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The aim of this report is to examine the reliability of data from the practical driving test for category B 2009-2011 and study the composition of the group of test-takers and results and changes in pass rates over time during the period. Based on the data checks done it can be concluded that data is reliable. Data from 2011 does not comprise the entire year, but when data for the equivalent period previous years is compared with the year as a whole the differences are negligible.

There are certain differences between groups as to the proportion of passed tests. A larger proportion of test-takers below the age of 20 pass the test compared to older test-takers. A larger proportion of test-takers who were registered by a driving school passed than those who registered themselves. If you divide the test-takers by gender and type of registration a somewhat larger percentage of the men passed the driving test. As for average number of mistakes there are no major differences between the sexes except for manoeuvring.

As for the content of the test, the most common areas to test are street crossing, driving towards a goal and reversing. Motorway, lanes, roundabouts and signalled crossings are more commonly tested at the main offices, while narrow winding roads, railway crossing and turning off a main road are more common in the other places. Street crossing, lanes and motorway are the situations where the largest percentage of test-takers fails. The percentage of fails for each curricular module are fairly similar for main offices and other offices, but the proportion of fails is higher for roundabouts, driving towards a goal and railway crossings at the main offices. The requirement for attention and identifying risks is the hardest for test-takers to fulfil.

When comparing the results with previous years we find that the group differences are fairly similar, but the percentage of tests registered via a driving school continues to decrease. It is more common to include reversing in the test. Even though test-takers who has failed the theory tests are now allowed to take the practical driving test the percentage of passed tests remains on the same level for tests registered via driving schools and has only decreased by a couple of percentage points for the remaining tests.

There are more than 130 places in Sweden where driving tests can be carried out, with their own particular traffic environments, examiners and test-takers. The test-takers' ages and their preferred method of registering for the test vary between places. In some places only a few tests are carried out and in some a large number of tests. In some places certain aspects of the traffic environment are absent, like motorways, railway crossings or roundabouts. The intensity of traffic also varies between different locations. In short, there are many aspects that can vary between individual tests. In this report various ways of presenting such differences and some ways of categorizing places are explored.

Does this have consequences for results? It is difficult to analyse as several variables probably interact and are hard to untangle and due to the nature of the data. The result is binary – pass/fail – which limits what analyses can be made – and there are many categories in the variables place and examiner. In order to achieve fewer categories some can be collapsed into fewer and larger categories. The question is then how many categories and what criteria should be used to form them. When analyses are made we can see that the content of tests differ both within a particular location and between different places. It is, however, unclear if the same or different skills and abilities are measured in different places, but nevertheless not as simple as to claim that it is "easier" to obtain a licence in certain places than others based on simple comparisons of success rates. Test-takers' age and method of registration for the test, aspects that we know are connected to the percentage of passed tests, also differ between places.

The purpose of this study is to describe the trend regarding the pass rate for the driving test and examine to what degree changes of the pass rate can be linked to changes in the composition of the group of test-takers. Previously there have been no trend studies exploring changes with regard to the language of the theory test, i.e. whether the test-takers take the test in Swedish or another language so special attention will be given to this aspect.

The composition of the group of test-takers has changed quite a lot over the last 20 years. Test-takers can either register for the test via a driving school or on their own. The percentage of tests registered via a driving school has decreased, and in later years the number of driving tests not registered via a driving school following theory tests in other languages than Swedish has increased. The pass rate among the tests that were not registered via a driving school has decreased more than for those registered via a driving school. If the results are weighted to reflect the distribution of groups as it was in 1998 or 2010 one may conclude that if the total group of test-takers had had the same composition in later years the pass rate would probably not have decreased as much.

If theory tests are categorised according to whether they were carried out in Swedish or another language (translated or interpreted) results show that the percentage of tests in other languages has increased significantly since 2013. The percentage of driving tests following theory tests in other languages has also increased. Most of the driving tests after theory tests in other languages are carried out by test-takers who are 25 years or older and who have not registered for the test via a driving school. Such tests are also failed to a greater degree.

Many more tests are administered today than 10 or 20 years ago. The number of test-takers increased by 87 per cent between 1998 and 2016 while the number of tests increased by 137 per cent. A contributing factor is the change in 2008 that all were allowed to take the driving test regardless of result on the theory test (previously only those who passed could). If results on the driving test are divided by result on the preceding theory test (pass/fail) it turns out that the pass rate has decreased at roughly the same rate since 2012 for both those who failed and those who passed the theory test. However, a larger proportion of those who have passed the theory test also pass the driving test.

The changes in conditions for taking the driving test does not constitute the whole explanation. If comparing the number of driving tests in 2010 (when all were part of the new system) and 2016 the increase is 22 and 33 per cent respectively.

When performing analyses based on test-takers rather than tests it is also clear that the number of test-takers who are 25 or older and not registered via a driving school is increasing. At least from 2013 this increase is almost entirely due to test-takers who have taken the theory test in other languages than Swedish.  In 1998 24 per cent of the test-takers only took tests for which they had not registered via a driving school. In 2010 that percentage was 42 per cent an in 2016 53 per cent. Students who do not register for the test via a driving school also carry out more tests on average within the year than those who do.

Test-takers who carry out many driving tests have, to a greater extent than others, had the examiner intervene (e.g. by braking) during their first test attempt, which perhaps is a consequence of not being properly prepared.

To summarize: the trend with decreasing pass rate, an increasing proportion of older test-takers and of tests not registered via a driving school that has been visible over the last 20 years or so seems to be continuing. When looking at trends in a shorter perspective, the most notable change is the increase in theory tests that are taken in languages other than Swedish. These tests are, to a great extent, taken by older test-takers, not registered via a driving school, factors that are associated with a lower pass rate. Findings may inform policy makers and other stake-holders when it comes to understanding changes in the composition of test-takers and how possible efforts to increase pass rates could be targeted.

The Swedish Road Administration has, over the years, gathered a lot of data in connection with the driving test. One of the statistics used is the percentage of passed tests and this number has decreased since 1998. In a previous report factors which can affect the result and possible interpretations of results were discussed in terms of to what degree changes in the percentage of passed tests were connected to changes in the composition of the group of test-takers. This is a follow-up of that study with more recent data which includes analyses of the composition of test-takers both based on individuals and on tests.

Many results are presented in terms of 16 categories based on test-takers’ age, sex and how they were registered for the test. Within each category the results are comparatively stable over time. It is among test-takers who did not register for the test via a driving school that you can discern a downward trend regarding the percentage of passed tests. The percentage of such test-takers in the group as a whole has increased.

In 2008 a major change was introduced as all who took the theory part of the test also took the driving test. Previously this was restricted to those who passed the theory test. Such a change affects the percentage of passed tests which got slightly higher for driving tests preceded by a passed theory test and slightly lower for driving tests preceded by failed theory tests.

If results are weighted to reflect the distribution of groups as it was in 1998 one may conclude that if the total group of test-takers had had the same composition as 1998 over the years that followed the total percentage of tests resulting in a pass would have been greater than what is now the case.

In October 2009 a requirement to obtain a driver’s certificate was introduced for riding a moped class II. In order to obtain a driver’s certificate test-takers are required to complete a compulsory course and pass a test. Those who applied for permission to arrange tests for moped class II had to submit an example of a test to the Swedish Transport Agency with their applications. We have studied a sample of those tests. The content of the tests were analysed in order to determine to what extent the stipulated content of the regulations was covered. Compliance with general guidelines for item construction and whether the regulations concerning number of questions were met was also examined.

Among the 34 selected examiners 11 had developed their own test. The remaining examiners stated that they used the test developed by the Swedish National Association of Driving Schools (STR). Regulations for the test (TSFS 2010:80) stipulate that it should consist of 25 to 35 items. All tests in the study contained at least 25 items. With a couple of exceptions there are items from all four content areas outlined in the regulations. The main emphasis in the tests is on Traffic rules. The goals stipulated for the training and the goals stipulated for the test do not correspond entirely which probably is the reason why many items contain content not defined in the requirements for the test. However, most of such items can be linked to goals for the training.

As to shortcomings in the test some items could for example have been phrased more clearly and contained more information. Some response options deviate from the others or are just too unlikely which unfortunately makes the number of selectable options smaller.

Both content and design of the tests vary considerably why it would be best to let the Swedish Transport Agency develop the test for the conditional driving licence for mopeds class II. The test would be more uniform and equivalent, which would mean a fairer testing. It would be possible to strive for parallel tests. It would also be easier to supervise the results and the quality of the tests than is possible with the current system of supervision.

The role of intelligence and motivational constructs in school achievement is well attested. Beliefs and attitudes about assessment (including classroom assessment, homework and tests) can be adaptive within a self-regulation of learning framework. However, the role of intelligence upon the student and parent coping with school assessment practices is less well known. This paper examines responses of Swedish Grade 6 (modal age 13) students (N = 4749) participating in the Education Through Follow-up (ETF) project to four cognitive tests and survey items concerning achievement demands. Their responses were integrated with parent perceptions of grading and school pressure. Robust factors for intelligence, student perceptions, and parental perceptions were found and introduced into a structural equation model with intelligence as the predictor. The well-fitting SEM model showed that intelligence had statistically significant predictions on all four student and three parent perceptions factors, of which two predicted student factors. However, only one prediction was substantive; intelligence on coping with school demands (beta = 0.48). Although not allowing for causal inference, the results support the claim that general cognitive abilities act as a predictor of self-regulating capability of coping with school demands.

This study aims at modeling the self-reported test-taking motivation items in PISA and TIMSS Advanced studies for Swedish students using an IRT approach. In the last two cycles of the assessments, six test-specific items were included in the Swedish student questionnaires to evaluate pupil’s effort, motivation and how they perceived the importance of the tests. Using a Multiple-Group Generalized Partial Credit model (MG-GPCM), we created an IRT motivation scale for each assessment. We also investigated measurement invariance for the two cycles of PISA (i.e., 2012 and 2015) and of TIMSS Advanced (i.e., 2008 and 2015). Results indicated that the proposed scales refer to unidimensional constructs and measure reliably students’ motivation (Cronbach’s alpha above 0.78). Differential item functioning across assessment cycles was restricted to two criteria (RMSD and DSF) and had more impact on the latent motivation scale for PISA than for TIMSS Advanced. Overall, the test-taking motivation items fit well the purpose of a diagnostic of test-taking motivation in these two surveys and the proposed scales highlighted the slight increase of pupils’ motivation across the assessment cycles.

The primary aim of this randomized controlled clinical trial was to compare the outcome from two types of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. The participants were thirty-nine women with depression. Half of the participants (n = 18) received art psychotherapy and the other half received verbal psychotherapy (n = 21). Data was collected before and after psychotherapy, and at a 3-month follow-up using self-rating scales and interviewer-based ratings. Results showed that art and verbal psychotherapies were comparable, and at follow-up, the average participant in both groups had few depressive symptoms and stress-related symptoms. The conclusion was that short-term psychodynamic art therapy could be a valuable treatment for depressed women.