Education in Sweden: Encyclopedia II - Education in Sweden - Primary and Secondary School

Education in Sweden - Primary and Secondary School

The educational system in Sweden is based on a nine year primary school, or "Grundskola" with mandatory attendance. 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.

Education in Sweden - Grundskola

In the autumn term of 1949, some Swedish schools introduced an experiment with a nine-year school called "Enhetsskola". The "Enhetsskola" had three stages. Grade 1-3 was "Lågstadium" (Lower Stage), grade 4-6 was "Mellanstadium" (Middle Stage) and Grade 7-9 was "Högstadium" (Upper Stage). In those school districts, Småskola became lågstadium, folkskola became mellanstadium and realskola became högstadium. On May 26th 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.

Education in Sweden - Grading

Three grades are currently used in elementary school: Pass (godkänd (G)), Pass with distinction (Väl godkänd (VG)) and Pass with special distinction (Mycket väl godkänd (MVG)). The grades are usually referred to by their abbrevation. 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 "lack 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 dependant on the preferences of the teacher and doesn't make any sort of difference.

The pupils 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 of 320. It's 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 grown more prevalent.

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 lack qualification to attend secondary school. However, the student can still attend the secondary school individual programme (individuellt program (IV)), either to gain comptence in the core subjects and start a secondary school programme or to complete the individual programme and satisfy the requirements for a student degree (see below).

Education in Sweden - Gymnasieskola

Secondary school, called gymnasieskola, normally lasts for three years 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 different "programs", e.g. different types of choices which leads to different kinds of education. The two most common "programs" are "social knowledge" (samhällskunskap) and "science" (naturvetenskap). These programs can be either 2-3- or 4 years. The most common is 3 years. Tge "programs" are further divided into orientations. There are currently 17 different national programmes - centrally defined programme curriculums - with between two and four centrally defined orientations. In addition there are local programmes and orientations, but most schools use the national programmes.

The programmes are divided into two general categories, preparatory and vocational programmes. All programmes give basic qualification to attend university, but preparatory programmes typically satisfy more of the various special qualifications that are required to attend some university courses and programmes.

The courses that a student takes depending on programme and orientation can be divided into four levels: Core subjects, programme-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. Programme-specific courses are the additional courses that a student is required to take to fulfill the programme requirements. If a student for some reason does not fulfill the requirements, for example by electing to replace a programme-specific course with another course, the student is considered to have attended a specially designed programme - 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 her/his elementary school grades. In a few cases, such as the Arts Programme (Estetiska programme (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.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Primary and Secondary School", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki