Selection for higher education – selection criteria, place distribution and application
(RiR 2025:10)
Summary
There is strong competition for study places to many popular higher education courses and study programmes at Swedish higher education institutions (HEIs). When not all eligible applicants to a first-cycle course or study programme aimed at higher education entrants can be admitted, applicants are selected based on their upper secondary school grades, their Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test results and locally decided selection criteria. The purpose of this selection system is to admit applicants who are best placed to succeed in their studies. At the same time, the system aims to contribute to more pathways into higher education and increased gender equality, and to counteract social imbalance in student recruitment. The system should also be transparent and easy to relate to for future students.
There have been indications that selection is not operating efficiently. For example, previous studies have noted that students who are admitted based on their Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test results are less successful in their studies than those admitted based on their grades. Therefore, the Swedish National Audit Office has elected to examine the efficiency of the system for selection to higher education.
The overall conclusion of the Swedish National Audit Office is that the current selection system mainly functions well. It also appears to be relatively straightforward from an international perspective, although some elements can be made more efficient.
Selection criteria and place distribution fulfil their purpose, but there is some potential for increased student completion
The Government’s provisions on selection criteria and distribution of study places support applicants with the best conditions for being successful in their studies, providing a second chance for applicants, and admitting different student groups. However, there are indications that the rules for distributing places between the selection criteria are too restrictive. In some programmes, the student completion rate could probably be increased by admitting more applicants based on their grades.
Higher education institutions seldom adjust and analyse the selection to their courses and study programmes
Higher education institutions are responsible for the distribution of places between the selection criteria, and deciding whether locally decided selection criteria should be used. They essentially lack knowledge of how well their selection criteria and place distribution perform. Neither do they, to any great extent, adapt the selection to specific programmes. On the other hand, such analysis may be difficult for individual universities to carry out effectively.
At most higher education institutions, the use of locally decided selection criteria in selection to entrant programmes is currently limited, despite the Government’s ambition that they should be applied to a greater extent. It is an advantage for higher education institutions to be able to use locally decided selection criteria. However, the audit findings do not point to any clear efficiency gains from greater use of such criteria.
Swedish Council for Higher Education should assume greater responsibility for managing the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test
Overall, the role of the Swedish Council for higher Education (UHR) to support higher education institutions in the selection process works efficiently. However, coordination with higher education institutions on the national admissions system (NyA) shows deficiencies. Neither has the UHR taken sufficient responsibility for the legally certainty and equal management of the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test.
Neither HEIs, the UHR nor the Government have accumulated knowledge on how well the selection provisions perform
The Government has amended the provisions on selection based on various objectives, but impact assessments on how these amendments affect the entire selection system have often been absent. Furthermore HEIs, the UHR and the Government do not have sufficient knowledge of how well the current selection provisions perform in selecting applicants who are best placed to complete the study programmes. It is the Swedish National Audit Office’s assessment that this poses a risk that the selection system will not be designed effectively in the longer term. For the selection system to continue to operate efficiently, it is important to monitor how various changes in society affect selection to competitive courses and study programmes.
Recommendations
To the Government
- Ensure that amendments to selection provisions are implemented on the basis of full impact assessments.
- Strengthen the evaluation of selection criteria and place distribution performance by:
- assigning the appropriate government agency to regularly evaluate the selection provisions
- ensuring that data on the selection group and merit rating of students in higher education are retained for research and statistical purposes.
To higher education institutions
- Increase coordination on locally decided selection criteria to improve cost-effectiveness and legal certainty of selection. For example, review the possibility of jointly developing and implementing locally decided selection criteria for similar programmes.
To the Swedish Council for Higher Education
- Follow up on higher education institutions’ organisation of the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test to strengthen equality and legal certainty.
- Develop forums that enable more regular dialogue with and between higher education institutions that organise the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test to promote more equal implementation of the test.