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Features · Making It · Published 7 August 2026

What Swedish schools can legally ask parents to pay

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DailySweden
Updated 10:36 · 2 min read

An empty classroom with rows of desks and chairs in Tollarp, Sweden.
An empty classroom with rows of desks and chairs in Tollarp, Sweden.. Image: Håkan Dahlström / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

A back-to-school request can look small on its own: a bus ticket, an entrance fee or money for a class trip. The important question is whether a family is being invited to help or being made to pay for education that should be free.

The Swedish National Agency for Education says compulsory school must be free. Pupils must receive the books, learning tools and equipment

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