Sweden updates its teacher training programmes that were first introduced in 2011.
In order to provide better quality experiences for both students and teachers, Sweden is introducing new reforms to its teacher education. These reforms will be monitored and evaluated by the The Higher Education Authority (UKÄ), who will ‘provide a comprehensive overview of progress.’ It has been noted that ‘much in education and wider society has changed’ since the teacher education programmes were introduced in 2011.
When introducing the reforms, Sweden’s Ministry of Education cited a few key issues in schools and with teacher training programmes:
- a reading crisis: 25% of 15-year-olds cannot read simple text
- many students not reaching their ‘education goals’
- issues with safety and ‘study peace’ in schools
- students needing to be ‘better prepared for working with students’
- teacher trainees not completing their studies
- programmes aren’t meeting what is needed in today’s schools.
There are four key areas of reform:
1. Stricter admission requirements
The Government wants to reduce the number of teacher trainees who do not finish their programme by making enforcing stricter admission requirements. One particular aspect of their focus on this is good knowledge of Swedish and so, for a teacher to be admitted to a primary of subject teacher training programme, they need to have a Swedish 3 Grade C or Swedish as a Second Language 3 qualification. For pre-school teacher education, this is reduced to grade D equivalents. These requirements will be in place ahead of the Autumn 2027 trainee cohort.
2. Increased resources/compensation
Sweden wants to invest more in higher education institutions so that they receive more resources per student and have higher quality teacher training. The government notes that due to fewer teachers being admitted into programmes, more resources will be freed up, increasing compensation amounts and that all teachers will be able to receive more ‘teacher-led time’.
3. More opportunities for learning Swedish and about cognitive science
As part of curriculum reforms, teachers will be given more opportunities to learn about cognitive science to support their teaching and learning practices. There will also be an increase in teaching in Swedish to help primary school teachers be ‘better prepared to teach younger children to read and write’. These changes will be introduced in 2028.
4. Increased collaboration and funding for universities
Seven million Swedish Krona will be allocated to higher education so that universities and colleges can ‘develop educational collaborations’ and 1 million Swedish Krona will be allocated to support teacher training in ‘in small subjects where the student base is too small to organize a teacher training course.’ The Government is calling for universities and colleges to work together to jointly plan teacher training programmes to help meet student demand, admin demands and to ensure quality teacher education across the country. The Government also notes the opportunities for higher education institutions to work with municipalities and learning centres.
Learn more
Ministry of Education Press Release
Full reform document (in Swedish)
References
- Eurydice (2026) ‘Sweden: Government reforms teacher education to enhance classroom practice’. Available at: https://eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu/news/sweden-government-reforms-teacher-education-enhance-classroom-practice (Accessed: 05 February 2026)
- Regeringen.se (2026) ‘Press release from the Ministry of Education: Teacher education is now being reformed – here are all the changes’. Available at: https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2025/12/nu-reformeras-lararutbildningen–har-ar-alla-forandringar/ (Accessed 05 February 2026)
