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This year, 19 applications were received from various principals to start an upper secondary school for the 2026/2027 school year. 12 of them were upper secondary schools with vocational programs – a very large increase compared to last year when only two out of eleven applications came from schools with vocational programs. Carin Clevesjö, head of permit review at the Swedish School Inspectorate, thinks it is difficult to answer exactly what this is due to.
– A possible explanation is that society has sent clear signals about the need for vocational training and its importance in strengthening the supply of skills, as a consequence of new regulations on planning and dimensioning education based on the needs of the labor market.
Even smaller municipalities
The most common application for the establishment of an independent upper secondary school includes four or more programs. Five of the applications combine both vocational education and university preparatory education. In this year's applications, the electricity and energy program was at the top, followed by the health and care program, closely followed by the social sciences program, the technology program, the sales and service program, and the construction and civil engineering program.
– It's quite a big difference compared to last year. Back then, university preparatory programs were at the top in terms of the number of applications.
Geographically, the majority of applications are linked to larger cities.
– It is recurring, but I still think that there were some new municipalities among those who have applied, for example Ale, Munkedal, Ljusdal and Klippan.
Many were rejected
Something that has a major impact on the Swedish National Board of Education's decisions is the Swedish National Board of Education's regional planning documents, which have been produced for each county since 2024, based on student demand and the needs of the labor market. The purpose of the documents is partly to help school principals decide where schools should be located and how many places are needed, and partly to serve as a basis for the Swedish National Board of Education's licensing review of upper secondary schools.
– Last year, when we first used the new planning basis, many applications for upper secondary education were rejected. Now we are continuing the work of finding the right level so that decisions can be clearly linked to the basis produced by the Swedish National Agency for Education or other relevant information, she says, adding that legal certainty and transparency are important in this matter.
A broader societal debate
The Swedish School Inspectorate's goal is to make a decision by October 1st, if possible.
– We will now process the applications for education programs that are planned to start in the fall of 2026. This work includes assessing whether a new establishment could have negative consequences for existing municipal education programs, she says and continues:
– For example, it could be that a municipality already has an education system with few students. If a new player establishes itself and attracts the same group of students, the municipality risks losing its students. But for it to influence our decision, the consequences must be clear, concrete and involve a long-term, tangible risk to the municipality's education offering.
Carin Clevesjö hopes that the large number of applications to start vocational programs will spark a broader social discussion.
– We need to ask ourselves which jobs are actually in demand in different industries, and which skills are needed in the future. It is also important that the industries themselves raise this. Students must get a clear picture of what future opportunities exist, what an education can lead to and where the jobs will be.