Factors Affecting Students´ Achievements : A Study of Public and Independent Schools i Sandviken and Gävle

Abstract: The development of independent schools is a relatively new phenomenon, which has been increasing during the last 20 years. Most of the independent schools have been proliferated in the larger regions such as Stockholm, but are increasing more and more in smaller regions. This study aims to compare public and independent schools in the region of Sandviken and Gävle in order to analyse how the final grades are affected by different variables. From two different perspectives the focus is to see if location of schools and students makes any difference according to the distance decay and how important motivations are according to the choice theory and its ideas about motivation. This study is done by using statistics collected from the independent and public schools and also by a regression analysis. The conclusion is that there are no significant differences between the schools and students and the achievements, the location of the school, the relation between distance to school and achievements and there are no differences from a gender perspective. The schools themselves do also have an important role for good education as a good study environment may increase the students’ motivation for the education.