The Swedish school system

The steering system

• The Swedish school system is a goalbased system with a high degree of local responsibility.

• The main responsibility lies with the municipalities and authorities responsible for independent schools.

• The overall national goals are set out by Swedish Parliament and Government in:

• The Education Act• Curricula• Course syllabi for compulsory school etc. • Program goals for upper secondary school

The steering system

• The National Agency for Education draws up and takes decisions on:

•  Course syllabi for upper secondary school etc. • Grading criteria for all types of Swedish school • General recommendations

• The municipalities are to distribute resources and organize education such that students are able to achieve the national goals.

• Individual schools, preschools and leisure-time centres can then choose work methods suited to their local conditions. This work is followed up in annual Quality reports.

Curricula

• Lpfö 98Curriculum for the Preschool

• Lpo 94 Curriculum for the Compulsory School System, the Preschool Class and the Leisure-time centre

• Lpf 94 Curriculum for the Non-compulsory School System

Compulsory school – grades

• The grades given in the Compulsory school are:

• Pass with Special Distinction MVG

• Pass with Distinction VG

• Pass G

Upper secondary school

• Child and Recreation

• Construction

• Electrical engineering

• Energy

• Arts

• Vehicle engineering

• Business and Administration

• Handicrafts

• Hotel, Restaurant and Catering

• Industry

• Foods

• Media

• Use of Natural resources

• Natural Science

• Health Care

• Social Science

• Technology

17 national programs

Upper secondary school

• Child and Recreation• Recreational, Educational

and Social Activities

• Construction• Construction

• Building

• Painting

• Metalwork

• Electrical engineering• Automation

• Electronics

• Electrical technology

• Computer technology

• Energy• Operation and Maintenance

• Marine technology

• Heating, Ventilation and Sanitation

Upper secondary school

• Arts• Art and Design• Dance• Music• Theatre

• Vehicle engineering• Aeronautics• Coachwork• Motor vehicle

mechanics and • engineering• Transport

• Business and Administration• Business and Services

• Travel and Tourism

• Handicrafts• Various trades and crafts

• Hotel, Restaurant and Catering

• Hotel, Restaurant and Catering

• services

Upper secondary school

• Industry• Local specializations

• Foods• Local specializations

• Media• Media Production• Printing technology

• Use of Natural Resources

• Local specializations

• Natural Science• Mathematics and Computer

Sciences• Environmental Science• Natural Sciences

• Health Care • No national specializations

• Social Science• Economics• Liberal Arts • Social Sciences• Languages

Upper secondary school

• Technology• Local

specializations

Core subjects• English

• The Arts

• Physical Education and Health

• Mathematics

• General Science

• Religion

• Social Studies

• Swedish

Upper secondary school – grading

• The grades given in the Upper secondary school are:

• Pass with Special Distinction MVG

• Pass with Distinction VG

• Pass G

• Fail IG

Upper secondary school

• Individual programs

• For the student to later transfer into a national- or specially designed program

• Determined by the needs of the individual student

• Varies in length and content

Upper secondary school

• Specially designed programs

• For individuals or groups.

• Includes the eight core subjects of the national

programs, and corresponds to them in terms of the

level of difficulty and number of hours.

• To meet local or regional needs.

The National Agency for Education

• The Swedish National Agency for Education is the central administrative authority for the Swedish public school system for children, young people and adults, as well as for preschool activities and child care for school children.

• The National Agency for Education audits preschool activities, care for school children, schools and adult education in many different ways. Regardless of the method, however, the focus is always on asserting the right of each individual to knowledge and personal development.

The National Agency for Education

• ”With involvement, expertise and integrity – the National Agency for Education is asserting the right of every individual to knowledge, education and development.”

The National Agency for Education

The role of the National Agency for Education in the Swedish education system is:

• to define goals in order to administrate

• to inform in order to influence

• to review in order to improve.

The National Agency for Education

• Current steering documents that meet the needs

• Follow-up through statistics and analysis

• National and international evaluations lead to more indepth knowledge

• Testing and diagnostic materials to support teachers and students

The National Agency for Education

• Educational inspection to assert the rights of individuals

• Careful review of independent school activities prior to approval

• The use of funding as a steering instrument

The National Agency for Education

The National Agency for Education

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The National Agency for Education

The National Agency for Education

The National Agency for Education

The National Agency for Education

Educational inspection

• To determine whether- and how well an activity is functioning in relation to the regulations.

• Auditing on both municipal- and individual school level.

• 5 regional offices in Göteborg, Linköping, Lund, Stockholm and Umeå.

Evaluation

• To provide a broad factual base for anyone wishing to take part in the debate on education policy.

• The areas evaluated are chosen on the basis of problems or needs detected in the statistics or through educational inspection.

• The results from international comparative studies help to form a basis for analysing variations in different education systems.

Syllabuses, goals and grading

The National Agency of Education:

• decides on approval of new independent schools to operate as well as their right to subsidized funding.

 • reviews and assesses the ability of the state to use funding

as a steering instrument to encourage municipalities and schools to increase goal achievement, and to ensure quality and equivalence.

• is continually developing and revising syllabi, grading criteria and other steering documents to ensure that they help to improve equivalence and achievement of goals, as well as reflect the needs motivated by developments in society and the workplace and the needs of individuals.