The Ladok system

Ladok is a system that supports universities in educational administrative processes. It documents students’ participation, results, and degrees within higher education. Ladok is used for studies at all levels, including preparatory level, undergraduate level, advanced level, and doctoral level.

In the Regulation on Reporting of Studies, etc., at Universities and Colleges (1993:1153), it is stipulated which data state universities and colleges are required to register, regarding studies at the undergraduate, advanced, and doctoral levels. Though Ladok, the state universities and colleges can register this information.

There are three interfaces of Ladok: for staff, students, and alumni. In Ladok for staff, individuals from various parts of the educational administrative processes work. Everything from educational planning to student registration, reporting results, issuing degrees, as well as follow-ups and statistics, is managed within Ladok for staff. In Ladok for students, students can view information about their studies and often manage their studies, such as registering for a course or applying for a degree. However, what a student can do on their own varies between different universities. Ladok for alumni is a limited version of Ladok for students and is intended for students who have completed their studies.

Ladok is used by approximately 27,000 teachers and administrators, as well as approximately 350,000 students. Additionally, the system contains data for 3.2 million students.

Ladok makes it easier for universities to comply with the regulations and requirements for monitoring, set by the government and central authorities. Data from Ladok is for example reported to:

• The Swedish Board of Student Finance (CSN) receives information necessary for the granting of study grants and loans.
• Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) receives information required for eligibility and merit assessment in connection with applications and admissions to higher education. From UHR to Ladok, data is then transferred regarding individuals admitted to various programs.
• Statistics Sweden (SCB) receives data which is compiled for statistics about the university.

Universities can also generate their own statistics and conduct follow-ups within the system.

Information within Ladok is central to the activities of universities, leading to numerous integrations between Ladok and other systems within these universities. To facilitate the integrations, there are several different methods available: a REST interface, possibility to to listen to events, and the LIS adapter.