Education Policy Outlook 2018

Sweden

Context

Sweden scored close to the OECD average in science in PISA 2015, with a mean score of 493 points, equal to the OECD average of 493 points. From a position well above average in PISA 2000, Sweden’s performance had fallen by 2012. On average, Sweden’s three-year performance has declined across PISA cycles in science, mathematics and reading. However, compared to PISA 2012, Sweden’s performance stabilised in science and increased in reading and mathematics in PISA 2015, putting Sweden around or above the OECD average in all three domains tested in PISA 2015. Socio-economic status had lower-than-average impact on science performance in PISA 2015, explaining 12.2% of the variance in performance (OECD average: 12.9%). The impact of ESCS on performance in science has not changed since 2006. There was no significant gender difference in science performance in PISA 2015. Immigrant students make up 17.4% of the student population of 15-year-olds in Sweden, a higher proportion than the OECD average of 12.5%. Performance differences between immigrant and non-immigrant students are higher than the OECD average. Immigrants scored on average 49 score points lower than non-immigrants in science in PISA 2015, compared to the OECD average of 31 score points.

Enrolment of 3-year-olds in ECEC was higher than the OECD average in 2015, at 91.4% (OECD average: 77.8%). A national curriculum is in place for 1-5 year-olds (Curriculum for the Preschool class and the Out-of-school centre [Lgr 11]). Starting at age 6, children attend a one-year preschool programme (Förskoleklass), which is compulsory beginning in 2018. Compulsory education in Sweden begins at age 6 and ends at age 16, the same as the typical duration across the OECD. Students are first tracked into different educational pathways at age 16, later than the OECD average of age 14. Around age 16, students can choose from a total of 18 upper secondary programmes, of which 12 are of vocational orientation. Students who do not achieve the necessary lower secondary grades to meet entrance requirements for national general or vocational upper secondary programmes can complete one of five different introductory programmes.

In the OECD Survey of Adult Skills in 2012 and 2015, adult literacy scores in Sweden were among the highest in the OECD, at 279 points, compared to the OECD average of 268 points. The gap in literacy skills between older adults (age 55-65) and younger adults (age 25-34) was close to the OECD average. The proportion of the population aged 25-64 with lower secondary education as the highest level of attainment in Sweden is lower than the OECD average, with an attainment rate of 12.1% in 2016, compared to the OECD average of 14.3%. NEET rates (the proportion of those aged 18¥24 that are neither employed nor in education or training) are lower than the OECD average, at 10%, compared to the OECD average of 15.3%. The percentage of the population aged 25-34 with a tertiary-level qualification is higher than the OECD average, at 47.2% in 2016, compared to the OECD average of 43.1%. Employment rates for 25-34 year-olds with tertiary education are higher than the OECD average. In 2016, 86.6% were employed, while the OECD average rate was 82.9%.

Figure 7.24. Selected indicators compared with the average: Sweden

Note: For each indicator, the absolute performance is standardised (normalised) using a normative score ranging from 0 to 220, where 100 was set at the average, taking into account all OECD countries with available data in each case.

Sources: OECD (2016), PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264266490-en; OECD (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264258051-en; OECD (2017), Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2017-en.

Statlink

Evolution of key education policy priorities

Table 7.24. Evolution of key education policy priorities, Sweden (2008-17)

Identified by	Equity and quality	Preparing students for the future
Selected OECD country-based work, 2008-171	The OECD has identified two main policy priorities that Sweden should address. Better curriculum alignment should be developed to guarantee continuous child development. Also, struggling students and immigrants need to be better supported and well integrated in the education system. [2013; 2015]	OECD evidence also shows skills mismatch in terms of employment in Sweden (for example, according to the field of study, type of qualifications or level of skills). Also, about one-third of firms surveyed reported difficulties in filling vacancies due to the lack of workers with adequate skills, with emerging wage pressures in sectors requiring high skills. Raising educational attainment and skills outcomes and ensuring attractiveness of VET have also been identified by the OECD as important for Sweden [2016]
Evolution of responses to EPO Surveys, 2013 and 2016‑17	Key targets reported by Sweden include increasing students’ performance and reducing dropout rates to achieve greater equity and quality in education. Also, since 2015, an increase in the number of asylum seekers raises new challenges, such as improving outcomes for immigrant students and ensuring speedy integration. [2013; 2016-17]	Sweden has identified raising the attractiveness of VET among students as a policy priority. Sweden expressed concern that it might encounter a shortage of VET teachers caused by future needs. [2013; 2016-17]

1. See Annex A, Table A A.3 for the list of OECD publications consulted for this snapshot.

Selected education policy responses

In 1998, Sweden introduced a new ECEC curriculum (Läroplan för Förskolan – Lpfö 98) designed to put children and play at the centre by: 1) ensuring continuous child development through the use of one national framework plan for ECEC; 2) balancing content by addressing academic and socio-emotional development; 3) reflecting on parental opinions and expectations; and 4) addressing respect for cultural values. Since 2010, this policy has gone through various revisions to improve the quality of education for all students. In 2010, the policy was subjected to revisions in order to improve the learning and social development of children and help them develop an interest in school. In 2016, a new round of policy revisions aimed to improve transitions and co-operation between primary schools, schools and leisure centres to create context, continuity and progression in children’s development and learning. In 2017, the government asked the National Agency for Education to propose amendments to the curriculum (läroplan) of pre-primary education to clarify its educative role and improve its quality (Regeringen, 2018).

• Progress or impact: The ECEC reform was reviewed in 2002 and 2008, and both evaluations indicated that the new curriculum had a strong, positive impact on schools. The 2008 results revealed that the significance of the reform had grown for schools in the ten years following its implementation, reinforcing the importance of preschool learning in education, as well as fostering and reinforcing connections between the various levels of actors (municipal, national) in the country’s ECEC system. The evaluation also highlighted the increased co-ordination between preschools in the preparedness of children for later education (Skolverket, 2008). The 2018 quality review by the Swedish School Inspectorate indicates that there are challenges in the quality of preschools and the achievement of objectives, particularly regarding the educational assignment of pre-primary education (Regeringen, 2018).

Additional education policies of potential interest to other countries

• Since 2017, a new national system for quality assurance of higher education has been in place. It is no longer linked to a previously introduced additional resource allocation. From 2016 onwards, university chancellors and the National Authority for Higher Education remain responsible for evaluating higher education institutions, but also have responsibility to ensure that universities develop their own system of quality control.

• The Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education (NAHVE, 2009) administers a common framework of publicly funded vocational education at the post-upper secondary level. It decides which programmes will receive public funding and be included in the framework, audits the quality and outcomes of the courses, and analyses and assesses the demand for qualified labour and trends in the labour market.

More information available at: www.oecd.org/education/policyoutlook.htm.