The original article requires translation.
The Riksdag recently decided on a new grading system to be introduced gradually from 2028. The new grading system requires the introduction of national final exams, which will be marked centrally. The Government is now instructing the Swedish National Agency for Education to introduce digital, centrally marked national final exams at the time required to enable the planned introduction of a new grading system.
Starting in 2028, a new grading system will be gradually introduced. In connection with the introduction, the national exams that currently serve as support for teachers’ grading will be abolished. The exams will be replaced with so-called national final exams. The final exams will be digital, centrally marked and will function as an external, objective measure of knowledge. The final exam results will be used to calibrate grade values and will become a component of individual students’ merit values for applications to education programs.
– Central marking of the national final exams is crucial to increase equivalence, counteract happy grades and reduce the workload of teachers and other school staff. The fact that the new national final exams will be digital also means a reduced risk of certain types of cheating and errors in connection with the implementation of the exams, says Minister of Upper Secondary Education, Higher Education and Research Lotta Edholm.
– One of the purposes of the new grading system is to provide a fairer assessment of all students. One step in that work is to ensure that the assessment of the national final exams takes place centrally. Digital exams enable central marking, which is a prerequisite for strengthening equivalence across the country and counteracting happy grades, says Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand.
– If digital final exams are introduced correctly, it can save a lot of time for both teachers and students. It can also provide better help to students with special needs. At the same time, it will be easier to compare results between schools, says Minister of Civil Affairs Erik Slottner.
The Swedish National Agency for Education has announced that the introduction of centrally marked digital final exams may need to be introduced in stages to ensure that they are sufficiently tested. The government believes that this does not prevent the new grading system from being introduced from 2028, with national final exams in 2029.
The government is now giving the Swedish National Agency for Education the task of developing and providing digital national final exams in compulsory school, special school and upper secondary school. The task replaces all previous tasks. In order to enable the calculation of merit values in the summer of 2031, in accordance with the proposal in the bill on the new grading system, the first national final exams need to be carried out already in 2029. The first year will involve exams in certain subjects in upper secondary school.
During an initial phase, the national final exams may need to be written on paper. The central marking may then need to be handled by, among other things, scanning the exams.
The Government emphasizes in the assignment to the National Agency for Education that the agency should obtain knowledge and experience from other agencies that have experience in developing and managing large IT systems. The agency should also benefit from expertise that other relevant actors can offer. The National Agency for Education should also ensure close collaboration with school principals and system suppliers so that schools and principals have the opportunity to prepare in good time.
– It is of course important that the national digital final exams can be carried out in a predictable and legally secure manner, says Lotta Edholm.
The Swedish National Agency for Education will not digitize the current national exams.
In 2017, the Swedish National Agency for Education was tasked with digitizing the national exams. The work has been surrounded by major challenges and the assignment has been revised on several occasions. The government assesses that it is no longer relevant to digitize the current national exams in compulsory school, Sami school, special school, upper secondary school and municipal adult education at upper secondary level. This means that the national exams will be conducted as they are today, that is, in paper form or on a computer/other digital device when it comes to essays in Swedish, Swedish as a second language and English in grade 9.
share