1. Making Results from Upper Secondary Education Accessible
Who submitted this as a case the SAMT-BU project should address
The SAMT-BU project group, drawing on shared insight from municipalities, county authorities, and national agencies working with transitions for young people after upper secondary education.
Brief description of the case (what is this / what does it concern?)
This case examines how results from upper secondary education can be made available in a better and more coherent way for actors who need this information in their subsequent work with young people. Results may include, for example, the status of completed education, completion of a programme, competence, assessments, or documentation of the level attained.
The situation in focus is the transition from upper secondary education to the next phase of a young person’s life, such as further education, employment, or follow-up services. During this phase, it is essential that relevant information is available at the right time, in the right form, and to the right actor.
Today it is often the young people themselves who must help convey or document their own status. This case highlights how current practice and systems provide limited support for the comprehensive accessibility and reuse of result information across services and levels of government.
The most recent update to the Education Act introduced a general legal basis for incorporating this information into the National Certificate Database (NVB), with sharing via the Diploma Portal. A test version of this sharing arrangement is in place, and approval from Udir is awaited before moving to production. However, a certain amount of development work in school administration systems/Vigo is needed to complete this.
The NVB is being renamed as the competence register and is under development with a generic data model. Vocational college results are also to be included this year. It is furthermore planned that individual results will be entered on an ongoing basis from upper secondary schools, along with trade certificates for completed vocational qualifications.
What problem does the case address / what is not working well today?
Today, information about results from upper secondary education is often spread across multiple systems and available in different formats. A general problem is that the original document is paper-based rather than digital. Higher education has over time transitioned to a digital format as the primary documentation and, in parallel with this, has had the relevant legislation updated so that it has been able to move away from paper documentation (approximately 15% of diplomas are currently produced on paper – mainly for foreign students. The production of transcripts is today 8% of the equivalent volume from ten years ago).
Furthermore, it is not always clear who has access to which information, when the information is available, or how it can be used further.
This results in:
- information having to be collected manually or gathered again from scratch
- staff lacking an overview when carrying out guidance and follow-up work
- young people having to explain or document their own status multiple times
Where do breakdowns in information flow or responsibility occur?
Breakdowns in information flow and responsibility occur in particular:
- when young people move on to employment, higher education, or follow-up services
- when different actors need the same information but for different purposes
- when it is unclear who is responsible for making information available
- when systems and work processes do not support the reuse of existing data
Who are the primary actors affected?
End users
- Young people who are completing or about to complete upper secondary education
- Parents and guardians (where relevant)
Service staff
- Staff in primary and lower secondary schools
- Staff in upper secondary schools
- Counsellors and advisers
- Staff in services working with the follow-up of young people after upper secondary education
Specialist system suppliers
- Suppliers of school administration systems and systems for documenting results and competence
Governing actors
Directorates and ministries that set the framework for regulations, responsibilities, data use, and reporting related to results from upper secondary education and their subsequent use in transitions to further education, employment, or follow-up.
Directorates (professional and operational governing actors)
- The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (Udir)
Professional directorate for upper secondary education. Sets guidelines for assessment, documentation of competence, reporting, and use of educational data, as well as central concepts relating to results and completion. - The Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (Digdir)
Cross-sectoral governing actor for digital interoperability, data sharing, architecture, and coherent services. Relevant guidelines for the reuse and accessibility of data across sectors. - SIKT
Responsible for the education and competence register, for the long-term administration, access, and sharing of education results. This includes upper secondary education (where the legal basis is already in place). - Bufdir (less relevant?)
Governing actor for the holistic follow-up of children and young people, particularly at interfaces where result information may form part of the further follow-up of young people in vulnerable situations. - The Norwegian Directorate of Health (less relevant)
Governing actor for regulations and practice relating to health, interoperability, and the use of information in the follow-up of young people after upper secondary education.
Ministries (political and governance-level governing actors)
- The Ministry of Education and Research
Overall responsibility for the education sector, including the framework for upper secondary education, documentation of results, and governance signals to subordinate agencies. - The Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Administration
Overall responsibility for digitalisation, data sharing, and cross-sectoral initiatives, with implications for the reuse and accessibility of educational data. - The Ministry of Children and Families (less relevant)
Governing actor for policy relating to children, young people, and families, particularly where result information forms part of cross-sectoral follow-up.
What are the consequences for the actors under the current situation?
For young people
- Lack of overview of their own status and competence
- Need to document or explain their own situation multiple times
- Risk of delayed or insufficient guidance and follow-up
For service staff
- Additional workload related to the manual collection and verification of information
- Uncertainty in the basis for decision-making in guidance and follow-up work
- Risk of errors or misunderstandings relating to results and competence
For organisations
- Inefficient use of time and resources
- Failure to make use of information that already exists
- Reduced quality and consistency in the data foundation
Actors who should participate in a pilot
Actors who should participate in a pilot are those who deliver services, use result information in practice, or who must change work processes and collaborative arrangements for coherent services to become a reality.
Service providers
- County authorities
Responsible for upper secondary education, documentation of results, diplomas, and the follow-up of pupils in the final stage of their education. Central actors in making result information accessible. - Municipalities
Use result information in the further follow-up of young people, including in transitions to employment, qualifying programmes, or other municipal services.
Coordinating and supporting actors
- KS
The interest organisation for the local government sector and an important bridge between national initiatives and local implementation. - KS Digital
Operational actor for shared municipal digital solutions and interoperability, with an important role in ensuring feasibility and reuse within the municipal sector. - Sikt
Delivers and manages shared services in the education sector, particularly relevant at interfaces with further education and the use of result information. Responsible for national registers for education and competence (results from education). - SSB
Uses educational data for statistics, analysis, and insight, and contributes perspectives on the reuse and quality of data.
Specialist system suppliers
- Suppliers of school administration systems, diploma and competence documentation solutions
- Important actors for understanding the technical preconditions, constraints, and opportunities for making result information accessible and enabling its reuse
How are actors affected by the current situation, and what are the possible consequences?
The consequences are felt at both individual and system level. Young people may experience uncertainty and disruption during the transition onwards; staff must spend time compensating for the lack of coherence; and organisations see reduced impact from measures and services that depend on correct and accessible information.
The challenges are to a limited extent about a lack of will or effort, but rather about structural barriers related to fragmented systems, unclear information boundaries, and the absence of shared frameworks for making result information accessible and enabling its reuse.
What might a desired situation (dream journey) look like?
In a desired situation, young people have easy access to clear and comprehensible information about their own results and competence. Relevant actors have access to the information they need to provide good guidance and follow-up, without unnecessary manual work.
Staff experience better coherence between services and a clearer assignment of responsibility for information flow. Information is reused where appropriate, and contributes to more predictable transitions for young people at an important stage of their lives.
Insight work that has been carried out
This case is based on experiences from municipalities, county authorities, and national agencies working with transitions for young people after upper secondary education, as well as earlier insight related to coherent services and data sharing in the education sector.
Which of the project’s objectives does the case address?
The case addresses in particular the following objectives:
- More coherent services for young people in transition between education, employment, and follow-up
- Better information flow and clearer responsibility across services and levels of government
- A better foundation for developing shared concepts and information models
- Learning and experience that can be transferred to other cases and sectors