More boys than girls now qualify for upper secondary school in Sweden for the first time, according to new figures published by the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) on 24 September. Among pupils who completed compulsory school in spring 2026, 83.6 percent of boys qualified for a national upper secondary programme, compared with 83.4 percent of girls.
The difference is only 0.2 percentage points, and Skolverket cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from a single year. Overall eligibility also declined: 83.5 percent of ninth-grade pupils qualified for upper secondary school, down from 84.1 percent the previous year. This means 16.5 percent left compulsory school without the necessary qualifications.
Upper secondary school in Sweden sees a narrow gender shift
The new figures continue a longer narrowing of the gender gap in Swedish school results. Skolverket said the difference in upper secondary eligibility between boys and girls has decreased over the past decade.
“The difference shown by the statistics, with a higher proportion of eligible boys, is small,” said Anna Castberg, head of analysis at Skolverket.
The national figures also conceal differences between groups. Among pupils with a Swedish background, boys have now had a higher eligibility rate than girls for two consecutive years. Among pupils with a foreign background, however, girls remain more likely than boys to qualify.
Socioeconomic background also remains closely connected to school results. According to Skolverket’s new figures, eligibility is 16 percentage points lower among pupils attending schools in areas facing major socioeconomic challenges than among those in areas with very favourable socioeconomic conditions. Pupils with at least one parent who has completed post-secondary education also qualify at a higher rate.
Mathematics results fall while most subjects improve
The overall decline in eligibility comes despite improved results in most compulsory subjects. The proportion of pupils receiving a passing grade increased in 12 of the 17 compulsory subjects compared with the previous school year.
Mathematics was the main exception. The share of pupils receiving a passing grade fell by 1.1 percentage points, the largest decline among the compulsory subjects. Mathematics is particularly important because pupils must pass it, together with English and Swedish or Swedish as a second language, to qualify for a national upper secondary programme.
Swedish as a second language recorded the largest improvement, with the share of passing grades rising by 3.6 percentage points.
Girls still have higher average grades
The change in eligibility does not mean boys have overtaken girls across Swedish school results more broadly. Girls still have a higher average merit score than boys.
The average merit score across all pupils actually increased by 1.2 points to 230.9 out of 340 in spring 2026. Skolverket explains that this can happen at the same time as eligibility falls because the two indicators measure different aspects of pupils’ results.
Girls have had a higher average merit score throughout the period measured since 1998, although the gap with boys has never been as small as it is now.
The latest figures therefore show two developments at the same time: the traditional gender gap in eligibility has narrowly reversed, while the overall share of pupils able to continue directly into a national upper secondary programme has fallen. Skolverket says results over the coming years will be needed to determine whether the new gender pattern represents a lasting change.
