Upper secondary
Upper secondary school in Sweden refers to the level of learning and thus both to young adults in their 10th to 12th school year, for young adult with learning disabilities in their 10th to 13th school year, and to adult education at the same levels.

Mobility Scheme: Erasmus+mobilitet yrkesutbildning
Source of funds: European
Target group: IVET learners, including IVET learners with disabilities, Adult IVET learners*

Mobility scheme: Athena utbyten
Source of funds: National budget
Target group: IVET learners; Teachers

Mobility scheme: Atlas praktik
Source of funds: National budget
Target group: IVET learners, including learners with disabilities; Adult IVET learners

Mobility scheme: Atlas partnerskap
Source of funds: National budget
Target group: IVET learners, including IVET learners with disabilities

Mobility scheme: Nordplus Junior; Nordplus Vuxen
Source of funds: Other: the Nordic Council of Ministers
Target group: IVET learners, including: Adult IVET learners; IVET learners with disabilities; and Other groups

*The Swedish education system has parallel paths for youths and adults. The two complement each other. From age 16 to 20 a person studies at upper secondary school, and after the age of 20 a person studies at municipal adult education if he or she has not already completed upper secondary school. Thus an adult can be enrolled in municipal adult education equivalent to vocational upper secondary school level. Both are IVET-educational paths. It is first after completing upper secondary school, a person regardless of age, continues to higher education or to CVET.

No overall targets for the IVET mobility policy in general. The curriculum for upper secondary education states that the responsibility of the head teacher includes encouragement of international contacts, co-operation and exchange in education. It is applicable to all learners, but no targets are set.

The IVET mobility policy in general is coordinated. Mobility policy is coordinated under the responsibility of the Swedish Council for Higher Education.

The IVET mobility policy in general is evaluated. Mobility policy is already coordinated and operationalised by the Swedish Council for Higher Education which evaluates all its actions.

Swedish education is based on goal-steering, equity and equality principles. The legislation stipulates that all students, regardless of age, should have access to adequate career guidance. International learning is a goal provided for in the curriculum for upper secondary education, special needs upper secondary school and adult upper secondary education, the three curricula that govern IVET. Each school organiser is obliged by law to provide study and career guidance to its students according to the individual’s needs. Study and career guidance is defined widely and narrowly: The wide definition includes all school activity that contributes to the student’s ability to make informed choices, and is the responsibility of all adults working in the school. The narrow definition is the personalised guidance provided to an individual (or group) by a study and career counsellor, a regulated profession limited to those who have graduated from a counselling programme at teachers' college. The aim of the counselling, and thus the content covered, is to widen the student’s view about his or her own abilities, different educational paths and vocations, but also challenge the student’s notions of education and vocations from a gender, a social and a cultural perspective. The goal is to develop the ability for the student to take different perspectives into account in order to make informed choices about his or her future education or vocation.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) is assigned to coordinate and make information and guidance available about all mobility programmes, including those available for IVET-learners, funded by the EU, the Nordic Council of Ministers or the Swedish State. Information is geared directly to VET-providers but also through a network of local and regional international coordinators. According to legislation, career guidance for international learning should be available for all students nationwide. It is up to each school organiser to meet the goals. To ensure that school organisers meet the goals, and thus that students have access to adequate guidance in a decentralized educational system, the Swedish School Inspectorate has a controlling function to ensure convergence.

Policy targets are in place. The legislation states that all students should have access to information and guidance. Thus the legislation states a quantitative target: all. The Swedish school system is decentralized, and it is the responsibility of the head teacher that study and guidance counselling is organised in such a way that students receive information about and guidance prior to making study choices, but also that school staff are informed of the international agreements that Sweden has undertaken. In addition, it is the responsibility of the head teacher to encourage international contacts, co-operation and exchange in education. Taken together, these statements in the curricula set the countrywide qualitative policy targets.

International learning is a goal provided for in three curricula that govern IVET: upper secondary education, special needs upper secondary school and adult upper secondary education. School organisers are expected to provide IVET-student with international learning guidance. One of the head-teacher’s explicit responsibilities, according to the curricula of upper secondary school, special needs upper secondary school and adult education, is to “encourage international contacts, co-operation and exchange in education.” It is, furthermore, stated in the regulations for study and career counselling, that an international perspective is needed in career counselling.

UHR (the Swedish Council for Higher Education) regularly updates and improves its means of information and guidance about mobility, provides workshops for applicants and dissemination seminars about mobility programmes. On the other hand, improvement also takes place locally at school level through systematic quality assessment and is the responsibility of the school organiser. In this process, BRUK is one tool developed by the National Agency for Education to aid schools.

School organisers are required to ensure that the work performed in schools is followed up by means of systematic quality assessment. The National Agency for Education has published general guidelines for systematic quality assessment, and developed BRUK, an e-learning tool for self-evaluation, to aid schools and organisers in the systematic quality assessment. BRUK is an acronym in Swedish for Assessment, Reflection, Development, Quality. In BRUK, one of the 58 questions for self-assessment addressing the curriculum goal that schools should strengthen is if the school strengthens the students’ knowledge about the possibility to further education, practical training and work in Sweden and other countries. This question applies to both upper secondary education and adult upper secondary education. Quality assurance process is decentralized. Although schools are mandated to have quality assurance processes, they are not required to use BRUK.

Evaluation is ensured by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, which examines the work performed in schools as well as the process of systematic quality assessment. The Inspectorate ensures that the assessment is carried out and has positive impact on the activities. The role of the Swedish Schools Inspectorate is to inspect if schools live up to the quality standards as mandated by the legislation which includes the curriculum, and to ensure that the school organisers and schools have a systematic quality assurance process that leads to quality improvements. If the Inspectorate finds deficiencies, these are reported in order for the school to improve them. If schools do not meet the qualitative goals and deficiencies remain, the Inspectorate can fine the school organiser or, in worst cases, revoke the permit for the organiser to organise the school, i.e. close the school.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education is assigned to coordinate and make information and guidance available about all mobility programmes, including those available for IVET learners, funded by the EU, the Nordic Council of Ministers or the Swedish State. Information is geared directly to VET providers but also through a network of local and regional international coordinators. There is no information or assistance developed particularly for companies. The National Agency for Education provides general information and assistance about the education system. It is mainly targeting institutions, including IVET institutions. If a learner has participated in a mobility program, it is the school that validates the learning and integrates the learning during mobility in the grades and the exam. Information and assistance about the mobility programmes, how to apply, eligibility, etc., is provided by the National Council for Higher Education, UHR.

Sweden meets the criteria of the Information and Guidance indicator. Policy targets are in place. The country provides IVET learners with information and guidance for their international learning mobility. Consistency and convergence of information and guidance policies and practices are ensured by the National Council for Higher education (UHR) and the Swedish School Inspectorate. To improve the quality of provision, the Swedish Council for Higher Education regularly updates and improves its means of information and guidance about mobility. Guidelines for quality assessment have been put in place, and schools have been provided with BRUK, a tool for self-evaluation. The quality assessment process itself is monitored by the School Inspectorate, which ensures that the provision can improve overtime.

The Curricula for Upper Secondary School and Adult education has the status of an Ordinance and is part of the legislation. Its coverage includes IVET. It encourages international contacts, co-operation and exchange in education. Responsibility for implementing this direction at school level is delegated to the head-teacher.

No policy targets.

No such facilitating measure has been taken. Citizens from countries other than the Nordic and EU countries are required to apply for residence permit if they intend to study in Sweden for more than 3 months. In addition, there are more than 130 countries from which citizens need a visa to enter Sweden, through the Schengen agreement. There are no exceptions for students who have been granted financial aid through programmes targeted for IVET mobility for students from countries outside EU.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education, the agency that administers Erasmus+ and other programmes for financing mobility, offers workshops to aid schools in the application- and reporting processes. At local level, some organisers, often municipalities, have international coordinators or facilitators that aid schools in the process, others do not.

In Sweden there are no legal obstacles preventing IVET students or learners aged below 18 to participate in international learning mobility periods. However, a mobility cannot take place without parental consent. The international coordinators or teachers in vocational institutions are responsible for having a dialogue and to get the parents’ consent. Since mobility is a possibility for minors, with their parent’s consent, and there are no legal obstacles it is not relevant to take measures to remove legal obstacles

Social security
Students that have received a permit and will stay in Sweden for at least one year may register in the Swedish population register. The Swedish Tax Agency can register the individual as a resident of Sweden according to the Population Registration Act, and the same benefits apply thereafter as for Swedish citizens. If so, they are eligible for the same social benefits, e.g. medical care, as anyone else. Students are eligible for Swedish financial aid for studies, if they meet the requirements for the basic right to Swedish financial aid for studies according to Swedish regulations. Non-EU-nationals that have a permanent residence permit or refugee status are also qualified. These rules apply to students in general, including IVET-students.

Students staying in Sweden less than one year have to have their own insurance and need to be able to show that they can support themselves. There is no difference between EU/non-EU-citizens, but the European Health Insurance Card is sufficient to show that insurance is provided.

Labour protection
The legislation covers work-related safety in general and is not limited to Swedish or EU citizens. For students training in IVET in Swedish work-places, safety is governed by the Work Environment Act.

Incomplete coordination of actions. There are no plans to make the coordination complete. There are several networks of government agencies and organisations involved in student and mobility issues that meet on regular basis, aiming to identify and alleviate administrative burdens and other obstacles that may hinder or prevent mobility actions. Many issues have originated through the work with Euroguidance and its owner, The Swedish Council for Higher Education, UHR, is partaking in most of these networks. Other actors that may participate in these networks are the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, CSN – the agency that provide financial student aid, The Swedish ESF council and The National Agency for Education.
There is no coordination of plans to ease mobility for IVET-learners from third countries or for under-age IVET-learners. The legislation does not make exceptions for IVET-learners. There are however efforts made to alleviate the administrative burden for citizens of third countries with residency in Sweden.
IVET learners from third countries are subject to immigration procedures and required to apply for residence permit if they intend to study in Sweden for more than 3 months. There are no exceptions for students who have been granted financial aid through programmes targeted for IVET mobility for students from countries outside EU.
The school or mobility programme cannot include students under the age of 18 if the parent or custodian does not approve the mobility. Legal obstacles that may prevent international learning for students aged below 18 are, however, a minor issue in Sweden and have therefore not been in focus.

The facilitating actions (or at least some of them) are monitored. But there is no systematic and complete evaluation and no systematic process of setting up recommendations oriented towards future improvement, and no plan to develop any.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education, the agency that administers Erasmus+ and other programmes for financing mobility, offers workshops to aid schools in the application- and reporting processes. The Council also hosts regional networks of international coordinators and facilitators. UHR, like all state agencies, evaluates all its actions with the purpose to adjust or improve the procedures.

Swedish education policy has a clear orientation to integrating international mobility experiences in the curricula of IVET programmes. Sweden uses the European 2020 benchmark of 6% of IVET learners having at least two weeks of training abroad. However, the country has not set out any specific policy targets in terms of reducing the administrative and institutional obstacles to mobility. Actions in the area are coordinated and evaluated, although not in a systematic and complete manner. Addressing these shortfalls could be considered in future. The country has taken measures to help schools cope with the administrative burdens induced by international mobility. However, no step has been taken to facilitate the delivery of visas and residency permits to IVET students from third countries, or to remove possible obstacles that may hinder the international mobility of minor apprentices and IVET students. Although it may be deemed that no such measure is necessary because no difficulty was officially reported, there has not been any fully-fledged investigation targeted at checking the situation on the ground and surveying users’ needs and stakeholders’ views. In future, it could be investigated, e.g. through users/stakeholders surveys, whether the existing conditions for delivering visas and residency permits to IVET learners from third countries and for the exit of minor learners are easy enough, or instead require putting in place support measures for assisting learners (or their institutions) in their mobility process

The process of recognising learning outcomes is nationwide and regulated by the legislation, but the recognition itself is performed locally. IVET takes place in 12 vocational study programmes in upper secondary school or adult upper secondary education and nine programmes in special needs upper secondary school. Each programme is based on a number of courses, which partly, or in full, can be taught in a workplace. Each school organiser is free to organise the education in a school or in a workplace, as long as the goals of the courses are met. The teacher marks the grade of the course regardless if it is taught in the school or as workplace based learning. It is possible to locate whole or parts of courses in another country, as long as the organiser provides mechanisms for the teacher to assess the learning that has taken place. Thus the recognition is performed by the teacher and the learning outcome is taken into account when a course is graded. The process is regulated in the Ordinance of upper secondary school, chapter 4, §12-14.

IVET learners involved in international learning mobility have easy access to recognition of learning acquired abroad. It is the student’s ordinary IVET-teacher that assesses the learning abroad, since the learning is part of the regular IVET programme.

No policy targets/benchmarks have been set in the recognition policy.

The recognition approach in place in Sweden applies to:

• Courses
• Credit points
• Units
• Modules
• Programmes
• Qualifications/diplomas/degrees

The process of recognising learning outcomes acquired abroad is nationwide regulated by legislation, although the process is implemented locally by schools (it is the responsibility of each school organiser to recognise the learning acquired abroad).

There is no regulatory time frame set for processing recognition requests.

Recognition is operated by headteachers and teachers in schools. So learners can get information from their schools, and no policy is required to make these contact persons known to learners.

There is no visibility policy, so no evaluation thereof.

Europass Mobility document is used at the discretion of each school. It is mainly issued by the schools that are supported financially by the Erasmus+ programme, to document the students’ work-placed based learning during mobility.

The Europass Certificate Supplement is used to clarify the contents of the vocational programme during mobility. The National Agency for Education that is responsible for the Europass supplements has made the documents and information available through its webpage and other information channels.


The Swedish NQF was adopted by the Swedish government in 2015 and is now recognised as SeQF. The National Agency for Education has incorporated the SeQF-level into the Europass Certificate Supplements for IVET-exams.
In the Swedish educational system the subject syllabi are written from a learning outcome perspective. The student’s achievements, knowledge and competence are evaluated in relation to the goals for each course of the subject.

The recognition mechanism/process is evaluated: not only is it monitored (e.g. through reports, audits, user surveys, etc.) but also recommendations for future improvement are set up, implemented and followed-up along time for (re)adjustment as necessary.

The process of recognising learning outcomes is nationwide and regulated by the legislation, but the recognition itself is performed locally. The Education Act states that systematic quality assurance is mandatory. It also regulates which the participating actors are, and what role they have:

- Each governing board of a school provider is required to plan, evaluate and develop the education it organises. This is the same for municipal and independent schools. The difference is that in the municipal schools, the governing board is politically constituted. The governing board of a school provider is required to document the process. The governing board of a school provider is also the receiver of complaints from individuals if the education does not live up to the required standards.
- Each school is required to plan, evaluate and develop the education. Teachers, children, (parents if students are under 18) must be involved in the process. The school is required to document the process and the headteacher has the responsibility to make sure that the goals are reached.

The National Agency for Education has developed Regulations and general guidelines that should be used in the process, if the schools do not have methods for systematic quality assessment of equal quality. Since mobility is part of the individual's ordinary education, the evaluation of learning outcomes during mobility cannot be separated from the evaluation of learning outcomes in general.

Evaluation of the recognition process is carried out from different angles:
- Teachers assess the learning for the individual students for every course in accordance to the knowledge requirements. Teachers also evaluate the aggregated results for his/her teaching with the goal to analyse and improve the results.
- The school staff evaluates the results systematically in a quality assessment procedure with the goal to analyse and improve the results.
- The governing body of the education provider is, by law, obligated to ensure that the school has a systematic quality assessment procedure in order to analyse and improve the results. The governing body in many cases sets targets for its schools.
- The National Agency for Education collects data in order to evaluate the share and number of individuals that fulfil the education, i. e. reach the diploma goals for the VET-programmes. The National Agency for Education has developed Regulations and general guidelines for grading and assessment of learning that should be used, if the schools do not have methods for assessment of equal quality. Aggregated analyses are reported to the Government which may or may not led to policy changes.
- The Swedish Schools Inspectorate evaluates that schools and governing bodies of education providers complete the processes described.

Sweden has in place a nationwide regulated mechanism for the recognition of learning outcomes acquired abroad by IVET learners. Recognition applies to courses, credit points, units, modules, programmes and qualifications / diplomas / degrees. It makes use of a range of existing EU tools for visibility, transfer and recognition, i.e. the Europass Mobility Document and Certificate Supplement. It is easily accessible to students as it is operated by school teachers. The country has no specific measures for the visibility of contact points for information on recognition of learning outcomes acquired during mobility periods. Such a visibility policy seems to be unnecessary as recognition is operated by the school teachers themselves. However, in future, it could be made sure (e.g. through user surveys) that the mechanism actually works as expected, and that in practice learners know where to get (and manage to get) the recognition-related information they may need, in particular if the learning outcomes were acquired outside the frame of a mobility agreed between a sending and a receiving institution. The Swedish approach to recognition of learning acquired abroad could also take some other steps forward in future. In particular, as regards the recognition of qualifications and other outcomes that were not acquired within the frame of an agreement between a sending and a receiving institution, introducing a maximum time limit for the processing of applications could be considered. Making use of the EQF/NQF and the learning outcomes approach for visibility, transfer and recognition purposes would be a progress too. Finally, the country has not set out any policy targets for the recognition policy. Addressing this latter shortfall could also be considered in future.

There are goals and targets set on three levels:
1. The Swedish Council for Higher Education, UHR, administers all programmes that supply funding for mobility in Sweden and sets general quantitative and qualitative goals in its yearly working plan. There are no specified targets, except that the goal is to increase the number of mobilities in VET.
2. The department within UHR that administer Erasmus+ and other programmes for funding mobilities set operational goals on how to increase and improve mobilities. These include targets but also goals to improve the quality and attractiveness of mobilities.
3. Within each programme that funds mobilities, like Erasmus+, there are targets. For 2018 the target for Erasmus+ is 2400 student mobilities in VET, and 500 staff mobilities. For 2019 the target is 2500 student mobilities in VET, and 600 staff mobilities. The goal for 2020 is 3200 VET-student mobilities.

Complete countrywide coordination of actions in all dimensions is ensured through a countrywide framework which is set by regulations and/or arrangements agreed between players. The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) is responsible for all programmes that fund mobilities in Sweden. These include all three dimensions. As such UHR is a countrywide coordinator of all strands of partnerships and networks, funding programmes and supporting mechanisms to organisers of mobility projects.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education is the national agency for EU programmes and other international programmes for the education sector, including IVET. The Swedish Council for Higher Education provides information and support for international exchanges and collaborations, which includes support to actors that initiate, strengthen or deepen an international perspective in their work and operations. The support measures are general and aimed to help potential actors to establish their own partnerships and networks. In this supportive work The Swedish Council for Higher Education communicates the available programmes, advises potential and existing actors of international projects and distributes financial means for mobility projects.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) administers international cooperative and mobility programmes for all educational levels in Sweden. In this work, there are four sources of funding: the European Commission, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Swedish Government (through the Ministry of Education). All these bodies require evaluation of the actions carried out. For Erasmus+, as an example, evaluation consists of reports from participants in the various projects. UHR monitors and checks, in addition, the actions and the economic conditions, during and after the projects have elapsed. Every year an annual evaluation report containing qualitative and quantitative data is sent to the Commission (by way of the Ministry of Education). The reporting varies a bit depending on the rules of the source of funding.

UHR evaluates its own activities, in particular its thematic seminars, informational meetings, writing application workshops, seminars for exchange of experiences, advice provision, and seminars on strategic work during mobility. Results of evaluation have an impact on how future plans and activities will take shape.

UHR evaluates its activities and operations with regard to budget and stated missions and priorities.

The legislation on the curricula for Upper Secondary and Adult Education states that the head-teacher should encourage international contacts, co-operation and exchange in education. The state offers financial means to support these goals. State funding for mobility is available for countries outside the EU/EEA-area in addition to the EU-programmes, like Erasmus+. These programmes include Nordplus for mobility in education in general, which includes IVET, in the Nordic countries; Athena that provides financial resources for reciprocal mobility for IVET-learners in Sweden and low- to middle-income countries worldwide; and Atlas that provides financial support for IVET-mobility and workplace-based learning in both EU/EES and non-EU countries. The programmes are administered by The Swedish Council for Higher Education.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) administers international cooperative and mobility programmes for all educational levels in Sweden. In this work, there are four sources of funding: the European Commission, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Swedish Government (through the Ministry of Education). All these bodies require evaluation of the actions carried out. For Erasmus+, as an example, evaluation consists of reports from participants in the various projects. UHR monitors and checks, in addition, the actions and the economic conditions, during and after the projects have elapsed. Every year an annual evaluation report containing qualitative and quantitative data is sent to the Commission (by way of the Ministry of Education). The reporting varies a bit depending on the rules of the source of funding.

UHR evaluates its own activities, in particular its thematic seminars, informational meetings, writing application workshops, seminars for exchange of experiences, advice provision, and seminars on strategic work during mobility. Results of evaluation have an impact on how future plans and activities will take shape.

UHR evaluates its activities and operations with regard to budget and stated missions and priorities.

Information is provided through a special webpage (1), developed for the purpose of providing information about and coordinating all programmes for mobility. The webpage is administered by The Swedish Council for Higher Education. Other agencies, like the National Agency for Education, also provide information through their channels about mobility, targeted to groups that the agency works for.
The support does not only cover web-based information. It also includes information and practical aid through conferences, seminars, and workshops. The goal is to aid institutions on the ‘how to’ before applying for the programmes; for achieving high quality during mobility once grants have been received; and for reporting afterwards.
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(1) utbyten.se

The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) administers international cooperative and mobility programmes for all educational levels in Sweden. In this work, there are four sources of funding: the European Commission, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Swedish Government (through the Ministry of Education). All these bodies require evaluation of the actions carried out. For Erasmus+, as an example, evaluation consists of reports from participants in the various projects. UHR monitors and checks, in addition, the actions and the economic conditions, during and after the projects have elapsed. Every year an annual evaluation report containing qualitative and quantitative data is sent to the Commission (by way of the Ministry of Education). The reporting varies a bit depending on the rules of the source of funding.
UHR evaluates its own activities, in particular its thematic seminars, informational meetings, writing application workshops, seminars for exchange of experiences, advice provision, and seminars on strategic work during mobility. Results of evaluation have an impact on how future plans and activities will take shape.

UHR evaluates its activities and operations with regard to budget and stated missions and priorities.

Sweden has in place policies for providing companies, VET institutions and learners with financial and non-financial support for international mobility, creation of partnerships and networks, and organisation of international mobility projects. These policies are subject to evaluation targeted at improving support actions over time. They are also countrywide coordinated. The country has also in place policy targets in terms of number of funded participants.

Actions are in place for both awareness raising and promoting a mobility culture.
The upper secondary curriculum, which includes VET-education, states that the headteacher should encourage international contacts, cooperation and exchange in education. The operationalisation and implementation of the curriculum is designed and carried out in municipalities, or even in the individual schools. Information about the added value of mobility is often intermingled in study and career counselling. That is due to the mission to guide learners about individual study and career paths, but also to contribute in a more general way to the learners' ability to make informed career choices. This could include information about internationalisation issues in general, but also about possibilities for and the added value of mobility.
The role of the Swedish Council for Higher Education, UHR, is partly to finance mobility, but also to highlight the added value of mobility. Information activities highlight the added value of mobility, often through testimonials from former participants who share their experiences of learning during a mobility period.
A report from UHR, based on interviews with head teachers and other teachers in schools that have participated in mobility actions, shows that there are actions taking place in the schools that aim to raise the awareness of the added value of mobility. There are schools that include other students and staff (than those who participate in the mobility) in activities related to the school's mobility actions. The general picture is that inviting students that have not participated in the mobility action to activities before, during and after the mobility takes place, helps raising awareness of the added value of mobility.
There are examples of schools that mainstream mobility explicitly through international profiles of their VET-programmes. One such example is a school that offers an international profile in its Health and Social Care programme, in which they work with projects about health issues in different parts of the world and health issues for refugees. The school cooperates with international organisations and students have the possibility to carry out work-based learning in another country

Countrywide coordination of actions takes place through a countrywide framework which is set by regulations and/or arrangements agreed between players. The Swedish school system is decentralised, but there is a national framework that regulates and coordinates what schools should do for internationalisation and mobility, including awareness raising and fostering a mobility culture. The national curricula, decided by the Government, states a number of international perspectives that schools should take on board, including mobility and the awareness of the added value of exchange or mobility in education. The curriculum, however, does not specify how the actors should operationalise or implement these, or any other goals, nor how the actors should achieve a mobility culture. The National Agency for Education specifies and decides the diploma goals for VET-programmes and provides Regulations and general guidelines for school to implement the curricula. One such Regulation and general guideline is guiding schools on how to provide study and career counselling in both the narrow and the wide sense. In addition, there is a large number of actions and mechanisms, including funding, operated by different actors, like UHR, that help schools to implement the perspectives.

The existing awareness raising and/or mobility culture actions (or at least some of them) are monitored. But there is no systematic and complete evaluation and no systematic process of setting up recommendations oriented towards future improvement, and no plan to develop any. UHR evaluates its activities and produces reports. There are no specific evaluations on the isolated issues of awareness rising and fostering of mobility culture but there are reports and evaluations which integrate these issues. A published UHR-report based on evaluations through interviews provides examples on activities that have helped to raise the awareness of the added value of mobility, and how schools operate to foster a mobility culture.

No policy targets. The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, UHR, which administers all programmes that supply funding for mobility in Sweden sets general quantitative and qualitative goals in its yearly working plan. The goals include an increase of mobility actions and a fostering of mobility culture, but not as isolated entities.

Sweden has actions to raise learners’ awareness about mobility opportunities. It is unclear however how these actions highlight the benefits of mobility for learners, for example in terms of self-fulfilment; development of professional, linguistic, social and intercultural competencies; creativity; active citizenship; future employability; learning about working practices, problem solving, resilience, being a team player; autonomy, self-confidence, etc. It is unclear which benefits exactly are outlined through the existing information actions. There is an example of a school mainstreaming mobility in its curriculum, but no action promoting greater social recognition of the value of learning mobility is reported. The existing actions are countrywide coordinated through national curricula. They are also evaluated, although not in a systematic manner. The country has also not set out policy benchmarks in terms of learners’ motivation. In future, it could be considered clarifying which mobility benefits exactly are highlighted to motivate IVET learners in Sweden; setting up benchmarks in the motivation policy; and making policy evaluation in this area systematic, complete and topic-specific.

Sweden has taken actions that cover the following three dimensions.

Linguistic and intercultural preparation
Sweden has taken actions in the form of making mandatory quality linguistic and intercultural preparation from the early stages of education. All learners in Sweden study English as a second language from primary school and English is a mandatory subject in upper secondary VET-education. A third language can be selected in lower secondary school, and elective in the vocational programmes of upper secondary school. The diploma goals of upper secondary VET-programmes stress that the learners should be prepared for a vocation after completing the programmes (courses and subjects but also transversal goals should all aid in this process). Linguistic preparation therefore should combine general and professional language training. In some cases the teachers have developed their own teaching material or methods inspired by practices, cases or examples found abroad. In one example VET-teachers and English teachers have cooperated with the students in creating a vehicle and industry tools and methods dictionary in Swedish, English and a third language to use in cooperation with students and teachers in the third country.
Intercultural competences constitute a cross curricular subject included in the curricula from early ages.

Digital preparation
Digital competences constitute a cross-curricular subject included in the curricula from early ages. Many schools have one computer unit (computer or tablet) for each student. These computer devices are used in all subjects, general and VET-subjects, when appropriate, and ease the communication between learner and teacher during mobility actions. Schools where each learner has a computer unit use shareware like Google docs to share information and advance their learning. There are also schools that integrate e-twinning projects in their VET-education. In addition, the Government has revised the curricula to boost digital competence among all learners in Sweden in 2016.

Internationalising the IVET curriculum
Individual teachers plan their teaching and are free to use any method they find effective as long as it is based on scientific grounds and proven experience. Within these limits, the individual teacher is free to introduce international methods and practices. There are several examples of teachers that witness how, through mobility actions, they have encountered methods and practices abroad and introduced these in their own teaching.
Pedagogical methods used abroad can also be introduced through research and networks. VET-teachers can participate in a research programme offered in cooperation between six Swedish universities. The research is focusing on didactic methods in VET. In addition, there is a Nordic network for vocational education and training which disseminates practices and research about VET-practices through its journal The Nordic Journal of Vocational Education and Training.

Complete countrywide coordination of actions takes place through a countrywide framework which is set by regulations and/or arrangements agreed between players. The Swedish school system is decentralised, but there is a legislative framework that coordinates linguistic, intercultural, digital, and internationalisation actions. The Education Act states access for all to education and that education should be equally good regardless of where in the country it is provided. The national curricula are decided by the Government and state what linguistic intercultural, and digital actions schools should include in education. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate monitors and scrutinises the activities through supervisory and quality auditing activities. It also provides advice and guidance as to what a school needs to rectify on the basis of the requirements of legislation. Thus the actions themselves are not coordinated by any nationwide body, but clearly stated in the legislation and monitored by a state agency.
A workplace learning project (LPA) involving many different stakeholders from around the Nordic Region met regularly between 2013 and 2015 to share their ideas and experiences regarding the quality of workplace learning. By following local development efforts from a national and Nordic level, the project introduced methods and practices in other countries, and has contributed to learning and development at the national level.
Linguistic preparation takes place from primary school with the teaching of English, and continues in VET-education at upper secondary school. The government has given an assignment to the National Agency for Education to develop a national digital strategy for the education system containing suggestions for equal access to ICT in schools, an increased digital competence among learners and teachers, and required preconditions to make use of the possibilities of digitalisation in order to develop teaching and education. The strategy was adopted by the Government in October, 2017.
In addition, there are several nationwide programmes available for CPD-actions for teachers in the areas of digitalisation and other fields. The National Agency for Education provides several programmes that cover linguistic and intercultural issues, and digitalisation. Individual governing bodies or teachers may also participate in CPD/mobility programmes that provide job shadowing, exchanges or participation in conferences. In these cases the funding is coordinated by the Swedish Council for Higher Education, UHR.

The existing linguistic and intercultural, digital, and internationalisation actions (or at least some of them) are evaluated: not only are they monitored (e.g. through reports, audits, user surveys, etc.) but also recommendations for future improvement are set up, implemented and followed-up along time for (re)adjustment as necessary.

Education in Sweden is decentralised. It is the governing body of a school, that is, a municipality or the organiser of an independent school, which is responsible for its quality and results. The national law mandates that the school organiser systematically plans, evaluates and adjusts or improves its operation and activities in accordance with the goals of the Education Act and curricula. The head teacher for each school is responsible for systematic quality assurance and that development is undertaken in the individual unit. As such, linguistic and intercultural, digital, and internationalisation actions are evaluated in each unit and by each school organiser.

The Swedish Schools Inspectorate monitors and scrutinises the activities through supervisory and quality auditing activities. It also provides advice and guidance as to what a school needs to rectify on the basis of the requirements of legislation. Thus the actions are monitored by a state agency.

The National Agency for Education collects a wide selection of data, e.g. on the grades given to learners for all courses, how many learners that study each language and at what level. The data is available at the Agency's webpage were statistics on results and quality in education can be found.

No policy targets/benchmarks have been set in the long-term preparation policy. The legislation states that all students should reach the national goals. There are, however, in the general debate discussions on how to increase the share of students that reach a diploma (and a qualification), but no numerical policy targets have been set to date. The Swedish School Commission, established in 2015, was tasked with submitting proposals aimed at improving learning outcomes, quality of teaching and equity in schools. In an interim report published in May 2016, the commission has specified two targets: that more learners will pass through upper secondary school and that the share of learners with a completed upper secondary school diploma will increase. A mission to develop policy targets were established in August 2018.

English is mandatory from primary school up to VET-programmes. Other languages, most frequently French, German and Spanish, are optional in lower secondary school, and often optional in VET-programmes. A typical information procedure is that students are informed about elective courses before choosing, and in many cases they can sit in on classes and give the different languages a try before making a choice. Information about access and if more linguistic studies are necessary for particular vocations or admissions to further education is provided by study and career counsellors.

Digital preparation is included in the curricula and included in education from early ages. Depending on choice of upper secondary programme, study path and elective courses, learners can access more or less of digital understanding and competence. In this process of choosing programme, study path and elective courses, study and career counsellors aid the students. Since students choose school and upper secondary programme, prospective students are informed about a school and the VET-programmes available at that school. A typical procedure is that schools also provide information on how students achieve digital competence, what kind of methods and tools they use, if the school provides one computer unit for each student, and how the school make use of digital tools in all aspects of education.

Since the introduction of pedagogical methods in use abroad is not a mandatory aspect, the students are only informed in the cases they have teachers that introduce pedagogical methods in use abroad. There are, however, examples of schools that participate and/or coordinate international projects. In this process, teachers introduce pedagogical methods used abroad in their own teaching, and learners are informed during their courses.

Sweden has structures to provide IVET learners with linguistic, intercultural and digital preparation for mobility from the early stages of education. Practices and processes for internationalising the IVET curriculum through introducing pedagogical methods in use abroad are also in place. The existing actions are countrywide coordinated. They are also evaluated. In addition, processes are in place to make the preparation mechanisms visible to potential users. However, although general objectives in terms of academic success have been defined, the country has not set out any specific policy targets and benchmarks for the long-term preparation policy. Setting up such policy targets could be considered in future. It could also be considered putting in place procedures allowing users to give feedback on the long-term preparation mechanisms upon having experienced them.

Swedish education is governed by curricula and decentralised. The country has taken actions that cover the following dimensions:

Language preparation
It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to ensure that learners are prepared which includes linguistic preparedness. Therefore there are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. UHR provides linguistic support through the Erasmus+ Online Linguistic Support site. Language assessment is mandatory for participants in mobility actions, and participation in language courses is voluntary. It is the responsibility of the sending school to ensure that students have received proper linguistic and intercultural preparation, setting up learning agreements, etc. There are also examples of schools that take in language teachers or mother tongue teachers in the groups that will participate in a mobility action to prepare the students through an introduction in general and professional aspects of the target language.

Stay monitoring
It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to ensure that the stay process is monitored and evaluated so that the process can be improved. Therefore there are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. Schools allocate someone responsible for planning mobility. Usually it is a teacher or an international coordinator. This person plans the before, during and after, including how to integrate the students and monitor the stay process. In most cases a teacher or an international coordinator accompanies the students to the receiving country and performs parts of this work there. There are schools that send teachers for all or parts of the mobility duration to the receiving country. The schools do not only have to monitor the stay in order to guide and integrate the students, but also to follow up their learning process since the mobility almost always is part of the mandatory work-based learning included in all VET-programmes. The school has to have mechanisms for assessing the learning to include it in the grading of the courses and subjects. Teachers communicate with the students trough internet, or skype and telephone. Students have to document their learning which has to be related to knowledge requirements and goals of the subject syllabuses. Formerly students documented their learning process by writing journals, these are now replaced with blogs, including photo- and videoblogs. Examples: A mobility project coordinator has argued that for successful mobility, one must monitor and support students and trainers throughout the mobility period. The coordinator calls them frequently and goes there to visit them. Another coordinator has stressed the importance of including the students in the whole process, to write to the workplace in which they will train, provide information at meetings with students and their parents and make students involved in writing the learning agreements. The coordinator also stresses the importance of assuring that the workplace can provide work-based learning in which all elements of the subject syllabus is provided in the duration of training. Both statements show actions that point to a process of monitoring the stay and ensuring the quality of the mobility. A teacher has explained that she travelled and stayed with her students during the mobility to support them.

Feedback collection
Swedish education is governed by curricula and decentralised. It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to ensure that feedback is collected and the stay is evaluated so that the process can be improved. Therefore there are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. Feedback is collected by the school for its own quality assurance and assessment of the learning. Schools collect feedback on both practical issues regarding mobility in general (what went well and what needs to be improved) and the learning induced through the mobility action. The methods of collecting feedback are not regulated, but surveys, written reports, diaries/blogs open-ended questions are commonly used. Feedback is also collected for reports on the mobility to UHR on the same grounds.

Transport, housing, catering
Swedish education is governed by curricula and decentralised. It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to organise transport, accommodation and catering. There are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. Since education is free of charge in Sweden, any mobility that is part of the learners' education must also be free of charge for the learner, which includes the provision of accommodation and transport. Thus all costs must be provided for by the school organiser. Since education is decentralised, it is up to the schools to develop its methods for providing accommodation and transport. In most cases the school allocates someone responsible for planning mobility, which includes the provision of accommodation and transport. In the Erasmus+ programme, housing, catering and transport are eligible costs for the organiser of mobility to apply funding for. If there are exchanges between schools in Sweden and another country, students often stay at each others' homes. There are examples of schools that have had the students planning practical aspects like transport and catering as part of the preparation or part of a course in the Hotel and tourism programme.

Complete countrywide coordination of actions is ensured either through legislation or curricula (as in the cases of quality assurance, education free of charge and monitoring the learning during workplace-based learning), or through mechanisms aimed to ease mobility provided by the Swedish Council for Higher Education.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) that administers Erasmus+ and other funds for organisers of mobilities make grants available for applicants for language and intercultural preparation, and also for costs monitoring and providing learners with assistance during the stay. Setting up learning agreements are also mandatory for apprentices and most programmes during all mobilities. UHR has a coordinating role in Sweden for mobility programmes and provides meetings for participating schools in the before and after mobility phases to aid them in preparation, to exchange experiences and increase quality of mobilities. Participants also have access to online language support Euroguidance and Europass are other actions used to assist learners. UHR has developed a web portal that is providing information on the before, during and after issues. (1). The Swedish Euroguidance center, hosted by the Swedish Council for Higher Education, works to raise the awareness of mobility among Swedish guidance professionals on all education levels. This is done in many different ways:
- through giving lectures on mobility for students studying to become guidance counsellors, at the three universities offering a career guidance education in Sweden,
- through giving presentations for guidance practitioners on conferences and seminars,
- through the Agencies' newsletter for guidance practitioners posted to approximately 2000 guidance professionals each month, and
- through arranging exchange possibilities and study visits for Swedish guidance practitioners – mobile guidance counsellors are the best ambassadors for mobility.
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1. http://euroguidance.se/ or http://euroguidance.se/vagledning/

The existing quality actions (or at least some of them) are evaluated: not only are they monitored (e.g. through reports, audits, user surveys, etc.) but also recommendations for future improvement are set up, implemented and followed-up along time for (re)adjustment as necessary.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education evaluates all mobilities by collecting data from schools on all mobility actions facilitated by their programmes (Erasmus+, Athena, Atlas, and Nordplus). Learners are partaking in the process. Recommendations for improvements or adjustments are one of the main reasons for evaluations. UHR also participates with survey questions in the forthcoming analysis by Ungdomsbarometern (1), a major survey on youth-related issues. _
Since most mobilities occur within the framework of the decentralised educational system, and it is the organiser of a school that is responsible for its quality and results, it is the school organiser that is responsible for quality in mobility. Evaluations and improvements are part of the systematic quality assurance process. On the local level, for each school unit, it is the head teacher that is responsible. Thus evaluations of school activities and results include the before, during after and all along dimensions of mobility actions, but are not collected by the national level. ________________
(1). http://www.ungdomsbarometern.se/in-english/

No policy targets. There are national qualitative goals for education and since IVET mobilities are almost exclusively taking place within workplace-based learning in vocational upper secondary programmes, the quality of mobilities should mirror the quality of the education itself. No national numerical targets have been set in the area.

Mobility is almost always part of an education programme, and since education is decentralised, learners are informed about how the linguistic preparation will be conducted by their school. In many schools a teacher or an international coordinator is responsible for informing the students.

How each individual school informs in detail the students of the monitoring process is up to each school but students and their parents are always informed in order to feel comfortable about the mobility in order to participate. In most cases schools provide written information sent home to the parents, but also invite parents and students to meetings aimed to inform them on practical issues as well as the purpose and added value of the mobility action.

It is up to the school to inform its students on how feedback mechanisms work. In most cases the schools provide information to the students of the following up process beforehand. Since the mobility is almost always part of the students' ordinary education, the schools and students have to plan how to evaluate the learning that occurs during the mobility. Much of the following up takes therefore place during the mobility in the forms of data collection, material for written reports, blogs and diaries.

Since education is free of charge in Sweden, any mobility that is part of the learners' education must also be free of charge for the learner, which includes the provision of accommodation and transport. This information is provided to students and their parents by the school through written letters, meetings and other means of communication.

Sweden has in place procedures for ensuring the quality of mobility through organising pre-stay linguistic preparation, stay monitoring processes, post-stay feedback mechanisms, and providing learners with transport, accommodation and catering. The existing actions are countrywide coordinated. They are also evaluated. Procedures are in place for users to be informed beforehand about the quality mechanisms. However, the country has not set out any policy targets and benchmarks for the quality policy. Setting up such benchmarks could be considered in future.

CSN (The Swedish Board for Study Support) is the Swedish Government authority in charge of financial aid for studies and home equipment loans.
1. Study support grant
Students in upper secondary school under the age of 20 receive a study support grant that is the same for learners both in general or vocational education. When the learners turn 20, they apply for other study support grants and loans, which may vary depending on their financial situation.
2. Apprenticeship extra grant
Apprentices in IVET receive an extra grant each month to cover higher costs for transportation and meals.
3. Boarding supplement
Students, who wish to live and study in a place other than their home municipality, may apply for a boarding supplement from CSN or from the municipality. For example, this applies in cases where the specific education is not provided by the home municipality, or where the education programme is open to national admission.
4. Private grants
A few private foundations have additional grants available for specific purposes.

The general purpose of the grants is to provide all learners with equal opportunities. A few private foundations have additional grants available for specific purposes.

The funding is made by the Swedish state through CSN (The Swedish Board for Study Support). In some cases the boarding supplement is paid by the home municipality. A few private foundations have additional grants available for specific purposes.

The only condition for upper secondary school students to receive CSN grants is that the learner must be studying full time. The grant is revoked for truancy. Adults studying VET are eligible for support grants and loans if they study at least half of a full time for a minimum of three weeks. Adults also have to show progress in their studies in order to be continuously eligible for support grants and loans.

Learners under the age of 20 do not have to apply for study grants in Swedish Upper Secondary Education, since the information needed by CSN is automatically provided by the school. As long as the learner is enrolled in Swedish Upper Secondary education, i e. if a mobility period is part of a learner’s IVET-education, the study grant is portable in full. This is equally applicable for long-term and short-term mobilities. Learners aged 20 and more have to apply to CSN to receive study grants and loans, but these are also fully portable during mobility if it is part of the Upper Secondary Education. Grants and loans to learners that are residents of Sweden but intend to study abroad are portable in full if certain conditions are met.

As long as the learner is enrolled in Swedish Upper Secondary education, i e. if a mobility period is part of a learner’s IVET-education, the study grant is portable in full. This is equally applicable for long-term and short-term mobilities. Grants and loans to learners that are residents of Sweden but intend to study abroad are portable in full if certain conditions are met. In addition, Swedish citizens that have been registered in Sweden during two years prior to their stay abroad may also receive grants for studies in other countries. This may be the case if the training is clearly aimed at a specific vocation or line of business.

The types of grants and the education programmes entitled to support are determined by the Swedish Parliament and the Swedish Government through the Study Support Law (Studiestödslag (1999:1395)) and the Study Support Ordinance. Whenever a learner is eligible for study support grants or loans, the learners apply to the Swedish Board for Study Support (CSN) which decides if conditions for eligibility is met. The legal framework and the agency of the CSN ensure that the study support system is coordinated countrywide. Portability is attached to the support measures and is as such taken into account in the coordination process.

CSN (the Swedish Board for Study Support) evaluates its operation, produces customer surveys and writes reports. Statistics are produced about the number of upper secondary students that study abroad, although no distinction is made between general students and VET-students. CSN has also carried out an inquiry Moderniserad studiehjälp - Modernised Student Finance (1) focusing on study support as a tool for eliminating geographic barriers to upper secondary education. The survey report discussed portability of grants and the right to study support when studying abroad.
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(1) http://www.regeringen.se/49b716/contentassets/9ce4ee435c5042d9b0f2fb2db…

The inquiry Moderniserad studiehjälp (SOU 2013:52) that has investigated study support mechanisms has in one summary point argued that one goal was to eliminate geographic barriers to fulfil an upper secondary education.

Sweden has developed financial support measures for its IVET learners. The awarded funds are portable abroad. The portability policy is coordinated countrywide and evaluated. However, although one 2013 survey report emphasised the role of portability in removing the geographical barriers to secondary education, the country has not set up any targets/benchmarks for its portability policy. Setting up such targets/benchmarks could be considered in future. Steps for further progress could include making sure that all potential users are aware of the possibilities offered to them in terms of portability (and how to benefit from them); making room for users to give feedback on the portability mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use and practice of the said mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

According to the legislation, schools have a strong role for social inclusion. Disadvantaged learners have the same rights and opportunities in education like anyone else, and schools should pay particular attention to the specific needs of disadvantaged learners and compensate for those in order to enhance inclusion. Learners with intellectual learning disabilities have a curriculum with both general and IVET-programmes that is adjusted to the intellectual capacities of these students. The curriculum for upper secondary school for students with learning disabilities stress even stronger that everyone working in school should support and stimulate the learners to ensure that they develop as much as possible. In order to do so, everyone working in school is obligated to support learners in need of particular support. This includes the responsibility of the head teacher to encourage international contacts, co-operation and exchange in education.

Information not available at this time

Information not available at this time

No policy targets/benchmarks have been set in this area.

Data are lacking. The Swedish school system is centrally regulated through legislation, but the provision of education and implementation of the legislation is highly decentralised. Although examples of implementation and achievements at local level do exist, none could be obtained for presentation through this survey. Yet, it appears that whatever the actual actions in this area may be on the ground, no particular initiatives have been taken to make them visible to learners and to get learners' feedback. Also, no policy targets/benchmarks have been set in Sweden for the policy in support to the mobility of disadvantaged learners. Information of interest to be collected in future would be in relation to the differentiated mechanisms in place at national and/or local levels to support the mobility of disadvantaged learners through actions in terms of – among others – information and guidance, funding, motivation (raising the awareness of learners on the added value of mobility and promoting a mobility culture), preparation for mobility from the early stages of education, and use of multipliers; systematic, complete and topic specific evaluation and countrywide coordination of these mechanisms; the actions to make the mechanisms and the ensuing opportunities (including how to access them) visible to / known from all potential users; processes allowing users to give feedback on the said mechanisms upon having experienced them; and how the use and practice of the mechanisms is monitored so as to readjust and improve them accordingly as necessary over time.

Internationalisation, i.e. international contacts, co-operation and exchange in education, is stated in the curriculum for upper secondary school, and is as such encouraged. IVET institutions can utilise remunerations to recognise and value school staff’s commitment to organising learning mobility. The remuneration rule is that teachers' salaries are individually set depending on how well the teacher has met the goals set up. Thus, VET institutions have room for valuing commitment to mobility through adjusting salaries accordingly.

In the legislation, there is no explicit statement about the use of multipliers. Yet, the Swedish Council for Higher education, UHR, encourages the use of multipliers. UHR has 23 regional coordinators in its regional network that serve as inspiration and disseminates information about mobility and internationalisation.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) is the Swedish government agency that is responsible for mobilities throughout the educational system. Evaluations in Sweden are always used to identify weaknesses and suggest improvements, and as such networks and other groups hosted by UHR evaluate its activities and their impact.

No policy targets/benchmarks have been set for the actions in the area of multipliers.

Sweden allows for valuing the educational staff who commit to organising mobility activities through adjusting their remunerations accordingly. The actions undertaken in this area are to some extent coordinated countrywide and evaluated, although not in a systematic and topic-specific manner. Other significant initiatives in the area of multipliers are lacking, and the country has not set up any policy targets/benchmarks for its actions in this area. Steps for progress in future could include developing actions in terms of mobilising learners with mobility experience as multipliers to attract not-yet mobile IVET learners to consider going on mobility; making sure that mobility is mainstreamed into the initial training and continuous professional development of IVET teachers; setting up policy targets/benchmarks for the actions in the area of multipliers; making sure that policy coordination and evaluation in the area are systematic, complete, and topic-specific. Further steps which could be also considered include making sure that the mechanisms put in place in the area of multipliers, and the opportunities thus open (and how to benefit from them) are visible to all potential users; making room for users to give feedback on the said mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use and practice of the mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

Information and guidance: Sweden meets the criteria of the Information and Guidance indicator. Policy targets are in place. The country provides IVET learners with information and guidance for their international learning mobility. Consistency and convergence of information and guidance policies and practices are ensured by the National Council for Higher education (UHR) and the Swedish School Inspectorate. To improve the quality of provision, the Swedish Council for Higher Education regularly updates and improves its means of information and guidance about mobility. Guidelines for quality assessment have been put in place, and schools have been provided with BRUK, a tool for self-evaluation. The quality assessment process itself is monitored by the School Inspectorate, which ensures that the provision can improve overtime.

Institutional and administrative issues: Swedish education policy has a clear orientation to integrating international mobility experiences in the curricula of IVET programmes. Sweden uses the European 2020 benchmark of 6% of IVET learners having at least two weeks of training abroad. However, the country has not set out any specific policy targets in terms of reducing the administrative and institutional obstacles to mobility. Actions in the area are coordinated and evaluated, although not in a systematic and complete manner. Addressing these shortfalls could be considered in future. The country has taken measures to help schools cope with the administrative burdens induced by international mobility. However, no step has been taken to facilitate the delivery of visas and residency permits to IVET students from third countries, or to remove possible obstacles that may hinder the international mobility of minor apprentices and IVET students. Although it may be deemed that no such measure is necessary because no difficulty was officially reported, there has not been any fully-fledged investigation targeted at checking the situation on the ground and surveying users’ needs and stakeholders’ views. In future, it could be investigated, e.g. through users/stakeholders surveys, whether the existing conditions for delivering visas and residency permits to IVET learners from third countries and for the exit of minor learners are easy enough, or instead require putting in place support measures for assisting learners (or their institutions) in their mobility process

Recognition: Sweden has in place a nationwide regulated mechanism for the recognition of learning outcomes acquired abroad by IVET learners. Recognition applies to courses, credit points, units, modules, programmes and qualifications / diplomas / degrees. It makes use of a range of existing EU tools for visibility, transfer and recognition, i.e. the Europass Mobility Document and Certificate Supplement. It is easily accessible to students as it is operated by school teachers. The country has no specific measures for the visibility of contact points for information on recognition of learning outcomes acquired during mobility periods. Such a visibility policy seems to be unnecessary as recognition is operated by the school teachers themselves. However, in future, it could be made sure (e.g. through user surveys) that the mechanism actually works as expected, and that in practice learners know where to get (and manage to get) the recognition-related information they may need, in particular if the learning outcomes were acquired outside the frame of a mobility agreed between a sending and a receiving institution. The Swedish approach to recognition of learning acquired abroad could also take some other steps forward in future. In particular, as regards the recognition of qualifications and other outcomes that were not acquired within the frame of an agreement between a sending and a receiving institution, introducing a maximum time limit for the processing of applications could be considered. Making use of the EQF/NQF and the learning outcomes approach for visibility, transfer and recognition purposes would be a progress too. Finally, the country has not set out any policy targets for the recognition policy. Addressing this latter shortfall could also be considered in future.


Partnerships and funding: Sweden has in place policies for providing companies, VET institutions and learners with financial and non-financial support for international mobility, creation of partnerships and networks, and organisation of international mobility projects. These policies are subject to evaluation targeted at improving support actions over time. They are also countrywide coordinated. The country has also in place policy targets in terms of number of funded participants.

Motivation: Sweden has actions to raise learners’ awareness about mobility opportunities. It is unclear however how these actions highlight the benefits of mobility for learners, for example in terms of self-fulfilment; development of professional, linguistic, social and intercultural competencies; creativity; active citizenship; future employability; learning about working practices, problem solving, resilience, being a team player; autonomy, self-confidence, etc. It is unclear which benefits exactly are outlined through the existing information actions. There is an example of a school mainstreaming mobility in its curriculum, but no action promoting greater social recognition of the value of learning mobility is reported. The existing actions are countrywide coordinated through national curricula. They are also evaluated, although not in a systematic manner. The country has also not set out policy benchmarks in terms of learners’ motivation. In future, it could be considered clarifying which mobility benefits exactly are highlighted to motivate IVET learners in Sweden; setting up benchmarks in the motivation policy; and making policy evaluation in this area systematic, complete and topic-specific.

Long-term preparation: Sweden has structures to provide IVET learners with linguistic, intercultural and digital preparation for mobility from the early stages of education. Practices and processes for internationalising the IVET curriculum through introducing pedagogical methods in use abroad are also in place. The existing actions are countrywide coordinated. They are also evaluated. In addition, processes are in place to make the preparation mechanisms visible to potential users. However, although general objectives in terms of academic success have been defined, the country has not set out any specific policy targets and benchmarks for the long-term preparation policy. Setting up such policy targets could be considered in future. It could also be considered putting in place procedures allowing users to give feedback on the long-term preparation mechanisms upon having experienced them.

Quality: Sweden has in place procedures for ensuring the quality of mobility through organising pre-stay linguistic preparation, stay monitoring processes, post-stay feedback mechanisms, and providing learners with transport, accommodation and catering. The existing actions are countrywide coordinated. They are also evaluated. Procedures are in place for users to be informed beforehand about the quality mechanisms. However, the country has not set out any policy targets and benchmarks for the quality policy. Setting up such benchmarks could be considered in future.

Portability: Sweden has developed financial support measures for its IVET learners. The awarded funds are portable abroad. The portability policy is coordinated countrywide and evaluated. However, although one 2013 survey report emphasised the role of portability in removing the geographical barriers to secondary education, the country has not set up any targets/benchmarks for its portability policy. Setting up such targets/benchmarks could be considered in future. Steps for further progress could include making sure that all potential users are aware of the possibilities offered to them in terms of portability (and how to benefit from them); making room for users to give feedback on the portability mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use and practice of the said mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.

Disadvantaged learners: Data are lacking. The Swedish school system is centrally regulated through legislation, but the provision of education and implementation of the legislation is highly decentralised. Although examples of implementation and achievements at local level do exist, none could be obtained for presentation through this survey. Yet, it appears that whatever the actual actions in this area may be on the ground, no particular initiatives have been taken to make them visible to learners and to get learners' feedback. Also, no policy targets/benchmarks have been set in Sweden for the policy in support to the mobility of disadvantaged learners. Information of interest to be collected in future would be in relation to the differentiated mechanisms in place at national and/or local levels to support the mobility of disadvantaged learners through actions in terms of – among others – information and guidance, funding, motivation (raising the awareness of learners on the added value of mobility and promoting a mobility culture), preparation for mobility from the early stages of education, and use of multipliers; systematic, complete and topic specific evaluation and countrywide coordination of these mechanisms; the actions to make the mechanisms and the ensuing opportunities (including how to access them) visible to / known from all potential users; processes allowing users to give feedback on the said mechanisms upon having experienced them; and how the use and practice of the mechanisms is monitored so as to readjust and improve them accordingly as necessary over time.

Multipliers: Sweden allows for valuing the educational staff who commit to organising mobility activities through adjusting their remunerations accordingly. The actions undertaken in this area are to some extent coordinated countrywide and evaluated, although not in a systematic and topic-specific manner. Other significant initiatives in the area of multipliers are lacking, and the country has not set up any policy targets/benchmarks for its actions in this area. Steps for progress in future could include developing actions in terms of mobilising learners with mobility experience as multipliers to attract not-yet mobile IVET learners to consider going on mobility; making sure that mobility is mainstreamed into the initial training and continuous professional development of IVET teachers; setting up policy targets/benchmarks for the actions in the area of multipliers; making sure that policy coordination and evaluation in the area are systematic, complete, and topic-specific. Further steps which could be also considered include making sure that the mechanisms put in place in the area of multipliers, and the opportunities thus open (and how to benefit from them) are visible to all potential users; making room for users to give feedback on the said mechanisms upon having experienced them; and monitoring the use and practice of the mechanisms so as to readjust and improve them accordingly over time as necessary.