Historically, the Swedish school system has demonstrated strong educational outcomes. Up until the early 2000s, Swedish pupils stood out in particular in reading comprehension and science, while performance in mathematics was at a somewhat lower level. During the 2000s, however, results deteriorated across all subject areas. This became especially evident in the 2012 PISA survey, in which Swedish 15-year-olds performed below the OECD average. Although a degree of recovery could be observed after 2012, results never returned to their previous levels. The 2021 PIRLS study once again shows declining reading proficiency among pupils in 4:th grade, indicating a continued negative trend (1, Ministry of Education, 2023).

Against this background, several government inquiries have been conducted to clarify the causes of the decline in educational outcomes. The most recent is the Curriculum Inquiry (2, SOU 2025:19). The inquiry identifies a number of contributing factors, including the reforms of the early 1990s and the way these have been interpreted and applied in schools. One influential interpretation that spread at the time was that knowledge cannot be conveyed or transferred from teachers to pupils. As a result, teachers were assigned a more facilitative role, while pupils themselves were expected to take responsibility for their own learning.

The inquiry further notes that several additions were introduced in 2011 to the introductory sections of the curriculum (Lgr 11), including provisions relating to digital competence, gender equality and sex education. These changes are assessed as having led to repetition, an imbalance between content areas, and an overload of the curriculum’s introductory sections. The inquiry therefore proposes that these additions, including sex education, be removed. As the subject syllabuses in Swedish, social studies, biology, and home and consumer studies already largely cover these areas, no additional content is considered necessary (2, SOU 2025:19). The revised curriculum, which more clearly strengthens the role of the teacher, is expected to form part of the most extensive school reforms in the past 30 years. In the spring of 2026, the Swedish parliament will decide that it is to enter into force on 1 July 2028 (3, Ministry of Education, 2026).

In parallel, another government inquiry has been conducted with the aim of reforming teacher education by placing greater emphasis on subject knowledge, cognitive science and practical methodology. This inquiry proposes that sex education, which was introduced as a compulsory and independent degree objective in 2021, be removed. The reason given is that the area is already covered by the school’s governing documents and values framework, which themselves constitute degree objectives. The proposed changes are intended to enter into force on 1 July 2027 (4, SOU 2024:81).

The consultation responses from many municipalities, in their capacity as school authorities, largely support the inquiry’s conclusions, but other consultation bodies have expressed concern about the proposals. RFSU has directed strong criticism at the reforms and warns that a downgrading of the role of sex education would represent a historic step backwards. The organisation describes the proposal as the most serious attack on sex education in modern times and argues that schools risk moving back almost 50 years in their development (5, RFSU, 2025). Can this be interpreted as a shift in political priorities, with comprehensive sex education in retreat?

The National Agency for Education (Skolverket) does not appear to see any such major shift. Instead, it emphasises that the area has been strengthened over a long period through reforms implemented by several governments, such as subject integration and clearer responsibility at headteacher level. The agency considers it possible to manage the consequences of the curriculum inquiry by placing sex education under a new heading: The School’s Objectives (6, Skolverket, 2025). In addition, the current government has tasked Skolverket and the Public Health Agency with updating the support materials for sex education, with final reporting scheduled for 1 March 2027 (7, Ministry of Employment, 2024). Did the criticism lead to any genuine reassessment of the scope and orientation of sex education – or is the course in practice already set?

Sources

1. En tydligare kunskapsinriktning i läroplanerna, Utbildningsdepartementet Dir 2023:173, 2023, https://regeringen.se/rattsliga-dokument/kommittedirektiv/2023/12/dir.-2023173
2. Kunskap för alla—nya läroplaner med fokus på undervisning och lärande, Statens offentliga utredningar (SOU), 2025:19, https://regeringen.se/rattsliga-dokument/statens-offentliga-utredningar/2025/02/sou-202519/
3. Regeringen genomför de största reformerna för skolan på 30 år, Utbildningsdepartementet, 2026, https://www.regeringen.se/artiklar/2026/02/regeringen-genomfor-de-storsta-reformerna-for-skolan-pa-30-ar/
4. Ämneskunskaper och lärarskicklighet—en reformerad lärarutbildning, Statens offentliga utredningar (SOU), 2024:81, https://www.regeringen.se/rattsliga-dokument/statens-offentliga-utredningar/2024/12/sou-202481/
5. Stoppa nedmonteringen av sexualundervisningen, RFSU, 2025, https://www.rfsu.se/om-rfsu/press/pressmeddelanden/2025/stoppa-nedmonteringen-av-sexualundervisningen/
6. Remiss av betänkandet Kunskap för alla – nya läroplaner med fokus på undervisning och lärande (SOU 2025:19), Skolverket, 2025, https://regeringen.se/remisser/2025/03/remiss-av-betankandet-kunskap-for-alla–nya-laroplaner-med-fokus-pa-undervisning-och-larande-sou-202519/
7. Elevernas tillgång till information om sexuella och reproduktiva rättigheter ska stärkas, Arbetsmarknadsdepartementet A2024/01235, 2024, https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2024/10/elevernas-tillgang-till-information-om-sexuella-och-reproduktiva-rattigheter-ska-starkas/