Education in Sweden - Free Schools

Free Schools

Prior to the 1990s, there were only a handful of private schools in Sweden, mostly tuition-funded boarding schools, whereof Sigtunaskolan and Lundsbergs skola are the most well known. A major education reform in 1992 allowed privately-run schools offering primary or secondary education to receive public funding for each student, at a level similar to what public schools receive. These are called "free schools" (friskolor), and in 2008 there were around 900 of them.

The "free schools", similar to charter schools in the United States or academies in the United Kingdom, are funded with public money from the local municipality, based on the number of pupils they have enrolled, in the same way Swedish public schools are. Consequently, they are not allowed to discriminate or require admission examinations, nor are they not allowed to charge the students any additional fees. They are, however, allowed to accept private donations. Regional economic differences directly affect how much money each municipality can provide per pupil, by as much as SEK 50,000 (around USD 7,700 or GBP 4,700).

Anyone can start an independent for-profit school, or a chain of such schools, in Sweden. Many of them offer an alternate pedagogy (such as Montessori), or a foreign/international, religious or special needs (such as hearing-impaired) profile. There are also several secondary schools with an elite sports profile. Internationella Engelska Skolan and Kunskapsskolan (“Knowledge Schools”) are the two largest "free school" chains. In 2008, more than 10% of Swedish pupils were enrolled in "free schools".