Recruitment

The recruitment procedure for teachers is completely open. The responsibility of the recruitment lies with the municipality, independent education provider or school. The schools/municipalities are responsible for publishing posts, requesting applications and selecting candidates.

Professional status

Municipal adult education (komvux) is offered at primary and upper secondary school level and the teacher training and professional status is similar to those of school teachers. There may be local agreements that affect the working hours, particularly for teachers within Swedish for immigrants (svenska för invandrare, SFI) as it does not follow the traditional school year. For more information on education for teachers see chapter  9.1 Initial education for teachers working in early childhood and school education. 

The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (Sveriges kommuner och regioner), negotiates with the teacher trade unions over salaries and general working conditions. Teachers employed by grant-aided independent schools, get their salaries and working conditions set through negotiation by the principal organiser and the teachers' trade union. For some teachers in independent schools, the negotiations may take place with the assistance of an employer organisation and the teachers' trade union. In the mid-1990s, only about 10% of all students in komvux studied with grant-aided independent schools. In 2022, more than half of all students at komvux at upper secondary level take their course with a grant-aided private adult education organiser (53.3%).

Liberal adult education providers (folk high schools and study associations) are free to set their own qualification requirements for teachers. 

Salaries and promotion

Staff in formal adult education has an average working week of 40 hours. Formal adult education teachers have equal rights to holidays as other municipal employees, 25-32 days depending on age. In the school area there is no national regulation of teachers’ promotions etc. Teacher evaluation is not regulated by law. However, all school staff has regular individual development dialogues with the school head and wages are individually set in accordance with labour market rules.

The average salary for a teacher in adult education was SEK 39 500 per month in 2023. Generally the salary for teachers in adult education is similar to that of teachers in upper secondary education.

Mobility

There is no national steering of teacher mobility. Teachers cannot be forced to take a certain position; open recruitment is applied for all posts with posts advertised and open for application. General rules for dismissal apply and salary is negotiated for each post separately.

As regulated by the central agreements between the trade unions and the employers organisation all categories of teachers retire at the age of 66. There are possibilities to retire between the ages between 63-66, and in such a case the pension is reduced for each calendar month of retirement before the age of 66. 

The Education Act (Skollagen)

The Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket)