Pre-school
In Sweden, förskola (pre-school) is provided by municipalities for children ages one to five. The amount of municipal subsidy for pre-school depends on the child’s age and whether the parents work, study, are unemployed or on parental leave for other children.
Swedish pre-school emphasises the importance of play in a child’s development, with a curriculum aiming to ensure children’s individual needs and interests. Gender-aware education is increasingly common, striving to provide children with the same opportunities in life regardless of gender.
A year before the first year
All children are guaranteed a place in a one-year förskoleklass (‘pre-school year’) starting in the fall term of the year they turn six until they start compulsory schooling.
This year is designed to stimulate each child’s development and learning, and provide a platform for their future schooling. Although förskoleklass is non-compulsory, almost all children in Sweden attend it.
Compulsory schooling
Swedish compulsory schooling consists of three stages: lågstadiet (years 1–3), followed by mellanstadiet (years 4–6) and then högstadiet (years 7–9). Children between ages 6 and 13 are also offered out-of-school care before and after school hours.
Compulsory education also includes sameskolor (Sami schools) for children of the indigenous Sami people.
Upper secondary school
Gymnasium (upper secondary school or high school, years 10–12) is optional. There are 18 regular national programmes of 3 years to choose from, 6 of which are preparatory for higher education such as university, and 12 of which are vocational.
While entrance requirements vary between programmes, all of them demand students to have passing grades in Swedish, English and mathematics from their final year of compulsory schooling.
In 2014, 13 per cent of Swedish 9-year students did not have the grades to qualify for a national programme; however, instead of national programmes, these students have five so-called introductory programmes to choose from. From these introductory programmes, students can then move on to a national programme.
There are also upper secondary schools for people with intellectual disabilities as well as programme variations targeting for example athletes.
In 2014, roughly 88 per cent of upper secondary students received a leaving qualification (diploma).