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If a school has more applicants than places, a selection is made. Here you can read about the City of Stockholm's selection criteria for school placement.
The main rule according to the Education Act is that children should be allowed to attend the school that you as a guardian wish. If a school does not have room for everyone who has applied to the school, the City of Stockholm makes a selection of which students should be offered positions. The selection is made based on the City of Stockholm's selection criteria in order of priority.
Selection criteria in order of priority
1. Sibling priority Children who are about to start preschool class and who
have siblings who are in preschool class or in grades 1–5 at the same school during the same academic year as the child is to start
live within two kilometers walking distance to the school (distance calculated according to the Stockholm City Traffic Office's pedestrian and bicycle path network – not public transport, road or as the crow flies).
2. Relative proximity – distance to school Children who are registered at the address that gives the highest metre value when calculating relative proximity. If several children have the same metre value, the computer system randomly produces a sequence.
3. Children of guardians who have not applied for school.
4. Children who turn 5 years old and apply to preschool class.
5. Children who are registered in municipalities other than the City of Stockholm.
Mer om urvalsgrunderna
When you apply for a preschool class for your child, the child can get so-called sibling priority to a school. This applies if
Your child has siblings who are in preschool class or in grades 1–5 at the school in question in the same academic year as your child is going to start in preschool class
your child lives within two kilometres walking distance to school (distance according to the Stockholm City Traffic Office's pedestrian and cycle path network – not public transport, roads or as the crow flies).
the children are registered at the same address. This also applies to children who are not siblings.
Twins are placed at the same school, if possible.
Sibling priority is available as a selection basis only for children who are going to start in preschool class, not in grades 1–9.
If the number of children entitled to sibling priority is more than the number of positions, the City of Stockholm uses the selection criterion relative proximity (see below) to determine which child with sibling priority should receive school placement.
The selection criterion relative proximity is based on a calculation of the distance between the school and the child's home (the address where the child is registered).
If several guardians have applied to a school and there is only room for one of the children, the distance between the school and the child's home is measured. This distance is compared with the distance between the child's home and the school that is next closest to the home (provided that the school has the year in which the child will start and regardless of whether the guardian has applied to this school or not).
The distance to the school that is next closest is subtracted (reduced) by the distance to the school applied for. The child who gets the highest meter value in the calculation – and thus has the furthest to the next closest school – is the child who gets the position.
If the guardian applies to a school that is not the school closest to the home, the distance to the nearest school is subtracted (reduced) by the distance to the school applied for (which is then further away from the home).
If several children have the same metre value in the calculation of the relative proximity, the computer system randomly produces a sequence that determines which child is offered the last position at the school.
How the calculation works
The distance to the alternative school, minus the distance to the school applied for = the value being compared
The alternative school shown is a physical measurement point and is the school that is closest to the student's registered address. If the student has applied for the nearest school, the alternative school is the next closest school to the student's address and that offers the grade applied for.
The alternative school shown is a physical measurement point and is the school that is closest to the student's registered address. If the student has applied for the nearest school, the alternative school is the next closest school to the student's address and that offers the grade applied for.
Example of calculating relative proximity
Lucas and Alice have applied to the same school – the lower school in the picture. Only one of them can be offered a place in that school.
Lucas has 700 meters to the search school and Alice has 500 meters. Since the children have applied for the nearest school, their alternative school becomes the school that is next closest in the calculation of relative proximity. Lucas has 850 meters to his alternative school while Alice has 600 meters.
Lucas gets the place at the school applied for, because he has the highest relative proximity (longest) to the alternative school.
Children of guardians who have not applied to a school are also entitled to a school placement close to home. They are therefore placed at a school with vacancies according to the City of Stockholm's benchmarks for what is close to home.
Pupil in preschool class and grades 1–3 about two kilometres walking distance to school.
Pupil in grades 4–6 about three kilometres walking distance to school.
Pupil in grades 7–9 about four kilometres walking distance to school.
Children under the age of 6 are not required to attend school and are therefore accepted subject to availability. Compulsory schooling pupils are prioritised according to the order of priority in the selection criteria.
A municipality may receive children from another municipality in its preschool class and compulsory school at the request of the child's guardian.
(Chapter 9, Section 13 and Chapter 10, Section 27 of the Education Act)
A pupil who has been accepted into a municipality's pre-school class or comprehensive school in a particular academic year has the right to remain in school for the entire academic year, even if the circumstances that prevailed when the child was admitted to school have changed during the school year.
(Chapter 9, Section 14 and Chapter 10, Section 28 of the Education Act)
Students from other municipalities are accepted one academic year at a time. This means that the guardian usually needs to apply to the school that the child attends every year. If there is only one grade left for the student, the student has the right to remain in the last grade. In the City of Stockholm, grade 9 is the last grade.
(Chapter 10, Section 28 of the Education Act)
Students who move from the City of Stockholm and are registered in other municipalities have the right to stay on for the rest of the school year (and in year 9 if that is the grade that remains).
If there are places left over at the school, children who are registered in other municipalities can be received for longer than one academic year.
Definitions
School route and distance
Is the distance between home and school on pedestrian or cycle paths – i.e. not as the crow flies, via public transport or roads.
Population registration and school placement
It is the registered address together with the selection criteria that determine the allocation of school placement. Home refers to the registered address where the child is permanently registered.
If it is assessed that your child's registered address is or was incorrect in connection with the school placement, the decision may be revoked, and the position can then be allocated to another eligible student. The municipality is also obliged under Section 32 c of the Population Registration Act to notify the Swedish Tax Agency of incorrect population registration.
Proximity
Varies depending on which grade your child is in. Proximity is defined for pupil in
preschool class and grades 1–3 as approximately two kilometers away from the school
grades 4–6 as about three kilometers distance to the school.
grades 7–9 as about four kilometers distance to the school.
The Board of Education's decision
The decision on the City of Stockholm's selection criteria was made by the Board of Education in April 2022. All documents can be found on the City of Stockholm's digital bulletin board.
