Pre-school, school and adult education
All children and young people in Stockholm, regardless of where in the City they live or what background they have, should receive a good and equal education.
The City’s commission in the field of education includes pre-school, pre-school class, compulsory school, special needs compulsory school, upper secondary school and special needs upper secondary school, as well as adult education. More than 160,000 children and students aged one to twenty attend one of the City’s municipal pre-schools or schools.
The Swedish Education Act and the curricula establish the expectations that students and guardians are entitled to have of pre-school and school. The school system in Stockholm is obliged to provide cohesion from the time the children are one year old until they turn twenty, and there are clear guidelines describing how the transitions should take place.
Rules and responsibilities
All forms of schooling are regulated by the School Ordinance. The municipality must act as a control function and be responsible for compliance with laws and regulations.
The municipality is the organiser responsible for the municipal schools. For independent schools, the school board is the organiser responsible for the operation. The municipality does, however, supervises independent pre-schools, independent schools, independent leisure-time centres and educational care in accordance with the Swedish Education Act.
The Education Committee coordinates joint issues for pre-schools, compulsory schools and upper secondary schools in the City.
The City must ensure that all pre-schools and schools offer services for student health and food, for example.
Equal treatment
Schools and pre-schools must promote equal rights and opportunities for all children, pupils and students within their operations, regardless of gender, cross-gender identity or expression, ethnic origin, religion or other faith, disability, sexual orientation or age. According to the Swedish Education Act, pre-schools and schools must draw up a plan to combat abusive treatment. In accordance with the Swedish Discrimination Act, all education coordinators must work with active measures against discrimination.
Guidelines against harassment in pre-schools and schools, website of the Equality Ombudsman
Pre-school
Pre-school operations must maintain a high level of educational quality and provide safety and care in an environment that is stimulating for the children. Pre-schools must be accessible to all children, and all children must receive the support they need to learn and develop.
At the pre-school website, you can apply for a pre-school and read more about our operations.
Compulsory school and special needs compulsory school
In Sweden, it is compulsory to attend school from the pre-school class up to and including year nine. The child starts attending a pre-school class in the year when they turn six.
In the City of Stockholm, there are about 260 compulsory schools and 45 special needs compulsory schools, both municipal and independent, that offer a number of different education profiles and specialisations.
In the City’s municipal schools, the special needs compulsory school class is part of each compulsory school. Some independent schools have only special needs compulsory school education.
You can read more about operations at the Compulsory school website.
Upper secondary school and special needs upper secondary school
There are more than 90 upper secondary schools and about 10 special needs upper secondary schools in the City of Stockholm, both municipal and independent. You can start upper secondary school up to and including the first half of the calendar year in which you turn twenty.
On the Upper secondary school website, you can read more about the operations and how to apply to upper secondary school and special needs upper secondary school.
Upper secondary school website
Adult education
The City of Stockholm offers several different kinds of adult education. You can, for example, pursue upper secondary school studies at Komvux (municipal adult education), study Swedish at Sfi (Swedish for Immigrants), take an apprenticeship at Komvux Rosenlund or join a Higher Vocational Education programme.
At the Adult Education website, you can read more about the City’s offering and how to apply for different forms of adult education.