Why is there placement testing?

Many students are applying from abroad, or, have lived abroad for a good portion of their life. And, all around the world, there are different school systems and grading criteria.  There can be a wide variety in the content and articulation of curriculum in schools.  Placement testing allows us to have one common, standardized, objective tool to determine if a student has the prerequisite knowledge and skills to feasibly be able to undertake and benefit from our program.  This also ensures that everyone has equitable access to be considered for the program. 

There will be 2 placement testing sessions. One in February or March, and one in May or June.    Although there are two testing sessions, it's always better to apply and go through the process as early as possible, to the degree you can. Otherwise, there is a risk that by the time you apply, many of the seats are already filled.

If you are a Grade 10 candidate: To even be considered for a place and ranked in the INDRA intake system, you must take part of placement testing. You are welcome to testing no matter what ranking you have given us in your application. 

If you are a Grade 11 candidate: You are not applying through the City of Gothenburg or the Indra system. The application is handled directly with the Principal.

If you live outside of Sweden and cannot physically attend the sessions, there is more information at the end of this section. 

The English test is the same for Grade 10 and Grade 11, however, for Grade 11 we have higher expectations on the student performance.  

There are different Math tests for Grade 10 and Grade 11.

There are different versions of tests as well, in order to ensure testing integrity.

Before testing

There is not anything you need to do to prepare for the tests, as we consider the tests to cover basic knowledge and skills.  However, you may wish to brush up on certain skills or knowledge. 

We do not have practice tests, however, we can suggest these resources to you.

•  ixl.com Suitable for practice as Grade 10 or 11 applicant as you can choose levels of practice.  If nothing has changed, it should be free to set up an account and revise in Language Arts skills or Math skills as needed.

• This website is suitable for Grade 10 or 11 but is geared more towards Grade 10 applicants: https://www.gu.se/nationella-prov-frammande-sprak/prov-och-bedomningsstod-i-engelska/engelska-arskurs-7-9/exempel-pa-uppgiftstyper-for-arskurs-9 has old National Tests in English (site is in Swedish, you may need to translate).

• This website is suitable for Grade 10 applicants or Grade 11 students who need a lot of revision in Math:   https://www.su.se/primgruppen/nationella-prov/%C3%A5rskurs-9-1.587758?open-collapse-boxes=ccbd-frisl%C3%A4pptaprov  has old Math tests…most in Swedish, but some in English, look for “engelsk”. 

• This website is more suitable for Grade 11 applicants to revise for the math test. Again, the site is in Swedish but you look for the tests available in English (denoted by "engelsk" in title of link or document: https://www.su.se/primgruppen/nationella-prov/kurs-1-1.587762?open-collapse-boxes=ccbd-frisl%C3%A4pptaprovmatematik1a 

The Day of Testing

Arrive about 10 minutes early and bring a photo ID.

Bring a pencil or pen and/or eraser. That's it, no other aids are permitted for use. Be prepared to shut off your phone and turn it in with your coat and bag at the start of the session. 

English:

A one hour and 15 minute English test where we will be looking at reading comprehension, vocabulary, and  basic writing skills.  For example, in writing, we'd expect you to follow the instructions. We'd expect to see that you can organize your work so that there's an introduction, body, and conclusion. Paragraphs should have a main idea and details. Vocabularly usage is important: how sophisticated is your language use?  Spelling isn't as important as is the ability to get your message across.  

Math: 

A one hour Math test where we will be looking at math knowledge and skills you should have after 9 or 10 years of schooling, depending on which year level to which you are applying.  Topics you may encounter are as follows. The list is not exhaustive and only meant to give you a sample of what you could expect to see: 

Operations with integers, fractions, decimals, evaluating exponents, equations, geometry, interpreting data, probability, etc.

Swedish (new for 2024-2025)

15 minutes or less. If you literally have no knowledge of Swedish, you will tell us on this test. The Swedish test has no bearing on our consideration for your placement in the program, it is only for us to understand the Swedish capabilities of our applicants and how we should organise our Swedish groups for the school year ahead, once the admissions process is complete.

Testing from abroad?

Those of you applying from abroad probably cannot attend entrance testing in person, we understand.  The principal will only coordinate entrance testing  through a teacher from your current school.  The tests must take place in the same week as when they are happening in Sweden.  

Here are the steps you can follow if you are applying and testing abroad:

1. Ask a teacher at your school if they can support you and your application by supervising the placement tests. They need to give 2.5 hours plus a short break for the activity and must have access to a school email address, a printer and a scanner.

2. They need to write from their own email address to Krista.Baker@educ.goteborg.se to introduce themselves. They should state their name and the student name who they are supporting. The Principal will further coordinate with that person.

3. You are not permitted to preview the tests.

4. The tests must be scanned and sent back to the principal at Hvitfeldtska within one hour of testing having taken place. Note: We want your math work to be included. 

When you apply through the link, you will be reminded of all of these details. 

Academic Honesty and Placement Testing

It is the responsibility of the student candidate to know and understand what is and is not permitted before, during, and after placement testing.  

Placement Testing and Academic Honesty/Academic Integrity. 

We expect all student candidates, their legal guardians, and the placement test invigilators to adhere to Academic Honesty guidelines. 

It is the responsibility of the student candidate to know and understand what is and is not permitted before, during, and after placement testing.  

1. Students may not preview the test or keep any portion of the test afterwards.

2. Students may not have access to their phone during testing. 

3. Students may not use any help aids for the test. No dictionary, no calculator, and no outside help from a computer, person or entity. 

4. Students may not take longer than the allotted time. In cases where additional time is a usual adaptation for the student, please contact the Principal to inform her.

5. Students may not discuss the contents of the test with any other persons after the test.

If academic dishonesty is suspected or identified at any time during placement testing or afterwards (if the student is granted a seat here) the student will not be permitted to stay in the program. 

Arrangements for placement testing: only for applicants outside of Sweden 

All applicants are required to sit a placement test.  If you cannot attend to the tests in Gothenburg, you must arrange to have the test in the same week as when they are happening in Gothenburg (to be updated).

To arrange the test you need a teacher or other  staff member at your current school to agree to supervise you under testing conditions and that they can set aside 2.5 hours to do so. They must have access to a printer and scanner. The test is written by hand on paper. 

The supervisor/test invigilator must email krista.baker@educ.goteborg.se  with the following information:

1. Student Name: 

2. The Grade Level student is applying to (Grade 10 or Grade 11 applicant): 

2. Test supervisor name: 

3. School:

4. Role at School:

5. Relationship to student candidate:

6: Date and time (and time zone) the tests will be conducted: 

If testing from abroad cannot happen in the week it is scheduled in Gothenburg, and you live outside of the EU without EU citizenship, then your application will be closed for consideration.  If you live inside of the EU, then your testing will be delayed until when it is scheduled in Gothenburg again in June. Note there is no late start permitted for Grade 11 applicants under any circumstances. 

See even more information at this link:

Invigilator Information to prepare for testing.

After all the applicants have completed placement testing, their results are analyzed both as a group and as individuals.  We look also at the data from the entire application process in order to make as sound a decision as we can about who can be offered a place.

Grade 10

We do not provide the specific individual results of the testing, you will either be ranked in order to offer you a place or not.  You will only be able to see which program/school is offering you a place from your first choice. If you are offered a place, you must accept or decline it. If you are not offered a place, you might be placed in a queue and you might be offered a place at a later stage.  This will depend on how the other candidates applications go and whether other students offered a place accept it or not. 

The following timeline outlines the process:

Feb 1:  Indra/application portal closes. If you need to apply or make changes to your application after this date, you must get your SYV (study and career counselor) to help you. If you are not at a 9th grade program in Sweden, then you will take contact directly with the "antagningskansliet" for help.

April 11: Preliminary intake is published in INDRA and what is visible is the results from your first choice program. You can log in from 1300 CET to see the intake decision.  (You created an account when you applied to Grade 10 from outside of Sweden, on the paper form you had to scan and send to the city of Gothenburg).  

If you are offered a place, you have to accept or decline the offer.  

Based on what you see or what your educational goals are, you may make adjustments to ranking: i.e. move Hvitfeldtska IB to first choice or 2nd or 3rd choice, etc. 

If you are not offered a place, the process isn't necessarily over because students who have been offered a place may have declined or changed their ranking order.  

June 3: Last day to apply to the International Baccalaureate and still be called to placement testing.

June 12: Indra closes for final work in the process.

June 24: Final placement information is published in INDRA. You can log in from 1300 CET to see the intake decision.

                         From now till July 7 you can accept or reject the offer, if there is one.

July 3: Last day for student to accept or reject an offer in Indra, if there is one.

July 30: Reserve intake starts. This means if you didn't get offered a place but you were placed on a reserve list, you might still have a chance to be accepted.

August 102 New or updated decisions in INDRA.

September 5: Reserve intake ends.

Grade 11

For Grade 11 applicants, we do not provide the specific individual results of the testing and each case is handled on an individual basis.  

First students will have to complete the Subject Selection Guidance Process and submit a first draft Subject Request Form (See tab "Subject Selection Section G).  If after completing that process the student is still interested to apply and they come to testing, the test results are considered to see if the student has the requisite knowledge to enter directly into the Diploma Program. "Requisite knowledge" can be defined after everyone has tested. The group results are analyzed to see the mean, median, mode, and quartiles. Those in the lower quartile, for example,  indicate a need to gain more knowledge and skills before they can enter directly into Grade 11/Diploma Program.

It is also good to know there isn't a specific number of Diploma Program places available like there is in Grade 10. Our Diploma classes have ranged over the years from 70-100 students.  We must keep a careful count of each subjects' group sizes and once a subject group are full, we may not be able to offer just that subject any longer. There are also certain subject combinations which can't be completed together. And finally, some subjects aren't as popular and we won't start a subject group up if the group size is too small. These are some of the reasons why grade 11 intake must happen in close communication with the principal.

If you are offered  a place, you will be sent an email by the Principal. Our goal is for this to happen approximately 1 month after testing. 

For other questions, contact the principal: krista.baker@goteborg.educ.se 

Special Considerations and tips for students who plan to come to Gothenburg alone, or those who are coming from outside of the EU.

Engaging in this application process from abroad requires a clear and transparent communication, and it requires that the student applicant and their family acts with academic integrity.  

We reserve the right to close your application at any point if we detect there may be a breach in academic integrity.

This could include any of the following, however the list is not exhaustive

• Not following instructions as per this website

• Not accurately representing yourself or your identify

• Not providing enough information about your identify (i.e. writing emails which you do not sign)

• Not following the placement testing instructions 

If we find out about a breach in academic integrity after you have arrived here, we reserve the right to de-register you as a student in the program.

Other tips for communication with us:

When emailing us, please remember to sign your name.  Try to remember to reply to an email string we've already started, as opposed to starting an entirely new email each time. This makes it difficult to track conversations we had. 

Technical details about planning your arrival, if offered a place

We are not a boarding school and we do not offer assistance in finding a place to stay.

If you are living abroad and your only reason to come to Gothenburg is to be a student -either alone or with your family- you may need to apply for a residence permit and it could be smart to already begin looking into that process as sometimes it can take awhile, anywhere from 3-8 months can be typical.

Here is where you can find all of the information you need.

https://www.migrationsverket.se/English/Startpage.html 

You cannot complete the process for the residence permit until you know if you have a place at the school, and if you do, we'll provide a letter confirming your acceptance when needed and you can add that later after starting the process.

Some families ask if their child is able to study here on their own, without their parents' presence. While this is not common, it does happen from time to time if all the criteria are met.  

1. You have been offered a place at the school.

2. The parent and student applicant attend an online meeting with the Principal and/or admissions group from the school

3. Your guardians can participate in development talks with the school (online) in English or can provide a translater when needed.

4. The parent gives written consent (this is both a part of the migrationsverket application, and the school also has a document to sign)

5. You are able to complete the residence permit application process successfully. Note there are other criteria you must meet for that which you can read about in the link above. Example: you must provide proof of insurance valid in Sweden and who that the student can economically sustain themselves while here.

6. You can arrange travel and lodging independently.

We are not able to provide more assistance or information regarding this topic. Please turn to the relevent embassy to know more about what documents you need to travel and stay here lawfully.