How are Sweden's pupils distributed?
The Sankey diagram visualises how pupils flow through the Swedish school system — from operator type (municipal/independent) through school type (compulsory, upper secondary, etc.) out to geographic region.
The widest streams show the obvious: the majority of pupils attend municipal compulsory schools in the metropolitan regions. But the thinner streams reveal the more interesting patterns.
Stockholm County draws a disproportionate number of pupils, especially to independent upper secondary schools. The rural counties have thinner streams that pass almost exclusively through municipal schools. Independent operators are strongly concentrated in the three metropolitan regions.
The pattern raises questions about resource allocation. Every pupil who switches from a municipal to an independent school takes their school voucher with them. In municipalities where independent schools attract many pupils, this can mean that the municipal school loses resources while fixed costs like premises and administration remain.
Statistics: academic year 2023/24. Source: Skolverket open data, Kolada and SCB. Processed by Skolkoll. Glossary · About the data.