On September 7, investigator Peter Honeth handed over the Higher Education Examination Investigation to Prime Minister Matilda Ernkrans. The investigation was appointed a year ago at the same time that Honeth was appointed as national coordinator to assist the Swedish Council for Universities (UHR) in its work to enable the examination during the pandemic. Now the investigation is here and I thought I would present the biggest tidbits here.
But first – what is the university entrance exam?
The test was first established in Sweden in 1977 and is a tool for predicting study ability in higher education and thus used as a basis for selection to state colleges and universities. At each test, between 50,000 and 70,000 people write the higher education exam, which since 2011 has consisted of 160 tasks divided into eight subtests. The result from a higher education exam is valid for eight years.
The university entrance exam can also be adapted for people with, for example, dyslexia or impaired vision. The number of adapted exams varies between approximately two and three thousand annually.
In 2018, the government decided to raise the age limit for taking the university entrance exam to 18 years (unless you started high school earlier). This change will come into effect in the spring semester of 2022.
Economics of the university entrance exam
Today, the fee for the higher education entrance exam is regulated at 450 kronor in the Higher Education Ordinance. It is still a rather strange and precise wording of the ordinance. One of the purposes of a fee is to prevent test participants from dropping out, but the fees are also the only financing for the higher education entrance exam, whose expenses are actually much higher than the income. Without additional funds from the state, UHR and the higher education institutions eat into their capital annually to make the exam possible.
The inquiry proposes that the fee for the higher education entrance exam be increased by SEK 100, i.e. to SEK 550 per opportunity. In the long term, we obviously want to see the fee abolished completely for those who want to take the exam, but such a small adjustment could be an important piece of the puzzle to enable a safer and more rewarding admissions process in the short term.
For taking the higher education entrance exam abroad, the inquiry proposes that the fee be set at SEK 800. Today, the fee is SEK 1000 for those taking the exam in Mariehamn and SEK 700 for others.
Responsibility for the implementation of the university entrance examination
The investigation's proposal: The Swedish Council for Higher Education. Now you may be thinking, "Oh, isn't it already UHR that is responsible for the higher education entrance exam?" but this is actually not entirely true. UHR is responsible for developing the exam and deciding on the results, but it is not clear in the regulation who is actually responsible for the actual implementation. The only thing that is regulated is that the higher education institutions must implement it.
When the regular procedures for the university entrance exam were disrupted during the pandemic, it became unclear for the organizers, certain areas of responsibility were low. The investigation now proposes that it should be UHR that is responsible for implementing the test – in consultation with the universities. It may seem like a piss in the ocean, but addressing unclear authority assignments has probably never hurt anyone.
Age limit for the university entrance exam
The admissions inquiry (Fler vägar till kunskaps (SOU 2017:20)) previously argued that the age limit for taking the university entrance exam should be 19 years to send a signal to upper secondary school students that the focus should be on upper secondary school education and that the university entrance exam is precisely a selection tool for higher education. During the pandemic, the age limit for taking the university entrance exam has been 19 years, but on 1 January 2022 it will be adjusted to 18 years, which the inquiry recommends, citing that it may make it more difficult for those who wish to take the exam more than once before graduating. SFS, however, shares the admissions inquiry's view that an age limit of 19 years could reinforce the effect that the upper secondary school certificate becomes the main route in and the university entrance exam becomes a second chance.
A digitalization of the university entrance exam
For almost fifteen years, the authorities have been talking about the time to digitize the university entrance exam. It has been stalled because "it was not possible at the time". Now we hope that the Swedish Council for Universities will be given the resources to truly develop the university entrance exam.
A digitized university entrance exam would increase security, reduce costs, streamline marking time and save an incredible number of trees. However, the time for implementing a new digitized university entrance exam is expected to take between three and eight years…
For those interested, the entire investigation's final report is attached below.