Preliminary figures obtained by TT from the four largest municipalities show that only 82 percent of students who recently completed year 9 met the knowledge requirements to apply to upper secondary school. The figures are slightly higher for independent schools.
Students who do not meet the requirements are instead offered a place on introduction programs, which aim to provide eligibility for national programs or help them get closer to the labor market.
Christian Lundahl, professor of education at Örebro University, believes that the ambition for all students to attend upper secondary school requires significantly more resources.
Generally, one can say that the ambition level for Swedish schools has been raised. The curriculum level is set so that a fairly large proportion of students will have problems in school, especially those from study-inexperienced homes.
It would absolutely be possible to get better figures if schools had more resources to devote to supporting the student groups that fall behind.
Göteborg lowest
In Stockholm, 87 percent of students at municipal comprehensive schools reached the level required for eligibility to attend upper secondary school. The corresponding figures for Göteborg and Malmö are 77 and 81 percent, respectively.
There are probably more students with study-weak traditions in Göteborg than in Stockholm, but one would need to look closer at the differences between different schools and student groups to find an explanation for why it looks different, says Lundahl.
He warns that there may be even more students who do not have sufficient knowledge in core subjects to qualify for upper secondary school.
We know from studies that there are more students who receive the grade E in mathematics than who deserve it.
Same level
The Swedish National Agency for Education's statistics from previous years indicate that the knowledge level among comprehensive school students has remained at a similar level for several years, with many not becoming eligible for upper secondary school.
In the long run, it can have quite costly consequences, both personally and economically, says Lundahl.
Emilia Bjuggren (The Social Democratic Party), Chairman of the Education Committee in Stockholm, agrees that greater political efforts are needed to enable more students to meet the eligibility requirements directly from comprehensive school.
The statistics show that grades in year 6 have declined over a longer period. With that background, we are relieved that we are maintaining a stable level when it comes to upper secondary school eligibility, she says.
We are naturally not satisfied until even more students are eligible. We will continue to invest, not least in earlier ages.
Stockholm 87.2% (88.1%)
Göteborg 77.4% (76.9%)
Malmö 81.2% (82.3%)
Uppsala 83.5% (84.3%)
The figures in parentheses apply to the 2022/2023 academic year
To be eligible for a vocational program at upper secondary school, students need to have passed grades in Swedish or Swedish as a second language, English, and mathematics, and passed grades in at least five other subjects, i.e., passed grades in a total of eight subjects.
To be admitted to college preparatory programs, students need to have passed grades in Swedish or Swedish as a second language, English, mathematics, and passed grades in at least nine other subjects, i.e., passed grades in a total of twelve subjects.
Source: The Swedish National Agency for Education
