Swedish children to start school a year earlier in move away from play

Children in Sweden are to start school at six years old from 2028, a year earlier than at present, in an overhaul of the country’s education system that signals a switch from play-based teaching for younger children.

The government has announced plans to replace a compulsory preschool year for six-year-olds known as förskoleklass with an additional year in grundskola (primary school).

The centre-right coalition government, led by the Moderates and backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats, announced the plan before the presentation of the 2025 budget, due on Thursday. The plan dates back to the previous government and is also backed by the left-leaning Social Democrats.

The education minister, Johan Pehrson, said “school must go back to the basics” and added that there would be a stronger focus on early learning to read and write, as well as mathematics. “This should lead to students having a better opportunity to develop basic skills such as reading, writing and counting and to reach the goals in school,” he said.

Critics say the plan goes against research that shows children’s development is best supported by play-based learning environments, encouraging them to explore, create and develop through play, curiosity and guided discovery. Union leaders fear the move could put many specialised preschool teachers out of work.

Christian Eidevald, a visiting professor of early childhood education at Södertörn University, said: “By pushing six-year-olds into a more formalised school setting, we risk losing the essential play-based methods that have been shown to foster children’s development. This is not just a pedagogical preference: studies confirm that play is foundational for early learning and the development of critical skills such as language and problem-solving.”

Eidevald is among a group of academics who study children and pedagogy, including Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson, a senior professor of pedagogy at the University of Gothenburg, who have written an article calling into question the government’s reasoning.

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“Incorporating the six-year-olds into primary school without taking into account their specific developmental needs and without taking advantage of the unique competence of preschool teachers is a step in the wrong direction and will not lead to increased equality,” they wrote. “Instead of implementing structural changes, resources should be invested in raising the quality in education with competent teachers.”

Åsa Westlund, the Social Democrats’ education spokesperson, said her party’s support for the plan was dependent on maintaining a mix of learning and play in what she said should act as a “bridge between preschool and school”.

Some experts were positive about the plan. Johannes Westberg, an education professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, said the move made sense and would bring Swedish schooling more into line with the rest of Europe. “It will probably imply a schoolification of the förskoleklass, so more traditional school pedagogy will be provided already for these six-year-olds, but not necessarily affect the entire comprehensive school as such,” he said.

Other education measures to be presented in the budget include investing in “emergency schools” for temporarily relocating children when there are issues at school, greater investment in textbooks to support screen-free environments, and funding for teacher and preschool-teacher training.