Trends in Swedish and English Reading Comprehension Ability among Swedish Adolescents: A Study of SweSAT Data 2012–2018

Figures & data

Table 1. Test-taker background data.

Test	N <20 yrs	M/F %	For Educ	Science Tech	Social Science	Arts	Other
2012	31348	49.7/50.3	1.5%	55.4%	29.6%	2.5%	12.5%
2013	31886	48.2/51.8	1.4%	54.6%	32.2%	2.6%	10.6%
2014	40331	47.4/52.6	1.5%	53.5%	36.3%	3.5%	6.7%
2015	38914	47.9/52.1	1.6%	54.3%	37.0%	3.0%	5.7%
2016	38673	49.1/50.9	1.5%	53.8%	37.8%	2.9%	5.5%
2017	34579	49.7/50.3	1.1%	56.0%	35.7%	2.8%	5.5%
2018	35070	48.9/51.1	1.3%	55.0%	35.4%	2.5%	7.1%

Table 2. English reading comprehension (2012 versus 2018).

	2012	2018
Mean Score	500	538
StE AnchorTest	2.56 →	3.20
StE RegTest (AGr)	2.61 →	3.34
StE RegTest (RGr)	2.58 →	2.61
Internal link error	2.64 →	4.01
External link error	0	5.24
Total StE	0	9.94
95% CI	[500]	[519–557]

Table 3. Swedish reading comprehension (2012 versus 2018).

	2012	2018
Mean Score	500	454
StE AnchorTest	3.25 →	3.64
StE RegTest (AGr)	2.93 →	3.70
StE RegTest (RGr)	2.83 →	2.95
Internal link error	2.49 →	3.17
External link error	0	8.01
Total StE	0	11.97
95% CI	[500]	[431–477]

Table 4. Trend in English reading comprehension ability (2012-2018).

Test	M Score	SD	St Err
2012	500	93	4.5
2013	483	106	6.0
2014	515	111	4.9
2015	502	114	5.5
2016	502	96	4.7
2017	519	83	4.6
2018	538	94	5.3

Table 5. Trend in Swedish reading comprehension ability (2012-2018).

Test	M Score	SD	St Err
2012	500	102	5.2
2013	499	88	6.0
2014	467	101	4.8
2015	474	101	5.3
2016	463	98	5.2
2017	461	102	5.1
2018	454	106	5.5

Figure 1. Trend in English reading comprehension ability (2012-2018).

Figure 2. Trend in Swedish reading comprehension ability (2012-2018).

Table 6. Trends in English and Swedish reading comprehension ability (2012-2018).

	B-value	p-value	St Error	t
SRC	−7.78	p < .001	0.53	−14.81
ERC	6.18	p < .001	0.53	11.73

Figure 3. English reading comprehension ability (2012).

Figure 4. English reading comprehension ability (2018).

Figure 5. Swedish reading comprehension ability (2012).

Figure 6. Swedish reading comprehension ability (2018).

Table 7. Male and female changes in mean ability scores (2012 versus 2018).

	Change Males	95% CI of change	Change Females	95% CI of change
SRC 2012/2018	−45	[−31] – [−59]	−46	[−33] – [−59]
ERC 2012/2018	+42	[+31] – [+53]	+34	[+20] – [+45]