During the spring, the country's high school students switched to distance education due to the coronavirus. The National Agency for Education has now compiled the spring grades for upper secondary school students and the figures show that more students in the national programs pass upper secondary school within three years.

"A long process"

The Swedish Teachers' Association is pleased that more students pass upper secondary school, but at the same time points out that grading is a long process and therefore it is not possible to draw any conclusions at the moment.

- It is gratifying that the grades and goal fulfillment are going in the right direction. But if there are higher grades, it is important that the right knowledge is behind the grade statistics. The important thing now is that it is not possible to draw any conclusions from the last period of teaching this spring that has taken place at a distance, says Sara Svanlund, vice president at the Swedish Teachers' Association.

Absence of national tests

All national tests were canceled during the spring in connection with the transition to distance education. The tests are usually helpful for the teachers, according to the Swedish Teachers' Association.

- There is a concern that we have not had national tests during the spring. The tests are a kind of yardstick, you could say, for the teaching we conduct in the classroom, says Sara Svanlund and continues:

- I would not like to draw any conclusions that the reason we have received a grade increase is that we have not had any national exams. We teachers have a basis for assessment on more occasions than just the national tests. Possibly there has been a concern that a planned assessment opportunity has disappeared.