Sweden

This country update was produced by Hanna Persson, as part of the 2023 update to the European Inventory on validation, a project managed by ICF (lead consultants: Manuel Souto-Otero, Michael Richardson, Ilona Murphy, Valentina Musso and Flora Dussine) in association with 3s (lead consultants: Karin Luomi-Messerer, Monika Auzinger, Julia Fellinger, Mariya Dzhengozova and Daniel Unterweger) under the supervision of a Steering Committee formed by the European Commission (Koen Nomden, Aline Juerges and Klara Engels-Perenyi), Cedefop (Ernesto Villalba-Garcia), and the ETF (Maria Rosenstock).

The report has benefitted from feedback from the European qualifications framework Advisory Group (EQF AG) members for Sweden as well as other national-level quality assurance (QA) contacts with expertise in validation.

Work was carried out under DG EMPL Implementing Framework Contract EAC-01-2019 - Request for Services VT/2021/059.

Disclaimer:

The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission, Cedefop, the ETF, ICF, the EQF AG members or the other QA contacts. Neither the European Commission nor any person/organisation acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of any information contained in this publication. The publication has neither been edited nor proof-read by Cedefop’s editing service.

Please cite this publication as: Persson, H. (2024). European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning 2023 update: Sweden. European Commission and Cedefop. https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/country-reports/european-inventory-validation-non-formal-and-informal-learning-2023-update-Sweden

The provision of validation is highly decentralised in Sweden and includes different approaches and actors depending on the sectors. Statistics on the number of validation processes undertaken and completed are not kept centrally at the national level, which makes it difficult to appraise the socio-economic impact of validation in Sweden.

Validation has gone through considerable development in the last few years in Sweden, including but not limited to a new validation regulation, an increased emphasis on regional coordination and an obligation for the head of the municipal adult education to offer validation on a needs-basis. In addition, a municipality is obliged to ensure that a prospective adult education student residing in the municipality is offered an initial mapping. The Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education has been made responsible for the coordination of validation on both the regional and national levels. Given that the changes came into force in January 2023, it is not possible to conclude new findings in terms of impact and outcomes.

Validation is carried out in many sectors and is often viewed as an important tool to strengthen policy priorities. The new changes have brought a more individual needs-based approach and validation is deemed to be a crucial component in transition support (reskilling and upskilling of already active workforce) to better meet the future needs of the labour market.

There have been significant developments related to validation in Sweden over the last few years including: a new validation regulation, an increased emphasis on regional coordination and an obligation for principals of municipal adult education to offer validation. Validation is often influenced by political priorities in Sweden. Validation is linked to skills supply and lifelong learning and is currently perceived as an important tool for transition support, and the reskilling and upskilling of individuals.

There are many actors involved in the Swedish validation system. The National Agency for Higher Vocational Education has developed an overview map, see a translated (authors own translation) version below:

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Validation initiatives (with the aim of continue studies and shorten studies) linked to higher education, higher vocational education and municipal adult education are carried out by the responsible providers and at national level, it is nationally coordinated by the respective national agency: Swedish Council for Higher Education, the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education and the National Agency for Education. For the municipal adult education, the provider (municipality) can also outsource the validation to training providers.

For validation linked to professions and the labour market, it’s possible to make three distinguishments:

• sector-specific validation: carried out by test centres and vocational assessors approved by industries and can be funded in different ways depending on the individual and the validation aim. Many sector organisations have developed their own validation models which means that validation is done based on the requirements for a particular profession agreed by social partners.
• Validation via the Public Employment Service (PES): carried out by a procured supplier and financed by PES. PES procures validation services for professions in high demand on the labour market. An individual needs to fulfil certain criteria to be eligible for this validation.
• Municipal adult education: in addition to providing validation linked to continue studies and shorten studies, the municipal adult education can also offer validation for initial vocational education and training (IVET).

Validation in education is indirectly financed via the public funded education system since validation is mainly carried out by teachers within the school-context. Validation is also directly financed via state grants in different ways depending on the sector and purpose:

In addition, PES has received a mandate from the government to distribute state grants to promote and foster validation particularly targeting newly arrived immigrants to enter the labour market.

This country report includes many updates in comparison to the previous report from 2018, however the changes are recent and therefore, few conclusions can be drawn in terms of outcomes and impact.

A new definition of validation has been introduced in the new Validation Regulation (Valideringsförordning (2022:1549)) defining validation as “a structured process which includes an in-depth mapping and assessment aimed to recognize a person’s knowledge (knowledge, skills, responsibilities and autonomy) independent of how they were acquired” (author’s own translation). The Swedish term called ‘kunnande’ is difficult to directly translate into English as it refers to knowledge, skills, responsibilities, and autonomy, for the purpose of this report, we have used ‘know-how’ as term - keeping in mind its broader meaning. Validation is regarded as a collective term with different operationalisations depending on what is being validated and in which sector the validation is embedded in. The former definition was embedded in the Swedish Education Act, designed for formal education but widely used with different interpretations and adaptations in validation in labour market etc. The new definition is now included in the Education Act (i.e., chapter 20, paragraph 42) and aligns more with the 2012 EU Council Recommendation than the previous definition, although with certain differences related to how the terms documentation and certification are applied in Sweden.

It is important to highlight that the new definition of validation does not change the overall Swedish validation processes but is perceived as an important step towards unity amongst stakeholders working on validation in Sweden, by using a common definition and terminology. The provision of validation is highly decentralised in Sweden, and it is important to consider that validation providers, such as municipalities, HE-institutions, HVE-providers and sector specific organisations, to a large extent act independently based on specific regulations for each sector and guidelines from the national authorities. For example, the national authorities can distribute validation tools, training programmes and methods as support, but it is up to each municipality to decide how they carry out validations in the municipal adult education.

The Swedish National Delegation for Validation (hereafter: Delegation) was active in 2015-2019 with the purpose of ensuring transparency, coordination, quality, efficiency and delegation of responsibility on validation at national and regional level. The work of the Delegation was highly referenced in the 2018 report and can be considered as the start of the many implemented changes related to validation in Sweden. For example, the new definition of validation is derived from the work by the Delegation which worked closely with several government departments to establish a broad consensus on it. The Delegation presented their final report at the end of 2019 (SOU 2019:69 Validering - för kompetensförsörjning och livslångt lärande [Validation for skills supply and lifelong learning]). In 2022, the Swedish government published their legislative proposal with the same name (Proposition 2021/22:123) stating that principals of municipal adult education now have an obligation to offer validation linked to adult education and this obligation came into force in January 2023.

The previous country report produced in 2018 included a list of key conclusions from a national strategy on validation (En nationell strategi för validering, SOU 2017:18), developed by the Delegation. The strategy was never fully adopted by the Government, but some of the priority actions referenced have been addressed:

• The Swedish National Qualification Framework (SeQF) which was introduced in 2015 and referenced in the 2018 country report as important tool in the validation context, has been consulted in developing the new definition of validation. The sector-specific validations are progressively linked to the SeQF, creating more opportunities for quality assurance and transparency.
• The validation process in Sweden is highly decentralised and a need for coordination was mentioned in the 2018 report. The Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education (Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan (MYH)) has received a permanent mandate to coordinate validation at the national and regional level (it had a temporary mandate previously). Its tasks now include to manage its own validation activities but also oversee the sectorial validation and validation linked to education. It is worth noting that the Agency also has a wider national responsibility linked to the needs of higher vocational education as elaborated in the Regulation 2011:1162 (in Swedish: Förordning (2011:1162) med instruktion för Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan).
• Moreover, the regulation governing the roles and responsibilities of the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education has been updated to align with the new legislation and definition of validation (Förordning (2011:1162) med instruktion för Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan (in English: Ordinance (2011:1162) with instructions for the Swedish Agency for Higher Vocational Education), more specifically, paragraphs 6 and 6a now states that the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education should consider the Validation Regulation (2022:1549) and work to promote the development and use of validation in training courses that the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education are responsible for as well as support sectors in developing, quality assuring and providing information about the sector-specific validation models. The Agency was also given greater responsibility to coordinate (disseminate information, contribute to knowledge building of practitioners, compile results and evaluate) validation activities on national and regional levels related to both education and the labour market.
• The new validation regulation stipulates that Swedish municipal adult education providers have an obligation to offer validation services. In addition, a municipality is obliged to ensure that a prospective adult education student residing in the municipality is offered an initial mapping of his/her competencies as stipulated in the Education Act (chapter 20, article 7). The aim of the mapping is to document knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy which may result in showcasing a need for validation.

Financing of validation was referred to as fragmented in the 2018 report which to some extent still is the case. The Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth are collaborating on regional funding mechanisms and there are also government grants for municipal adult education. Capacity and funding are however still considered an issue in some parts of Sweden. The new validation regulation came into effect in January 2023 and thus, it is not possible at this stage to identify practical changes and impacts resulting from this change. It is also important to highlight that data collection on validation is fragmented in Sweden and there are different standards and methods for validations depending on sector, consequently making it difficult to draw reliable statistical conclusions.

The key challenge connected to validation in Sweden is not related to assessing knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy areas but rather how to fill the gaps with complementary training and education afterwards. More specifically, there are limited mechanisms to adhere to the individual assessment and a person is often left with the only option of attending a full course/programme.

Validation of non-formal and informal learning began as a bottom-up approach in the mid-1990s and has undergone continuous development since then, with increasing involvement at the state level and the move towards a national structure for validation. As mentioned in the 2018 report, important developments are the appointment of the first National Delegation for Validation (2004-2007), the appointment, in 2009, of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education (Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan) in a coordinating role for the development of a national structure for validation, and the appointment of a second National Delegation for Validation in 2015, consisting of representatives of important actors and stakeholders, drawn from across the landscape of education and training, relevant public authorities, and the labour market.

The Swedish definition of validation follows the same overall process as the EU-wide definition based on the four stages (identification/skills audit, documentation, assessment, and certification). The Swedish definition states that a validation includes an in-depth mapping/identification and assessment of prior learning which can lead to recognition independent of when and where the prior learning took place.

It's important to highlight that the approaches, methods, and tools used differs across stakeholders and sectors. There is not one single model for the validation of non-formal and informal learning that covers all educational areas - rather, each area has developed its own approach, procedures, and methods. As elaborated in the 2018 report, national standards have been elaborated for some areas or sectors (e.g., VET) but have not yet been fully implemented. The decentralised nature of the validation system means that even between institutions within the same educational area, there may be significant differences in how the task is tackled. For example, in municipal adult education it is important to point out that prior to a validation, there is often an initial mapping of knowledge to guide what the validation should focus on. In HVE, a fast-track initiative has been implemented that enables students to first have their prior learning validated. Based on the validation outcome (exemption) the student gets an individual study plan for complementary training to be able to obtain the HVE-degree.

The approach to certification from validation is done in a different way than in comparison to the EU definition. In many Member States the assessment is done by an education provider and the certification by a central authority whereas in Sweden, the full process of validation is done by at the practitioner/provider level. Validation is done against learning outcomes/course curricula and/or qualifications and in Sweden aims towards certification. However, it could be that the validation process does not result in a full certification; the individual might lack some knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy and could have partial recognition (some courses validated but not the full programme, or some qualifications but not all needed for a particular profession). The recognition is not included in the validation process but is regarded as an end-goal. The element of documenting is also viewed differently in Sweden; it is done after the validation process to document that knowledge that have been validated and what type of recognition that followed. In municipal adult education, the recognition is documented but to a acquire a formal certificate or grade, the individual needs additional assessment. In HVE, with validation for exemption the student receives a grade directly based on the validation results.

The focus of validation is adapted to political priorities. In the 2018 Sweden report, there were several references to initiatives supporting newly arrived immigrants to enter the labour market, reflecting the responses to the large influx of refugees in 2015-2016. Many of the initiatives mentioned in the 2018 report such as the Fast Track (’Snabbspåret’ in Swedish), civil society initiatives targeting groups far away from the labour market groups (’folkbildning’ in Swedish) would not be considered as validation under the new definition; but rather as a preparatory step done before the actual validation process. The situation is rather different in 2023, validation is no longer regarded with same importance in supporting immigrants to enter the labour market. Instead, validation is focused on skills supply and lifelong learning, embedded in a framework of collaboration between the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Swedish National Agency for Education, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, the Swedish Council for Higher Education, the Swedish Higher Education Authority, the Swedish ESF Council, the Swedish Council for Popular Education and the Swedish Agency for Higher Vocational Education. The validation focus has shifted to supporting labour market transitions (reskilling and upskilling) and the skills supply. In 2022, a new policy on transition support was launched with the purpose of providing financial support to workers that wish to reskill or upskill themselves, while still keeping 80% of their salary for a period of up to 1 year. The transition support targets adults who have been active in the labour market for a longer period. A prerequisite for obtaining the transition study support is that the education will benefit the individual’s future position in the labour market. The need for validation is expected to increase in connection to this support, as well as a comprehensive understanding of labour market trends.

The Swedish validation approach distinguishing between validation linked to education and training and validation in the labour market. The provision of validation is also highly decentralised and involves many stakeholders. Except for higher education, there are different national authorities in charge of validation (see description above) and there is also a cooperation between the different authorities in which they produce reports on the status of validation across sectors and education levels. There are different reports and data available on validation, but it is not always possible as a stakeholder to get nationwide and comparable quantitative and qualitative information on validation activities and practices. Considerable efforts have recently been put in effect to ensure better coordination at national level as well as regional cooperation involving municipalities and other stakeholders, more specifically: the above-mentioned work by the former Validation Delegation, new definition of validation, the changes to municipal adult education and the new validation regulation that came into force in January 2023.

The intention is that validation is used to ensure that the individual needs and the demand of the labour market are met. The new regulation states that validation must be able to lead to:

1. a qualification that corresponds to a level in the qualification framework for lifelong learning according to the regulation (Förordning (2015:545) om referensram för kvalifikationer för livslångt lärande [Regulation on the qualification framework for lifelong learning]) or part of such a qualification; or
2. eligibility for education and training that can lead to such a qualification or part of a qualification referred to in point 1.

The first part of validation is a mapping of knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy to make previous experiences and acquired competences from education, work, volunteering etc. visible and documented. A mapping acquired without any documentation (i.e., informal learning) is a slightly longer process. Depending on the sector that the validation is carried out in, different national authorities are responsible for the oversight and different practitioners are active. For example, for validation linked to formal education, it is usually teachers carrying out the validation since it is linked to school curricula and learning outcomes.

The principal of the municipal adult education now has an obligation to offer validation in connection to municipal adult education. Prior to this, the municipal adult education principals were highly encouraged to offer validation (and many did) but it was not an obligation. The validation is often carried out by the teachers, and it is the responsibility of the school principals to assure that students in need of validation are offered it. Admitted students at municipal adult education are eligible for validation as an attempt to shorten an education course/programme. In addition to this, prospective students at municipal adult education have the right to get an initial mapping (first step of the validation cycle) to get a better understanding prior to studying or validation. The provision of initial mapping of competence and validation is now based on individual needs, which implies that validation now also can be used to access education and training. The shift to a needs-based approach could enable new synergies and linkages between education and activities of PES and other stakeholders - creating a bridge in the dual approach to validation.

The new regulation states that validation is an in-depth mapping of previously acquired learning where knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy are documented in a way that they can be assessed against a (or part of a) qualification (i.e., HVE, sector specific validation) and/or a course (i.e., municipal adult education). Assessment is defined as checking if a person’s knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy correspond to a (or part of a) qualification levelled in the SeQF and if the person’s competence is found to be corresponding to the (or part of the) qualification that is being validated, after which a certification should be issued. Prior to the above-mentioned changes, validation practitioners were applying different interpretations of the previous validation definition in the Swedish Education Act, which was not designed with the intention of being applied in higher education or for sector specific validation. The new definition is deemed to play an important role for enhanced coordination amongst stakeholders working on validation.

The regional focus in validation with the aim of building an infrastructure for validation is not new in Sweden but the role of regions has been further emphasised as ‘facilitators’ of activities and stakeholders for validation (i.e., regions themselves do not carry validation). The regional focus needs to be understood in the context of the Swedish governance structure, where municipalities are acting independently with broad guidelines from national authorities. The idea was that the regions should be able to have an overview of the different stakeholders and validation activities that are taking place within the specific region.

Based on the map developed by the Delegation on Validation looking at coverage of validation activities in Sweden, it is possible to conclude that the provision of validation differs a lot across the regions. Figure 3.1 showcases the interactive map of the extent of the offer of sector-specific validation in Sweden: the darker the region, the more extensive the validation offer. It is also possible to search an online database to see what each region offers by sector/occupation. The map is developed by the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education and available via this link: Branschvalideringskartan | Tableau Public

Figure 3.1. Map of what types of sector-specific validation models exist- or will soon exist in Swedish regions

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As illustrated in the map of sector-specific validation, some regions have an extensive validation offer across different sectors/occupations and some others have not. The map illustrates a North-South divide, where validation provision is more present in the Southern parts which are also more densely populated. It is important to highlight that regional authorities themselves do not carry out validations but function more like ‘connectors’ between different stakeholders who carry out validation. Like the governance structure of municipalities, national authorities are not able to directly control what regions are doing in this area. National authorities support regions and use a form of ‘soft power’ by offering targeted funding for validation.

Between December 2020 and December 2022, a project called ‘Validation boost’ ('Valideringslyft’) was implemented in which national and regional stakeholders collaborated to create regional infrastructures for validation in both labour market and education. The project was led by the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education to build on the recommendations made by the Validation Delegation for increased regional coordination. The aim of the project is to ensure that regions have the required capacity and capabilities to work with validation as a part of their regional skills supply and labour market policies and therefore contribute to the national target of increased number of validations in a sustainable manner.

Opportunities to continue developing the validation offer in Swedish regions have improved thanks to the government's mandate to the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and the Swedish Agency for Higher Vocational Education received in December 2021, the two agencies have the assignment to support and develop regions to create effective validation structures in 2022 to 2024. Overall, around 6 million EUR (68 million SEK) has been made available to support this (of which 3 million EUR (34 million SEK) is administrated by the Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and the rest is co-financed by the regions). The support to regions includes capacity-building activities like workshops on information sharing, regional cluster dialogues and regional validation conferences.

Since 2021, a state grant has been offered to municipalities for providing knowledge mapping/identification and validation services.

The Swedish government gave the Swedish National Agency for Education the responsibility to monitor the development of validation structures in municipal adult education from 2022 to 2025. Moreover, the Agency is tasked to develop support to municipalities on how to carry out initial mapping for potential students, validation for enrolled students and how to delivery complementary education (as individualised as possible) based on the validation results.

In 2018, a working group focused on validation linked to the joint work on lifelong learning and skills supply was set up with representatives from the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Swedish National Agency for Education, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and the Swedish Agency for Higher Vocational Education has been put in place. This group is aimed to bring more inter-agency collaboration where validation is embedded with the intention of creating a better overview and a less fragmented approach. There is also a validation advisory group (Valideringsrådet) where authorities, labour market stakeholders and the transition (reskilling and upskilling) organisations (in Swedish: omställningsorganisationer) are represented. The validation advisory group aims to create shared understanding of the current ‘state of play’ on validation initiatives.

At the level of the Nordic countries, the Nordic Network for Adult Learning is deemed to be an important resource for issues related to adult learning and validation. There is a close collaboration amongst the Nordic countries in addition to the work done on EU-level.

As described in the previous country reports (2016, 2018), Swedish curricula are generally learning outcomes-based, even though the approach is not yet consistently applied throughout. Each sector of formal education (e.g., GE/VET, HVE, HE) has its own unit-based credit system, which can be used when validating an individual’s knowledge, skills, responsibility and autonomy. The individual, usually guided by a counsellor, undergoes an initial skills mapping process to identify and document skills. An assessor or team of assessors, appointed by relevant institutions or organisations (social partners and/or educational or training institutions), will subsequently assess these against specific educational or specific occupations. The assessor(s) will then decide what can be confirmed and point to areas where further education and/or training is required to obtain a qualification or be certified for specific tasks.

The new focus on transition support in the form of reskilling and upskilling individuals to the future demands of the labour market is an overall priority based on the new funding opportunities where individuals can get financial support while attending education and trainings, as referenced above. The new policy and regulation changes for validation indicates that municipal adult education is a priority area but also validation to enable access to other forms of training and education.

For municipal adult education, validation can be initiated by individuals themselves or the school and it is often teachers at the adult education schools who carry out the full validation process under the responsibility of a school principal. Adult education is provided by the municipal authorities with full independency due to the decentralised education system and the National Agency for Education has the national oversight. Validation is now available to access education, shorten an education programme or to become qualified for a profession. Municipal adult education services - led by the municipal authority - provide documentation of the validation signed by the headmaster/principal and the documentation showcase validated competence and the extent to which they correspond to a course or parts of a course. Validation in municipal adult education is more frequent within health and social care programmes and this is related to a local need for qualified workers in this sector.

In higher vocational education (HVE) and higher education (HE), validation is mainly used for access to education for students who lack the formal requirements for admittance. It is also possible for already enrolled students to have their previously acquired real competences assessed which can result in both partial and full qualifications, such as shortening the education programme which they are attending (exemptions). During 2019 to 2022, a pilot initiative called HVE-flex was implemented and has now become a permanent part of the HVE provision and it’s adapted state grant, integrated approach and clear linkages between validation and individual learning paths have been described as key success factors:

HVE-flex is a Swedish fast-track initiative targeted at professionals with competences that corresponds to a considerable part of an established HVE programme (qualifications at EQF levels 5 and 6). The initiative combines a structured approach to validation with complementary training where students can attend courses or parts of courses based on identified gaps via individual learning pathways. The fast-track initiative enables already active professionals to acquire a formal HVE degree quicker than if they were attending the regular programme.

HVE-flex is implemented and an integrated part of the regular HVE provision and falls under the same legislation. To incentivise HVE providers to implement the fast-track pathway, an adapted state grant has been applied. HVE providers receive a fixed cost for the validation component and are then paid based on the amount of complementary training provided (per HVE credit). This approach has been helpful in changing mindsets amongst providers who previously often regarded validation as a difficult and costly activity.

The national criteria and guidelines are in alignment with the European credit systems used in higher education (ECTS) and vocational education and training (ECVET), but no specific references to these are made in official documentation about validation in the Swedish context.

To enter higher education, different instances offer validation of real competences (when you do not have any documentation of formal education or if you have acquired parts of a formal education and want to exempt those courses to shorten the programme). Higher education students also have the possibility to validate competences acquired from other higher education programmes or studies abroad.

Considerable efforts have been placed on developing validation systems for various sectors in Sweden. Sector-specific validation targets individuals with professional experience but without formal documentation of their competences, who want to progress in their careers, apply for new jobs or change professions. In addition to bringing individual benefits, sector-specific validation is promoted as an international comparative advantage for Sweden; with validation modules setting out in detail the competences to make the workforce internationally competitive with the aim of attracting foreign and multinational companies to Sweden. Sector-specific validation is also considered to enhance cooperation between different sectors in Sweden. It was possible to compare both industry models to identify relevant competences they have in common and skills gaps to enable a rapid response, including targeted and complementary training.

As referenced in the 2018 Sweden report, validation had also been developed as a regular labour market programme at the Public Employment Service (PES) in 2016 and 2017. PES has commissioned a set of validation systems for in-demand professions and these validations are carried out by external suppliers. There are also many other validation systems for professions exclusively led and implemented by sector stakeholders. The validation led by sectors not connected to the formal education system and its legitimacy is based on the recognition of the sector organisations and companies. More specifically, the legitimacy derives from the collaboration between the social partners in what is often referred to as the ‘Swedish model’ with the collective agreements.

Access to sector-specific validation varies across Sweden, as shown in the validation map presented above. In 2022, it was possible to validate 114 professions (of which, 44 professions are embedded in the labour market programme of PES) in comparison to 61 professions in 2018. To be eligible for validation with PES, the PES website states that applicants need to be enrolled with PES and fulfil at least one of the following criteria:

• Have reached the age of 25 and are registered as a job seeker at the Swedish Public Employment Service.
• Have a disability that entails reduced work ability.
• Have reached the age of 18 and for special reasons are far from the labour market.
• Are a newly arrived immigrant and, according to the Migration Agency, are covered by the Act on Establishment Efforts.
• Participate in the Job and Development Guarantee.

As a first step, PES maps out competences and assesses what type of validation that is suitable for the individual applicant. The actual validation process is then carried out by a professional practitioner at a provider (private company, organisation etc.) that has an agreement with PES. According to the Freedom of Choice Act (LOV) (In Swedish: Lagen om Valfrihetssystem (LOV)) jobseekers can choose which providers to do their validation with.

PES has received a mandate from the government to distribute state grants to promote and foster validation particularly targeting newly arrived immigrants to enter the labour market. Initiatives that can be funded are for example mapping of competences and validation models on profession in high demand, language courses etc.

To mention one of many sector-specific validation models, there is a larger consortium called Swedish Sector-Specific Validation (in Swedish: Svensk industrivalidering) developing sectoral validation services with members from employer organisations and trade unions. The organisation provides test centres for companies and support the process of validation, working with companies to identify the needs of the companies and individual professionals. After the validation is completed, the organisation continues to support applicants in their professional development through guidance, training offers and other services. If an individual has gone through the initial validation and then complemented with additional training based on identified gaps, the organisation can do a new validation (i.e. re-validation) and generate different forms of recognitions.

The National Agency for Higher Vocational Education is responsible for a state grant for the development of qualifications and sector-specific validation models (regulated in Förordning (2020:268) om statsbidrag för utveckling av branschvalidering, in English: Ordinance (2020:268) on state subsidies for the development of sector-specific validation) which can be provided to employer and employee organisations jointly applying. In 2021, a total of around 1 EUR (11,2 million SEK) was distributed among 14 such organisations while there is still a need to raise awareness of these funding opportunities among social partners generally. The Agency has also been assigned the task of supporting sectors with their validation models.

There is a project called Branschvalidering - Operativ och Strategisk Samverkan (BOSS) (in English: Sector-Specificy Validation - Operational and Strategic Collaboration) funded by ESF being implemented between 2018-2023 that targets representatives from key sectors that work on developing and quality assuring professional competences. It involves around 20 industry sector organisations and aims to enhance the legitimacy and transferability of validation results. The project has developed learning material and a quality compass; an interactive support for practitioners.

As a step prior to sector-specific validation, there are also self-assessments of competences available that can be used as a first foundation of a discussion with an employer etc. and it is available for different sectors and professions. Jobskills is a digital service particularly targeting newly arrived immigrants in Sweden who wants to make their competence visible to potential employers. It is available in Arabic, Persian (Farsi). Somali, Tigrinja, English and Swedish, and the service allows users to create a profile which can be transformed into a CV stored in a database accessible to employers via PES.

Validation is performed and supported to some extent through Swedish ‘folkbildning’ (liberal/civic adult education for adults), which is considered to be part of the third sector. 'Folkbildning' is a parallel educational pathway to the formal system, with strong connections to various NGOs covering most of civil society. Folkbildningsrådet, the National Council of Adult Education, was one of the actors included in the expert group appointed to support the National Delegation for Validation.

Folkbildning has largely focused on validation of generic skills and competences and focuses on competences acquired via positions of trusts in associations and participations in ‘folkbildning’ activities. Problem-solving, processing information, decision-making processes and cooperation are amongst general competences that are assessed, and the validation often takes place in connection admittance to new courses.

A few additional initiatives were mentioned in the 2018 report, but they are no longer active.

Everyone who has their real competences validated (in Swedish: reell kompetens; implying that it does not matter where/how the competence has been acquired) obtain a formal recognition of this:

• As described in the 2018 report, each formal education level has its own unit-based credit system, which can be used when validating an individual’s knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy. Validation can result in both partial (i.e., proof of validated courses in a programme with grades, proof of access right to an education) and full qualifications in education. In higher vocational education and in higher education recognition of prior learning for credit award is limited, and when it takes place the result is normally a partial qualification. In HVE and HE, recognition from validation results in obtaining credits (HVE-credits, ECTS). Generally, certificates will not show whether parts of a qualification have been achieved through validation of prior learning

• Sector-specific validations lead to full or partial certification of sector-agreed qualifications which often is linked to the SeQF.

  Thus, aligning with the VNFIL recommendation for the main objective of validation. In conclusion, the fact that the validation process identifies a competence gap does not mean that it does not lead to certification. Most validations showcase that the individuals have gaps to fill before they can acquire a full certification. Validation is not regarded as a stand-alone activity but often connected to additional training and justifies why the Swedish approach views recognition of competences as an end goal of validation but not a part of the validation process itself.

  The pivotal role of the Swedish Qualification Framework (SeQF) was referenced in the proposal for a national validation strategy by the National Delegation for Validation in ensuring the possibilities for transfer and transparency between qualifications. To clarify, the SeQF does not create any form of transfer of qualifications, but it contributes to qualifications or parts of qualifications becoming more transferable for example, in recognition. The SeQF has been in place since 2015 and includes:

  • qualifications with regulated learning outcomes, listed in the regulation 2015:545 including qualifications in the higher education regulation and higher vocational education regulation, as a part of the formal education system where validation is used for access to further education or exemption of programmes and courses
  • In addition, actors that are responsible for other types of qualifications (than those referenced above) can apply for a non-formal qualification to be levelled in the framework since 2016.

Since all qualifications included in the SeQF need to comply with the principle of learning outcomes and quality assurance, validation processes have, at least in principle, been greatly facilitated by this development. In the Standards and Guidelines for sector specific validation, one of the preconditions is that educational and specific occupations are described in terms of learning outcomes and there are therefore clear synergies with the processes of levelling qualifications to the SeQF. Work is being done to increase the number of qualifications in the framework and to make sure those can be accessed through validation. More sector-specific validation models are now linked to SeQF, which according to sector organisations, enhance the quality assurance and transparency as well as making it easier for sector partners to communicate requirements to education actors contributing to more labour market-relevant education.

The Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education is implementing a pilot project with PES and Rise (Research Institutes of Sweden) exploring how to recognise and quality assure micro-credentials and how to ensure the inclusion of NQF and standardisation to be harmonised at the EU-level. Amongst the tasks, the project focuses on creating a model for benchmarking linked to added value for the labour market, assessments, learning outcomes and quality assurance. In a recent EQAVET report, it was found that the Swedish national framework is inclusive but support to learners and the labour market would help to ensure that micro-credentials are linked to national qualifications framework and can be used as a validation tool.

The Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education together with counterparts in Iceland and Finland are carrying out an Erasmus+ funded project called Nova-Nordic which focused on links between the National Qualification Frameworks, non-formal qualifications, and validation arrangements in the Nordic countries. The project is led by the Swedish Agency and started in 2020 and is due to end in 2023.

Validation within the formal education system is carried out in relation to curricula as elaborated in the 2018 report. In addition, guidelines have been developed by the respective education authority (National Agency for Education, National Agency for Higher Vocational Education etc.) for support and to assist providers. The sector organisations are responsible for their respective validation models and for the provision of validation services. Often, there is an overlap between the validation linked to formal education and sector-specific validation, especially in cases where certain occupations require an official authorisation, where the completion of a relevant formal qualification is one of the demands.

In validation undertaken in relation to a formal qualification, the ‘real competence’ (i.e., the knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy of a person, irrespective of where and how these are acquired) is measured against the corresponding educational standards for it.

Standards developed by different sector organisations are used as trade specific frameworks for the validation of vocational knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy. As explained in the 2018 report, these are mainly skills requirements focusing on an outcome-based evaluation of the extent to which an individual knows a certain occupation or trade, or elements thereof. People may have their skills validated according to these and may be certified for certain tasks which are conducive to employment, even though they do not acquire a full (formal) educational qualification (a high school diploma).

In Sweden, given that validation is implemented in many fields and sectors, it also involves a range of public authorities at national level:

• The Swedish National Agency for Education
• The National Agency for Higher Vocational Education
• The Swedish Council for Higher Education
• The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth
• The Swedish Public Employment Service

Since 2018 a working group dedicated to validation issues linked to the joint work on lifelong learning and skills supply has been established with members from the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Swedish National Agency for Education, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and the Swedish Agency for Higher Vocational Education.

Also, the Swedish ESF Council has a role to play, as validation is a prominent theme in several large ESF initiatives. The social partners are active in developing models for the validation of vocational competence for sectors and occupations.

The National Agency for Higher Vocational Education has now a greater remit for coordinating validation services at the national and regional levels but each of the national agencies involved in validation are autonomous within their remit. Also, the implementation of validation is decentralised at regional and local level and embedded in the municipal adult education system and Public Employment Services. In the new regulation and law, local principals of municipal adult education now have an obligation to provide validation linked to their municipal adult education. Adult education is in under the responsibility of municipalities acting autonomous due to the decentralised education system, but the National Agency for Education has the national oversight. In higher education, the recognition of prior learning is part of the mission of all universities and other higher education institutions. Also in higher vocational education, all institutions are obliged to offer validation both for access and for exemption.

Opportunities for validation is often promoted indirectly and linked to other initiatives, such as enabling access to education and trainings. The sector-specific validations are promoted via sector actors, trade unions and employer organisations. Validation is currently encouraged in relation to the transition support (reskilling and upskilling of individuals to better meet the future needs of the labour market).

In 2021, the Swedish government gave the Swedish PES, National Agency for Education, National Agency for Higher Vocational Education, Research Council, Council for Higher Education, Statistics Sweden, Agency for Digital Government, and Innovation Agency the mandate to develop the foundation for making data and digital information about education and labour market more accessible including setting up ways for administrating a cohesive data infrastructure for skills supply and lifelong learning.

It is also worth mentioning that the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education has developed a qualification database where it’s possible to search for qualifications based on the Swedish Qualifications Framework (SeQF).

Awareness-raising initiatives exists as shown with the examples above, but no large outreach campaign has taken place since 2018.

During 2015-2019, the Validation Delegation had their own website with the national mandate to communicate about validation.

With its new coordination responsibility, the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education has taken over the website information for the Validation Delegation and shares a range of information regarding validation on its website, relevant for both users and practitioners. The agency together with the working group on validation have also developed a map of the different types of validation available in Sweden and responsible authorities and validation providers The map is primarily aimed at validation providers and those providing guidance connected to validation. However, there is no comprehensive website containing all relevant information related to validation. The other national agencies involved in validation have updated information on validation on their respective websites with relevant links for different target groups. There is a close cooperation between the national authorities where different agencies also reference the validation work of other agencies to guide the user to the correct website based on their needs. Thus, the provision of information, guidance and advice related validation are fragmented for the user in the sense that it’s spread out across many different national authorities, however it’s worth highlighting that the inter-agency cooperation on validation has been enhanced since 2018 when the last country report was written.

Individuals are normally informed about validation through guidance and career counsellors in educational institutions, in public employment services or in municipalities, or via the websites of the national authorities involved in validation procedures. In relation to employment, the trade unions and sector employer organisations also provide information.

There is no standard profile for validation practitioners, who may be drawn from several professions and occupations - notably career and study counsellors at different educational institutions, teachers, professionals in different occupations etc. However, standards have been developed by the respective education authority for support and assistance. On an international level, the Nordic Network for Adult Learning (NVL) has mapped out the competences and what type of competence developed that is needed for practitioners working on validation. However, there is no formal qualification of validation practitioners in Sweden.

In formal education, it is often the teachers who carry out the validations as it is linked to the learning outcomes in the curricula of courses and programmes.

For sector-specific validation, it is representatives from the sector (a variety of employee or employers’ organizations) that carry out the validation. PES publicly procures providers who do sector--specific validations on their behalf. Each validation practitioner that follows the sector model for validation has the possibility to become a provider on behalf of PES.

On the website of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education, practitioners working on validation can find a range of support resources. The available training material is not mandatory but rather made available as supporting tools. As referenced in the 2018 report, there are general recommendations such as “practitioners involved in competence assessment should possess knowledge, skills and competences at the same level as the person who is being assessed” (Standard och riktlinjer för branschvalidering av yrkeskompetens, p.16) for sector-specific validation.

The Swedish National Agency for Education has developed training courses and different types of support for validation practitioners. Since 2017, there is a university course of 7.5 ECTS credits on validation practices and it is primarily offered to teachers, but other stakeholders are also able to attend. There is also an online training course to improve practitioners' knowledge in mapping and assessing competences - as of 2023, 1,577 practitioners have attended this training. The agency also facilitates webinars and opportunities for exchanges amongst validation practitioners. There are also supporting materials related to mapping and validation.

In 2020, supporting material for validation practitioners in the format of digital workshops were developed in an ESF-funded project called BOSS. The material particularly targeted sector-specific validation and qualifications.

Among the Nordic countries, there are exchanges taking place through the working group for validation led by the Swedish National Agency for Education, on behalf of the Nordic Network for Adult Learning.

There is no formal qualification or mandatory experience required for validation practitioners. In formal education, teachers are considered qualified to assess competences against the curricula and learning outcomes in courses and programmes.

As elaborated in the 2018 country report, much of the validation taking place in Sweden today is performed within the framework of the formal education and training system and within labour market programmes. Financing of the individual’s validation is embedded in funding for education or in resources allocated to labour market measures for unemployed people. This makes it difficult to assess the total amount of resources used for validation. Also, other actors and stakeholders (e.g., employee and employer organisations involved in sector-specific validations) provide (co-)financing for the development and implementation of validation activities, but it is difficult to estimate the size of their contribution. The responsibility for adapting the validation methods to the specific needs of a certain sector has been allocated to the business sector organisations themselves. The development of the methods has been funded partly by the government, but many business sector organisations have also contributed to the development of methods and procedures for validation. The European Social Fund (ESF) is increasingly being used as a source of funding for the development of methods and structures for validation at regional and national level.

As found in the 2018 report, it is consequently extremely complicated to obtain a national overview of the funds allocated to validation activities, both for the development of models and methods and for performing validations, since they are spread over many different items. According to the National Delegation for Validation active in 2015-2019, government funding for the development of validation models and structures is patchy and often of a temporary nature, which prevents lasting solutions from being established.

There are no direct financial means aimed at supporting the launch of the new validation regulation however, different targeted efforts have been taken place over the last couple of years. The pilot of HVE-flex implemented between 2020-2022 has received a total of 4 million 3 EUR (35 million SEK) per year (however, not all of the allocated budget was used) and participating HVEs have received 824 EUR (10000 SEK) per each validation. Another initiative is the state grant for development of models for sector-specific validation and the linkage with the SeQF with a budget of 823000 EUR (10 million SEK) per year as elaborated in the regulation SFS 2020:268, which is distributed by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education. During 2021-2023, there is also an available state grant for initial mapping and validation taking place within the municipal adult education coordinated by the Swedish Agency for Education.

Validation is usually free of charge to the beneficiaries (individuals) and if validation is done via a PES programme, financial compensation can be provided by the Social Insurance Agency.

There is a new type of financial support for adults who want to reskill to change career or upskill/deepen their competences. The transition study support is managed by the Swedish Board of Student Finance (CSN) and targets adults (minimum 27 years) who have been active in the labour market for a while. Transition organisations are sector specific and have been established to support the process. These organisations also help to validate knowledge without any costs. Indeed, the transition organisations validate the competences of individuals and help them to showcase why an education can be relevant for their professional profile in order toto support the application for financial support from the Swedish Board of Student Finance.

There are large gaps in the provision of statistics that can give indications on the benefits to individuals on any larger scale, as also mentioned in the 2018 report. Much of the evidence is therefore anecdotal, and it can be hard to estimate the representativeness vis-à-vis the whole cohort of participants in each validation initiative. However, an annual report on validation in Sweden was produced for 2022 and is called ’Valideringsrapport 2022 - Läge och utveckling av validering nationellt och regionalt’ (in English: 'Validation report 2022 - State and development of validation nationally and regionally') by National Agency for Higher Vocational Education et al (2022). The report includes a set of descriptive data that is being referenced in this section to illustrate the landscape without providing official statistics.

Following the recommendations from the National Delegation of Validation, the National Agency for Education has worked towards improving the reliability of the validation statistics. In autumn 2022, the Agency assessed the work with validation at a sample of institutions with the purpose of a quality control. The National Agency for Education has, in accordance with the Validation Delegation's proposal, continued the development work to be able to present quality-assured statistics on validations within Komvux, in terms of both entire courses and parts of courses. In the autumn of 2022, the Swedish National Agency for Education investigated the work with validations at a selection of principals in order to check quality. The overall assessment is that the data are not yet of sufficiently good quality to be able to form the basis for official statistics in the coming years. The main problem is that respondents do not report validation for the courses that are rarely validated. The consequence of this is that today the Agency can only express an opinion on the major professional areas where validations take place in whole and parts of courses. The orientation course with the aim of providing an opportunity to validate has also been shown to accommodate validations within national courses, which is also not always evident from the reported data. The National Agency for Education therefore needs to continue the work of developing the collection so that all validation is reported correctly.

Despite the statistical challenges, the Ministry of Education keeps a register over students attending municipal adult education including validation in mandatory education and higher secondary education. However, it is difficult to assess the accuracy and as mentioned above, is not considered to be official statistics. In 2022, the share of students who undertook validation was the same as in 2020:

• In compulsory education (grades 1-9) approximately 1% of the students (or 991 students) received some kind of validation.
• At upper secondary school-level, around 2% of the students (4,180 students) received some kind of validation.

Validation in adult education quite often benefits the students through the possibility to shorten their study period. Another benefit is that many students achieve formal credit points after a validation.

Amongst the applicants for higher vocational education in 2021, 14% (10,083 persons) were eligible based on ‘real competence’ - a slight decrease from 2019-2021 when it was 15%. Amongst the admitted students, 3% had at least one course exempted and there were more female students than male students who received validation. There is no trend showcasing a real increase of validations in vocational colleges. At university level, the statistics are not very reliable since the different universities do not have access to relevant information and because real competences are defined in different ways. The University Chancellor's Office found that data collection on this type of validation takes a lot of time and is complicated. In 2018-2021, the Swedish Higher Education Authority conducted a study of validation on real competences (competences acquired informally without any documentation) at universities and they found that for the autumn semesters in 2018-2020, 3700 to 4200 persons applied to have their real competences validated. For the spring semester in 2019-2021, the corresponding numbers were 1600 to 2300. Thus, the study found that the number of validation applications have been increasing - more or less aligned with the increased number of overall applications to higher education. Amongst those that applied to have their competences validated, around 35-40 % were eligible and the proportion of them that then were admitted was between 40-45%. In terms of gender statistics, the study found that more women than men were eligible based on the validations but that amongst those that were eligible, the proportion of men was higher for those that accepted and started a program.

The number of sector-specific validations has significantly increased from 3,628 in 2020 to 5,625 in 2021. As shown in the table below, there has generally been an upward trend in terms of validations:

Source: ’Valideringsrapport 2023 - Läge och utveckling av validering nationellt och regionalt’ (in English: 'Validation report 2023 - State and development of validation nationally and regionally') by National Agency for Higher Vocational Education et al (2023), page: 11

This significant increase between 2020-2021 is somewhat surprising given that the social restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been referenced as a negative impact.

Moreover, as mentioned in the 2018 report, validation benefits to individuals as such may be hard to discern, firstly because they often only reveal themselves after a period of time, and secondly because validation may be part of a chain of interventions where it is difficult to establish causality between perceived benefits and the validation process.

As found in the 2018 report, more detailed information on validation users is often not available, or only available for some validation initiatives, due to the decentralised validation system in Sweden, where data is often not systematically collected at national level, and not standardised across fields of activity. Generally, there is a clear imbalance between men and women undertaking validation in relation to specific occupations. This is explained by the lack of developed sector-specific models in occupations where women are in the majority. On the other hand, women are in the majority when it comes to validation in relation to educational standards in VET, where validation in health care courses is dominant.

The 2018 report included a set of initiatives particularly targeting refugees and newly arrived immigrants reflecting how validation was perceived as an important tool in supporting the integration of a large influx of refugees. Initiatives like this still exist but to a lesser degree, such as the PES validation activities mentioned under the section on labour market. As of 1 July 2023, Swedish municipalities can offer free Swedish courses for immigrants to Ukrainian refugees. People with temporary protection in Sweden do normally not have access to these Swedish courses and Swedish municipalities that offer the courses will be able to apply for additional state grant.

In the heterogeneous and decentralised validation landscape that is found in Sweden, it is not possible to talk about a ‘validation system’ in the broadest sense of the term. As elaborated in the 2018 report, it is more correct to talk about ‘validation systems’ that each have their own peculiarities attached to the specific sector. Moreover, even within these ‘systems’, there is a wide margin for practitioners to make their own choices as to how validation processes are conducted. This also applies to validation methods, and consequently national standards and guidelines for validation in different areas do not prescribe any specific method but rather present methods in the different subsectors that practitioners can use according to the demands of the specific context in which a validation is carried out.

As an example of this was mentioned in the 2018 report, we can take the ‘Standard and Guidelines for sector-specific validation of vocational competence’ (produced by the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education). In this area, practitioners are recommended to choose among the following validation methods, alone or in combination, when carrying out validation processes:

Primarily aimed at skills identification and mapping (kompetenskartläggning):

• Dialogue and conversations (e.g., structured interviews);
• Self-assessment (reports and questionnaires based on sector or specific occupations).

Primarily aimed at skills assessment (kompetensbedömning):

• Work observation (placements).
• Simulations and role-play.
• Assessment of specific, practical tasks related to the occupation.
• Tests and exams.

In the text, the methods are described in detail (including different variations of individual methods), and a ‘method matrix’ is attached as an annex, which can guide practitioners in their choice of methods.

Within adult education, an individual study plan is established for each student. The plan must contain information on the individual's educational goals and the planned scope of the studies. The first step of the validation process consists in identifying the relevant knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy that stand out from an individual's learning experiences. The relevant knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy identified are then mapped against the competences acquired through the Swedish school system - i.e., checking for correspondence and assessing the individual knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy. The recognition is not included in the validation process but is regarded as an end-goal. The element of documenting is also viewed differently in Sweden; it is done after the validation process to document that knowledge that have been validated and what type of recognition that followed.

To facilitate implementation, the National Agency for Education has produced support material, including tools for mapping skills linked to an individuals’ know-how linked to the course curricula/syllabus.

The efforts towards increased coordination at the national and regional levels as well as the shared new definition of validation is worth re-emphasising here as it may lead to further cooperation on methods and tools amongst validation practitioners.

Since 2018, the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education has been implementing the ESF-financed project called BOSS (Sector-specific Validation - Operational and Strategic Cooperation) (in Swedish: Branschvalidering- Operativ och Strategisk Samverkan) which has led to the development of more validation models within the labour market and increased number of professions that you can validate against (from around 60 models in 2018 to 114 models in end of 2022). The pilot project HVE-flex (in Swedish: YH-flex) is now being finalised and evolved into a permanent component of HVE as of 2023, and in connection with the BOSS is deemed to have contributed to the development of validation methods between 2018-2022.

There is no data to showcase an increase of ICT usage in validation, but some trends indicates that there are processes of digitalisation. For sector-specific validation, some professions can be validated in an online format and certain components of validation can be done online. The more practical professions are naturally more difficult to validate in an online format. No studies have been conducted, but the social restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic might have pushed forward the digitalisation of validations, since the number of validations went down during the pandemic but not as much as expected.

The above mentioned HVE-flex started during the pandemic, some programmes that was supposed to start with YH-flex were not implemented due to the social restrictions. HVE-providers that was experienced in using distant learning methods seems to be better prepared also for validation with the use of ICT. The result depended on how comfortable they were with working digitally and as well as the type of sector.

As mentioned in the 2018 report, several of the 21 sector-specific validation models in the sector-specific validation are ICT based and part of the assessment is done digitally. There is otherwise no information available on ICT-based assessment tools, but paper-based material is available for download (e.g., questionnaires for self-assessment in relation to competence requirements within specific industries on the website of the PES).

A common quality approach in validation is ensured through the national standards and guidelines that have been developed for different areas (labour market, adult education and training, higher vocational education, and higher education). There are many tools available to use for quality assurance of validation.

However, it should be noted that although the standards and guidelines are available for all providers to use, they are not mandatory. As mentioned in the 2018 report, systematic quality assurance requires that validation at all levels by different actors; from the national level to individual validations, be performed according to national standards. It is recommended to the actors that they use appropriate quality assurance mechanisms in the validation process. However, even though provisions for quality assurance exist for all the areas mentioned above, it is not necessarily all aspects of validation processes that are covered and according to the National Delegation for Validation active in 2015-2019, there are still gaps to be filled.

External quality assurance features in some, but not all areas, and only for some aspects of the validation work.

The Education Act regulates the municipalities' systematic quality work within the public school system, which also includes adult education. As stated in the 2018 report, the quality work must be carried out with the participation of teachers, preschool teachers, other staff and students. The focus on the systematic quality work should be that the goals that exist for the education are fulfilled. Quality assurance of validation activities has not been considered a priority for the School Inspectorate. However, in 2019, the Swedish School Inspectorate did a quality control on outsourced municipal VET adult education in which they found that the principals often do not monitor the extent or quality of provided education - implying that students’ right to access validation might not be adhere to. In addition, the National Agency for Education shall monitor and evaluate the work and the School Inspectorate shall exercise supervision and quality control of the operations. Corresponding work is carried out by the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education and the universities.

There is also a developed collaboration among the Nordic countries via the Nordic Network for Adult Learning on quality assurance of validation which includes shared definitions of factors ensuring quality validation, shared studies, and the development of a quality compass. The Nordic model for quality in validation has been in place since 2014 and some regions have started to promote the knowledge generated from the model. The Nordic model for quality in validation has been in use since 2014 and there is an expert group on validation.

There has not been any comprehensive study on the impact of validation in Sweden. Due to the decentralised provision of validation, it is not possible to draw nationwide conclusions. The new changes to the provision of validation will also bring considerable updates to the wider landscape, which would be important to monitor in order to understand their impact on both users and practitioners.

It is worth mentioning that the Validation Delegation active in 2015-2019 developed position/status descriptions for the various parts within the validation system and since 2020, the national authorities’ working group on skills supply and lifelong learning (mentioned in the above section) has taken over this task. Validation is included in these updates - looking at development of validation with focus on available opportunities and results across different sectors. Each respective national authority is responsible to report on their areas, i.e., the National Agency for Education on municipal adult education and the National Agency for Higher Vocational Education on HVE, sector-specific validation etc. Within Higher Education, it is the Council for Higher Education that has the responsibility to promote the development of validation within universities and Higher Education Authority has a mandate from the government to monitor the work on validation at the universities. See section on users to read more about the statistics.

Validation is perceived as a key element to promote life-long learning in Sweden, and access to validation of prior learning therefore needs to be a natural part of education and training on all levels of the educational system as well as a regular measure in the toolbox of labour market policy. However, there is no study that can showcase that an increase of legitimacy for validation as a tool or approach in the Swedish society.

A study from 2021 showed how many regions have been working setting up better structures for validation but how some regions decided not work on validation and deemed it to be a difficult task and too large of a responsibility for the region. The report found that it is important to improve the understanding of the notion of validation and to ensure that all actors use the same terminology. The new validation definition and the increased focus on regions can be understood as a step in the right direction towards bringing the regions more aligned.

In 2019, a group of communication specialists conducted an attitude study for the national authorities’ working group linked to validation and found that many companies and individuals have knowledge of validation and what it entails but less of an understanding of where and how to get in contact with practitioners and to access validation opportunities. It is deemed that the BOSS project has led to an increased level of common understanding on validation and the linkages and opportunities as a tool for skills supply. Similarly, the regional project ‘Validation boost’ (in Swedish: ‘Valideringslyft’) has brought about increased understanding of validation amongst regions and their network.

Validation is often perceived as an important tool to support different policy areas. As mentioned in this report, the validation focus is now on transition and skills supply, and considerable changes have taken place in the last couple of years. Increased regional cooperation is taking place and validation is now more accessible for users (principals of municipal adult education are now obliged to offer validation, there is an interactive map of available sector-specific validations etc.). At the level of municipal adult education, validation is promoted as a tool to help individuals to access or shorten an education programme based on their respective knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy as well as to strengthen their profile on the labour market.

All these changes are rather recent, and it is therefore not yet possible to conclude what type of socio-economic impact they will have. It is also important to consider that opportunities to access validation differs a lot across regions in Sweden. Furthermore, the understanding of validation varies across actors and regions and thus, the visibility and trust in validation is likely to differ too.

The social partners are committed to promoting validation and are actively involved both at the political and methodological level to develop and implement models for validation covering different sectors and occupations. The outcomes of validation processes are recognised by stakeholders in Sweden, including employers.

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Kompetensutveckling och fördjupning inom validering (2023). Availble here: Kompetensutveckling och fördjupning inom validering - Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan (myh.se)

YH-flex (2023). Available here: YH-flex - Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan (myh.se)

Statsbidrag- branschvalidering och kvalificationer (2023). Available here:Statsbidrag - branschvalidering och kvalifikationer - Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan (myh.se)

Sök kvalifikationer i vår databas (2023). Available here: https://www.myh.se/validering-och-seqf/seqf-sveriges-referensram-for-kvalifikationer/sok-kvalifikationer

Kompetenskartläggning (2023). Available here: Kompetenskartläggning - Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan (myh.se)

‘Valideringsrapport 2022 - Läge och utveckling av validering nationellt och regionalt’ Available here: valideringsrapport-2022-lage-och-utveckling-av-validering-nationellt-och-regionalt.pdf (myh.se)

’RAPPORT 2023 Valideringsrapport 2023 - läge och utveckling av validering nationellt och regional; Available here: valideringsrapport-2023-lage-och-utveckling-av-validering-nationellt-och-regionalt.pdf (myh.se)

Bli behörig genom validering (2022). Available here: Bli behörig genom validering - Skolverket

’ Aktuella regeländringar’ (2023). . Available here: Aktuella regeländringar - Skolverket

Tomas blev validerad kock: ”Nu kan jag söka helt andra tjänster” (2021). Available here: Tomas blev validerad kock: ”Nu kan jag söka helt andra tjänster” - Arbetsförmedlingen (arbetsformedlingen.se)

Validering (2023). Available here: Validering - Arbetsförmedlingen (arbetsformedlingen.se)

Validering (2019). Available here: Validering - Universitets- och högskolerådet (UHR)

Jag vill studera (2021). Available here: Jag vill studera - Universitets- och högskolerådet (UHR)

Omställningsstudiestöd - För dig som är mitt i arbetslivet (2023). Available here: Omställningsstudiestöd - för dig som är mitt i arbetslivet - CSN

Stöd från en omställningsorganisation (2023). Available here: Stöd från en omställningsorganisation - CSN

The Swedish School Inspectorate (2019). Yrkesinriktad kommunal vuxenutbildning på entreprenad. Available here: Yrkesinriktad kommunal vuxenutbildning på entreprenad (skolinspektionen.se)

Nordic Network for Adult Learning (2023). Nordisk Netværk for Voksnes Læring - NVL. Available here: Nordisk Netværk for Voksnes Læring - NVL

Trygghetsfonden (2023). Så kan vi hjälpa dig. Available here: Så kan vi hjälpa dig | Hjälp till jobb - Trygghetsfonden TSL

Svensk industrivalidering (2023). Strategisk kompetensförsörjning med branschvalidering. Video format. Available here: Svensk industrivalidering - en branschgemensam valideringsmodell

Nordiskt Valideringsforum (2023). Available here: Validering & kartläggning av kompetens - Nordiskt Valideringsforum

KOMPETENSPASSET - ett projekt om mikromeriter (2023). Arbetsförmedlingen, RISE, Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan. Available here: KOMPETENSPASSET - Ett projekt om mikromeriter

’Livslångt lärande på riktigt’ (2021). EU-kollen, Fojo, Linneuniversitetet. Available here: Livslångt lärande på riktigt - EU-kollen

Internationell Samverkan (2023). Digitaliseringsrådet. Available here: Internationell samverkan - Digitaliseringsrådet (digitaliseringsradet.se)

• Ministry of Education
• National Agency for Education
• National Agency for Higher Vocational Education