Academic grading in Sweden
Encyclopedia
- See also Education in SwedenEducation in SwedenEducation in Sweden is mandatory for all children from year 1 to year 9 - generally from the year of the child’s seventh birthday to the year of the child’s 16th...
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:- MVG - Mycket väl godkänd (passed with distinction)
- VG - Väl godkänd (passed with merit grade)
- G - Godkänd (passed)
There is no grade for having failed, but an evaluator can write "***" or a EUM (Ej Uppnått Målen för G, didn't achieve the goals for the grade G), and the result is basically the same.
A planned reform in the fall semester of 2012 will have students graded from the sixth grade, and the grade will be more similar to the system of the upper secondary school (gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
), 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.
Secondary school
In the gymnasiumGymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
(three-year pre-university course, similar to the UK sixth form college
Sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...
, 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). 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.
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 deviationStandard deviation
Standard deviation is a widely used measure of variability or diversity used in statistics and probability theory. It shows how much variation or "dispersion" there is from the average...
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
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
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.University level
On universityUniversity
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
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
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, the passing grades of VG and G are commonly replaced with 5, 4 and 3, whereas law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
s 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
ECTS
ECTS may refer to:* Elementary cognitive tasks, from psychometrics* Engine coolant temperature sensor* European Calcified Tissue Society* European Computer Trade Show* European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System...
based scale, with an A to F grading, pursuant to the Bologna process
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
. However, many universities (e.g. KTH and SU
Stockholm University
Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
) are no longer in the process of transitioning to an ECTS
ECTS
ECTS may refer to:* Elementary cognitive tasks, from psychometrics* Engine coolant temperature sensor* European Calcified Tissue Society* European Computer Trade Show* European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System...
-based scale, having finished that process in 2007 or 2008.