Skill among young adults
Strong link between compulsory school results and skills later in life
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2026-05-27 8.00
There is a strong association between results from compulsory school and skills in literacy and numeracy later in life. The higher the results from compulsory school, the higher the skills later in life. This applies to both women and men and for both literacy and numeracy. However, in numeracy, a larger share of men than women reach the highest skill levels regardless of their compulsory school results.
A person's skills and competencies are developed in school, through studies, and in working life. There is a strong connection between knowledge from end of compulsory school and the skills needed in adult life in literacy and numeracy. The higher a person’s grade point average from end of compulsory school, the higher their average skills later in life. This applies to both those who are 16–24 years old and those who are 25–34 years old at the time of the measurement of skills.
Higher skills with increasing grade point averages from compulsory school
Description of the chart
The average scores in numeracy were about 70 points higher among those with the highest grade point averages compared with those with the lowest grade point averages. This applies to both individuals who were 16–24 years old and those who were 25–34 years old at the time of measurement.
More detailed statistics are published in a thematic report