SE - Skolverket

CIDREE respresentative:
Mr. Jan Sydhoff
tel.: +46 (0)8 52 73 3129
mob: +46 (0)7 33 77 3129
e-mail:

CIDREE contact person:
Mrs Ulla Lindqvist, Director of Education
tel.: +46 (0)8 52 73 3283
mob: +46 (0)7 33 77 3283
e-mail:

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 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

Defining goals in order to administrate The Education Act, school curriculum, program objectives, course syllabi and grading criteria, are some of the national steering documents that steer education activities.
Part of the philosophy of the Swedish education system is that the state should define the national goals and guidelines for education, while detailed sub-regulation should be avoided to give municipalities and schools as much freedom as possible to formulate their own work. Defining the goals for administration can involve:

• ongoing revision of course syllabi, grading criteria and other steering documents to ensure that they reflect the needs motivated by developments in society and the workplace, as well as the needs of individuals, and contribute thereby, over time, to greater equality of education.
• setting criteria to be met when opening new independent schools, and assessing whether applications received for new schools meet these criteria. This can apply, for example, to the ability and desire of the authorities concerned to operate an independent school that corresponds to the basic values of education that apply in the public school system.
• providing monetary steering instruments for municipalities and schools to better achieve the goals, and guarantee quality and equivalence. The allocation of monetary steering instruments is evaluated on an ongoing basis to determine whether school authorities are meeting the goals for which the funding was provided.

Informing in order to influence The National Agency for Education communicates and maintains a dialogue with Swedish Parliament and Government, responsible authorities in education and child care, school staff, and to a certain extent also with parents and students. Providing information to influence can involve:

• clarifying course syllabi and grading criteria, in the form of national examinations, to support teachers in grade-setting and thereby ensure fairness and consistency in grading students.
• making qualified prognoses regarding the availability of staff, from a two-year perspectiv, to facilitate municipalities? recruitment planning or to enable Government to identify the number of spaces needed in teacher training programs.