According to the study’s proposal for equivalent grades and credit values, the grade F should be completely abolished, and a new ten -degree scale is introduced. This should mean that more people can pass the school and receive fairer grades.
Sweden’s teachers have long called for a broad investigation into the grading system, where they wanted to examine the future of the F-grade.
– We share the problem picture altogether. There are major problems with grade inflation, unequal rating, and major problems with exclusion in Swedish schools. Too few students become eligible for high school and for few students leave high school with full grades, says Robin Smith, vice chairman of Sweden’s teacher.
High proportion without permission
In 2024, almost 20,000 pupils left the elementary school without admission to a national program in upper secondary school. It is 20 percent of the students, compared with four percent in other EU countries.
“It is a hugely much higher exclusion between elementary school and high school in Sweden,” says Jonatan Lamy, chairman of the Swedish Student Union.
The middle school teacher Martin Johansson thinks it is positive if the grade F disappears.
– F is the symbol of a failure. A failure for the student, but also for us teachers and school. The fact that F disappears is very important, says Martin Johansson, who works at Katarina Norra school in Stockholm.
Nuance the entire rating scale
According to the proposal, the new grades are 1-3 (less acceptable knowledge), 4-5 (acceptable knowledge, 6-7 (good knowledge), 8-9 (very good knowledge) and 10 (excellent knowledge).
-What is positive is that you nuance what was previously failed, you remove the hard non-approved limit. If you did not reach all the way up to acceptable knowledge, then you may have shown some knowledge and then you can get some points anyway. It is weighted in the system and becomes compensatory, says Jonatan Lamy, chairman of the Swedish Student Union.
Martin Johansson agrees that it is good not to have a hard limit, more shades are better.
– One is a first step towards a second, and then the next step is a third, and then upwards. Then you get a recognition, says Martin Johansson.
Greater weight for national tests
According to the study’s proposal, national tests must be heavier when setting grades. In the elementary school there will be five national tests, in high school up to eight. The idea is that joy ratings in some schools can then be avoided.
But it also risks increased stress for the students, says Sweden’s student unions.
– If you want to go to school and write one of the five tests that will be decisive for one’s future, that is a great pressure. We developed a survey last year that showed that the national tests are already most stressful today. We see a risk that it is increasing, says Jonatan Lamy, chairman of the Swedish Student Union.
Equal throughout the country
The investigation thinks that a new system should rest heavily on teacher -made grades.
– It is the teacher who has the best knowledge of the student’s abilities and skills. But what the individual teacher finds difficult to do is take responsibility for the grades that you set is equal to the rest of the country. Then you need a system where you can create a moderation model for this, then the figures come in, says Robin Smith, vice chairman of Sweden’s teacher.
In the autumn of 2027, the new system will take effect.
– What you can note is that all grading systems have their shortcomings. It is important to look at what risks there are with this proposal, so that we do not sit there in ten years and realize that it became bad, we have to take it seriously and investigate carefully, says Jonatan Lamy, chairman of the Swedish Student Union.