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Abstract

The last decades have seen regular and frequent modifications of the wording of school curricula in the Nordic countries together with increased appeals from teachers for further clarification. The paper analyzes how assessment of the subject English is presented in Sweden and Finland at the lower and upper secondary levels. The aim was to explore how much space was given to assessment in the texts, the types of expectations on school staff the texts generate, and the competences required to meet these, while considering the predominant curriculum theories reflected in these texts.  It is a comparative case study combining qualitative and quantitative methods. The results show an imbalance between the two countries when it comes to space allocated to assessment.  The Finnish curriculum is more extensive and distinct compared to the Swedish one.  In both countries teachers’ main obligation is to make assessments based on knowledge and praxeological competence. Systematic and deliberative curriculum theory permeates both, but the shorter Swedish general guidelines give more space for local interpretation than the more detailed Finnish guidelines. Nevertheless, there are several issues in both curricula that can cause ambiguity. The importance of more distinct and transparent guidelines is thus apparent.