in both the United Kingdom[24][25] and the United States, where Per Unckel, County Governor of Stockholm and former Conservative Minister of Education, in 2009 summarised the advantages of the Swedish system in an opinion piece produced by the Libertarian think tank Pacific Research Institute: "Education is so important that you can’t just leave it to one producer. Because we know from monopoly systems that they do not fulfill all wishes".[26]
| Qualified Vocational Education | KY2 |
| KY1 | |
| KomVux | PS |
| Secondary School (Vocational) Ages 16–19 |
S3 |
| S2 | |
| S1 |
Completing secondary school on a vocational program with full classes on a three year curriculum does provide a basic qualification for further studies. However many times tertiary education is required before being admitted at university or university college. Post-secondary education is provided by Municipal "KomVux" schools (short for KOMmunal VUXenutbildning, lit. "Municipal Adult Education"), and independent boarding schools named Folkhögskolor (or People's High Schools in English).
Instead of opting for higher education, a student from a vocational program in secondary school is able to apply for what is called Qualified Vocational Education or "Kvalificerad Yrkesutbildning" (KY). This form combines education and practical experience from business or industry in the chosen field. The level of education is essentially post-secondary but can also contain courses that meet the requirements of tertiary education.
For post-secondary education, the KomVux and the Qualified Vocational Education in some ways correspond to what is offered by community colleges in the United States.
After gymnasieskola, students can apply to a university in order to receive a tertiary education. General academic degrees are offered by public universities and university colleges that tend to attract students on a regional basis. Besides general academic degrees, the higher education system in Sweden also provides a number of professional and vocational degrees in fields such as engineering, law and medicine.
As of autumn semester 2011, higher education is free of charge only for Swedish, EU/EEA, and Swiss citizens.[27] [28]
On 1 July 2007, a new higher education system came into effect in Sweden.[13][14] Higher education became divided into three levels: basic level (grundnivå), advanced level (avancerad nivå), and doctoral level (forskarnivå). The new changes also included removing several professional / vocational degrees (yrkesexamina) as well as redefining other pre-existing degrees.
| Type of education | Level | Designation | Degree | Designation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forskarutbildning Postgraduate programmes |
Forskarnivå Doctoral level |
Doktorsexamen Degree of Doctor (PhD) 240 higher education credits |
4:e året | ||||||
| 3:e året | |||||||||
| Licentiatexamen Degree of Licentiate 120 higher education credits |
2:a året | ||||||||
| 1:a året | |||||||||
| Grundläggande högskoleutbildning Undergraduate education |
Avancerad nivå Advanced level |
2:an | Årskurs 2 | Masterexamen Degree of Master (Two years) 120 higher education credits |
Yrkesexamina Professional Degrees (3–5 years long) |
5:an | Årskurs 5 | ||
| 1:an | Årskurs 1 | Magisterexamen Degree of Master (One year) 60 higher education credits |
4:an | Årskurs 4 | |||||
| Grundnivå Basic level |
3:an | Årskurs 3 | Kandidatexamen Degree of Bachelor 180 higher education credits |
3:an | Årskurs 3 | ||||
| 2:an | Årskurs 2 | Högskoleexamen University Diploma 120 higher education credits |
2:an | Årskurs 2 | |||||
| 1:an | Årskurs 1 | 1:an | Årskurs 1 | ||||||
To be admitted to a programme at the basic level, a student must complete an education at the gymnasieskola level or its equivalent. The degrees that can be obtained at the basic level are:
To be admitted to a programme at the advanced level, a student must have obtained a 3-year Swedish degree at the basic level or a corresponding degree from another country or some corresponding qualification. The degrees that can be obtained at the advanced level are:
Both degrees require completing a thesis.
The Degree of Master (Two years), masterexamen, is a new degree that is intended to be closely linked to continuing education at the graduate level.
To be admitted to a programme at the doctoral level, a student must have obtained a Swedish degree at the advanced level or completed at least 4 years of full-time study with at least one year at the advanced level or a corresponding degree from another country or equivalent knowledge. The degrees that can be obtained at the doctoral level are:
Postgraduate academic titles are docent (associate professor) and professor (professor). Each department has an administrative officer, the prefekt, who often is a docent.
Three sets of grades exist in Swedish universities and university colleges. Some universities have introduces a seven-grade scale (A-F, Fx), that similar to the ECTS scale, but with a criterion-referenced grading instead of relative grading. The most common scale is a three-grade scale that consists of U (Underkänd in Swedish, fail), G (Godkänd, pass) and VG (Väl godkänd, pass with distinction). In this set VG is the highest. The other grade set consists of (U, 3, 4, 5) where 5 is the highest. This grade set is normally given in courses within technical professional degrees. Finally there are some courses, within two systems of grading, in which you can only get G (pass) or U (fail). For instance, for a one semester thesis (specialized level) in Computer Science for a Master's degree at some institutions one can only get the grade G (pass) or fail, while for an equivalent thesis at other institutions one can also receive the grade VG.
Before being accepted to a higher education programme in Sweden, all applicants must demonstrate a minimum proficiency in Swedish and English by either taking 2 years of Swedish and English or passing Swedish B and English A.[29] For international applicants, the TISUS, or Test in Swedish for University Studies, is an international exam that can be taken to demonstrate proficiency in Swedish. For those whose native language is not English, international applicants can demonstrate proficiency in English by obtaining a minimum score of 173 points on the TOEFL or a minimum grade of B on the Cambridge First Certificate in English exam.[30] Exchange students may have different language requirements.
Swedish students receive economic help from the Swedish National Board of Student Aid (CSN) for studying. Every student is entitled to 12 semesters of allowances and loans, totaling 1,841 SEK per week (July 2007: 200 EUR, 474 USD, 127 GBP) for full-time studies (after 1 July 2006).[31][32] Allowances are usually 632 SEK per week (August 2007: 68 EUR; 94 USD; 46 GBP) with loans covering the rest. The limits for loans and allowances may be substantially increased under certain circumstances.[31]
Swedish legislation about student democracy is made by:
Such legal basis form regulations for all Swedish public universities. They principally state that:
Complaints about the implementation of legislation on student democracy can be sent to the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education. Even if there is no fine, universities usually follow the agency's decisions.
The main issues about student democracy in Sweden are:
In 2001, the Act for Equal Treatment of Students in Higher Education was issued, stating that:
In 1842, the Swedish parliament introduced a four-year primary school for children in Sweden, "Folkskola". In 1858 grade 1 and 2 became "Småskola" and children started school at the age of seven. In 1882 two grades were added to "folkskola", grade 5 and 6. Some "folkskola" also had grade 7 and 8, called "Fortsättningsskola". Schooling in Sweden became mandatory for 7 years in the 1930s and for 8 years in the 1950s. Since 1972, Swedish children have 9 mandatory years in school - from August the year the child turns 7 to June the year the child turns 16. Parents in some cases also have the option of delaying starting school until age 8 if deemed to be in the childs best interest.
After three years in "folkskola", children who enjoyed school and had good grades could choose to switch to a secondary school called "Högre allmänna läroverket". Högre allmänna läroverket was not free, so most students came from well-off families. However, some children with good grades got free education at "högre allmänna läroverket" because their parents could not afford to pay for it. In 1905, "högre allmänna läroverket" was divided into a lower level, 6-year school called "realskola" and a higher level, 4-year school called "gymnasium". In 1971, fackskola merged with gymnasium and yrkesskola to become "gymnasieskola".
In the autumn term of 1949, some Swedish schools introduced an experiment with a nine-year school called enhetsskola. The enhetsskola had three stages. The first 3 years were lågstadium (lower stage), the next three years were mellanstadium (middle stage) and the last three years were högstadium (upper stage). In those school districts, småskola became lågstadium, folkskola became mellanstadium and realskola became högstadium. On 26 May 1950 the Swedish parliament decided to introduce the enhetsskola in Sweden. In 1958 the enhetsskola became försöksskola, which in 1962 changed name to grundskola. In 1972, the grundskola was introduced in all parts in Sweden, and the folkskola and högre allmänna läroverket were abolished. From the autumn term of 1994, the official division in three different stages was abolished. In the early 1990s, Sweden also introduced förskoleklass for the children aged 6, a one year long grade which first was called årskurs 0 (Grade 0) or 6-årsgrupp (group for the 6-year-olds). Förskoleklass is not mandatory.
The Swedish educational system has its own distinctions and, as such, is not directly comparable to the educational system in the United States. There is, however, a need to compare degrees and the educational or academic levels attained through a completed education.
While the Swedish educational system is regulated by the Government of Sweden, the American educational system is regulated at the state level. Furthermore, the definition and duration of primary and secondary school in the US and the names they are called (e.g., elementary school, grade school, middle school, junior high school, high school, senior high school) can vary within a state making comparisons with other countries difficult. To simplify, a typical mainstream American educational system is compared with the mainstream Swedish educational system, where special education is not included in mainstream education.
In the US, children are typically required to attend primary school and secondary school from age 6 to 18. After completing high school, many Americans continue with higher education in a community college, college, or university. In comparison, Swedish children are required to attend grundskola, compulsory school, from age 7 to 16, where grundskola is a combination of primary and secondary school. After grundskola, many Swedes attend the elective gymnasieskolan, upper secondary school, choosing either a university-preparatory program or a vocational program. Students who choose a vocational program normally terminate their education after gymnasieskolan while students who choose a university-preparatory program normally continue with higher education at a university or university college. Students who choose a vocational program can continue with higher education, but may need to take additional courses before being eligible to apply.
In Sweden, grundskola students are required to learn how to swim as a part of their physical education. Since 1 September 2007, students in årskurs 5 must be able to swim 200 meters, with 50 meters on their back.[33]
In the US, many high-school students take a Driver's Education course at their high school, which is often subsidized by the government. Thus, by the age of 18, many Americans have a driving permit or a driver's license. In contrast, Swedes typically learn how to drive by paying for a course at a private driving school (trafikskola). Since driving school can be quite expensive, many Swedes obtain their driver's license when they are older than 18. The minimum age of obtaining a drivers license in Sweden is 18.
Before 1 July 2007, Sweden had several degrees of undergraduate education, such as candidate of philosophy (fil. kand.) or civilingenjör (m. sc. eng.). Since 1 July 2007, undergraduate education in Sweden consists of all higher education degrees that are normally obtained in the first 5 years (Master, Bachelor, University Diploma and all professional degrees). In the US, undergraduate education is considered higher education degrees that are normally obtained in the first 4 years (Bachelor and Associate degrees).
Graduate education in the US consists of the Doctorate and Master degrees. Postgraduate education is additional training after being awarded a Doctorate degree. In contrast, postgraduate programmes in Sweden are at the graduate level and consist of the Doctorate and Licentiate degrees. (The Master degree is a part of undergraduate education.)
| Typical Age | Sweden[11][12] | United States | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | Designation | School | Designation | |||
| 18 | Gymnasieskola Upper secondary school Ages 16–19 |
3:an | Årskurs 3 | University / College | Freshman | 1st year |
| 17 | 2:an | Årskurs 2 | High School Ages 14–18 (Compulsory) |
Grade 12 | Senior | |
| 16 | 1:an | Årskurs 1 | Grade 11 | Junior | ||
| 15 | Grundskola Compulsory school Ages 7–16 (Compulsory) |
9:an | Årskurs 9 | Grade 10 | Sophomore | |
| 14 | 8:an | Årskurs 8 | Grade 9 | Freshman | ||
| 13 | 7:an | Årskurs 7 | Middle School Ages 11–14 (Compulsory) |
Grade 8 | ||
| 12 | 6:an | Årskurs 6 | Grade 7 | |||
| 11 | 5:an | Årskurs 5 | Grade 6 | |||
| 10 | 4:an | Årskurs 4 | Elementary School Ages 6–11 (Compulsory) |
Grade 5 | ||
| 9 | 3:an | Årskurs 3 | Grade 4 | |||
| 8 | 2:an | Årskurs 2 | Grade 3 | |||
| 7 | 1:an | Årskurs 1 | Grade 2 | |||
| 6 | Förskoleklass Pre-school class Age 6 |
Årskurs F Sometimes called 0:an |
Grade 1 | |||
| 5 | Förskola Pre-school Ages 1–5 |
Kindergarten Ages 5–6 |
K | |||
| ≤ 4 | Pre-Kindergarten Ages < 5 |
Pre-K | ||||
|
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