Academic grading in Sweden

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

Academic grading
Africa
Egypt Kenya Morocco South Africa Tunisia
North America
Canada Mexico United States
Central America
Costa Rica Nicaragua
South America
Chile Venezuela
Asia
Bangladesh China Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Israel Japan Korea Kyrgyzstan Nepal Pakistan Philippines Singapore Syria United Arab Emirates Vietnam
Europe
ECTS European Baccalaureate GPA in Central and Eastern Europe Albania Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Moldova Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom
Oceania
Australia New Zealand
v t e

See also Education in Sweden and Bologna process, section Sweden

Primary school

In the Swedish grundskola (primary/elementary and secondary/high school, officially called "compulsory school" by Skolverket), students are currently (November 2011) graded from the eight grade and onward. The students can be graded:

• A - Exemplary
• B - Excellent
• C - Good
• D - Adequate
• E - Acceptable
• F - Fail, not passed

A reform was taken into full effect on the beginning of the semester in 2011 which had have students graded from the sixth grade, and the grade is more similar to the system of the upper secondary school (gymnasium), with grades F-A. According to Skolverket, the change is due to a lot of students (~10 %) failing in courses in Swedish, Swedish as a second language, English or mathematics in the 9th year.^[1]

Secondary school

In the gymnasium (three-year pre-university course, similar to the UK sixth form college, officially called "upper secondary school" by Skolverket, despite there being no such thing as a "lower secondary school"), the same grading system as the primary school was used until 2011, when it was change to a six-degree system A-F (A being the highest and F for having failed).^[2] Grades are assigned based on individual achievements rather than relative performance. Formally, the grade should reflect the degree of attainment of stated learning outcomes and objectives. In practice, however, simple percentage limits are often used.

Historically

20th century

Until 1996 relative grades on the scale 1-5 were used, with 5 being the highest grade. The scale was intended to follow a normal distribution on a national level, with a mean of 3 and a standard deviation of 1.

Up until 1962 yet another scale was used:

• A - Berömlig (Passed with great distinction)
• a - Med utmärkt beröm godkänd (Passed with distinction)
• AB - Med beröm godkänd (Passed with great credit)
• Ba - Icke utan beröm godkänd (Passed with credit)
• B - Godkänd (Passed)
• Bc - Icke fullt godkänd (Not entirely passable)
• C - Underkänd (Fail)

Though unused for over 40 years, this scale retains some cultural significance, and the standard law school grading scale used today is based on it (see below).

1996 - 2011

From 1996 to 2011, a system similar to the current system for primary school was used, with grades ranging through "IG", "G", "VG" and "MVG" ("IG" being failed). This was changed in the secondary school reforms of 2011, primarily to make the distinction of grades clearer and to make the grading of students fairer.^[2]

University level

On university level the following standard grading scale has been defined:

• VG - Väl godkänd (Passed with distinction)
• G - Godkänd (Passed)
• U - Underkänd (Fail)

As long as relative grading is not used, however, individual universities may choose to use any other scale. For example, in the fields of engineering and technology, the passing grades of VG and G are commonly replaced with 5, 4 and 3, whereas law schools consistently employ a scale of AB, Ba and B as passing grades. Further, a number of universities are currently in the process of transitioning to an ECTS based scale, with an A to F grading, pursuant to the Bologna process. However, many universities (e.g. KTH and SU) are no longer in the process of transitioning to an ECTS-based scale, having finished that process in 2007 or 2008.

References

1. ^ "Betyg i årskurs 6". Skolverket.se. Skolverket. http://www.skolverket.se/kursplaner_och_betyg/2.4122/2.5350/betyg-i-arskurs-6-1.129986. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Om gymnasieskolan: Bedömning". Skolverket.se. Skolverket. http://www.skolverket.se/forskola_och_skola/gymnasieutbildning/2.2952/bedomning-1.129623. Retrieved 17 November 2011.