Several actors in the school world react strongly to the judgment of the District Court of Gothenburg. In short, it can be said that the court gives Statistics Sweden the right to secretly stamp information on how the free schools are doing, citing that the data can damage the companies' finances. But the Free Schools' National Federation does not want such protection.

- It is very unfortunate I think. We need more transparency and information to be able to make a more informed school choice in Sweden today, so that sounds very disturbing, I would say, ”says Ulla Hamilton, President of the National Schools of Freeschools. In a longer comment on the union's website, she calls it a "strange judgment".

Anna Ekström: "Strong interest in giving citizens access to what schools do"

Similar noises come from the government. In an interview with TT, Education Minister Anna Ekström (S) says that the free schools must be examined in the same way as the municipal schools, although she does not want to comment on the individual judgment.

- But with that said, it is of course up and down the world if schools' results cannot be examined because they are business secrets. A starting point for Swedish school policy is that schools' results should be reviewed. Another starting point is that we pay tax money to our common school. Thus, there is a strong interest in giving citizens access to what the schools do, she tells TT.

SKR is considering appealing the judgment

Sweden's municipalities and regions (SKR) lost the dispute with Statistics Sweden in the District Court, but are now considering appealing the judgment to the Supreme Administrative Court.

"But what we're hoping for sometime is that you look at the legislation in this area," says Karin Hedin, who is an investigator for high school issues and open comparisons at SKR.

At the National Agency for Education, the noises have so far been somewhat cooler. Eva Durhán, head of the analysis department, says that it is not yet certain how Statistics Sweden's decision will affect the authority.

- For our part, we are still analyzing how it affects us, and we are definitely not there yet, says Eva Durhán.