In Sweden, all compulsory schools (9 years of education from ages 7 to 16), high schools, and universities are free of charge for Swedish citizens.
From high school, students select courses according to their fields of interest and careers they are interested in pursuing in the future.
There are no entrance exams for high school, and if there is a high ratio of students applying for a school, acceptance or rejection to the school is determined based on the students’ grades from compulsory school.
There are also no entrance exams for university, and students are accepted or rejected to a school based on their high school grades and scores from an exam taken after completing high school.
In Japan, it is still quite rare for students to enter university after starting work, but in Sweden, it is common for students to start studying at university after starting work.
After graduating from high school, students take a gap year to travel the world before making a decision about their future, and other students start working or continue their studies at university, and there is a diversity in life paths that students take.
I felt that in Sweden, there is an environment where anyone can decide their own life paths at their own timing, start something new, take on new challenges, and restart at any time depending on what they wish to do in their lives!