Education target

Sweden’s national targets

– The share of people aged 18–24 who have not completed at least two years of upper secondary education and are not participating in any form of study is to be less than 7 per cent in 2020.

– The share of people aged 30–34 with at least two years of tertiary education is to be 45–50 per cent in 2020.

Current status

The share of people aged 18–24 who have not completed two years of upper secondary education and who are not in education has continually increased since 2014, amounting to 7.6 per cent in 2017 (8.3 per cent for men and 6.9 per cent for women), which is better than the EU target. The increase compared with 2014 is just shy of 1 percentage point, although Sweden has not yet reached its national target of 7 per cent.

Figure 2. Share of women and men aged 18–34 who have not completed two years of upper secondary education and who are not in education (2017)

Source: Eurostat.

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2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Sweden total EU28 total Sweden females

EU28 females Sweden males EU28 males

EU target

The percentage of people aged 30–34 with at least two years of tertiary education was 51.1 per cent in 2017 (44.2 per cent for men and 58.5 per cent for women), which is above the EU target and Sweden’s national target.

Figure 3. Share of women and men aged 30–34 with at least two years of tertiary education (2017)

Source: Eurostat.

Initiatives and measures

Initiatives aimed at increasing the number of youths who complete upper secondary education

The Government has maintained focus on increasing the level of knowledge, improving the quality of teaching and increasing equality in Swedish schools.

However, equality in schools has deteriorated over time, and the gap in results between schools has widened. Socioeconomic factors have a bearing on results, and the Government has therefore decided to firmly bolster state funding for preschool classes and compulsory school. This state grant – which, after a three-year phase-in period, is expected to be SEK 6 billion annually – is distributed to the organisers based on pupils’ socioeconomic background. The Government has also proposed that it be set out in the Education Act that the organisers of preschool classes, compulsory school and upper secondary school shall actively seek to promote a balanced social composition of pupils in their schools.

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2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

EU28 Total EU28 Males EU28 Females

Sweden Total Sweden Males Sweden Females

EU target

The Government has also appointed an inquiry on regional planning and dimensioning of upper secondary education. Its aims include improving access to a comprehensive and extensive supply of high-quality educational programmes, promoting equality in education and reducing segregation in upper secondary schools.

The Government continues to implement measures to improve teaching and study outcomes for newly arrived pupils. The National Agency for Education has a comprehensive mandate to carry out systematic initiatives aimed at improving the capacity of organisers of schools to offer newly arrived students education of high and equal quality. Newly arrived pupils entering the upper grades of compulsory school are a particularly vulnerable group. The Government therefore sets forth several proposals aimed at providing newly arrived pupils entering school at the secondary level with better opportunities to meet the entry requirements for national upper secondary school programmes. For instance, the right to study mentorship in their native language will be strengthened.

The Government also wants more youths to commence and complete upper secondary education, and therefore, in the Upper Secondary Schooling Bill (Govt. Bill 2017/18:183), proposes a number of improvements for upper secondary schools, and upper secondary school for pupils with learning disabilities. The proposals are largely about focusing more on pupils’

education as a whole, and sharper demands on introductory programmes. The National Agency for Education has been commissioned to support organisers of schools, and school principals, in improving conditions for pupils in introductory programmes to proceed to upper secondary school or other educational programme. Also, SEK 300 million per year for 2018–2020 is allocated to reinforcing the upper secondary school introductory programmes.

To provide better conditions for youths who neither work nor study to return to studies and work, in 2015 the Government devised the ‘Paths Ahead Strategy’ for youths who neither work nor study, and appointed a coordinator for this target group. The coordinator has been tasked with promoting cooperation in initiatives for youths who neither work nor study between various entities at national, regional and local level, and submitting proposals for future initiatives. The final report of the coordinator was submitted to the Government in February 2018. The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society has been tasked with providing further support to municipalities working with the target group, and continuing to work with the coordinator’s proposals.

In 2017, a new form of financial aid for recruiting to studies was introduced –

‘Education entry grant’, with the aim to make it easier for people with brief education and substantial educational needs to study at basic or upper-secondary level, hence improving their prospects of becoming established in the labour market. Participation in studies with Education entry grant is not increasing at the rate estimated in the Budget Bill for 2018. In the Spring Budget, the Government therefore sets forth proposals for information initiatives to prompt more people in need of adult education to commence studies.

Initiatives aimed at increasing the percentage of the population with tertiary education

The Government is carrying out a Knowledge Boost initiative to provide people with a greater opportunity to obtain an education and a job. Altogether, Knowledge Boost will by 2021 equal around 100,000 study slots in higher vocational education, regional adult vocational education, folk high school, universities and other higher education institutions. The initiative includes higher education programmes in fields crucial to society, such as engineering and medicine.