In Swedish schools, five practical and artistic subjects are compulsory for all pupils up to grade nine: Arts, Music, Handicraft (Sloyd), Athlectics and Home Economics. In Norwegian schools four practical and artistic subjects are compulsory for all pupils up to grade ten: Art and Crafts, Music, Home Economics and Physical Education. Although highly valued by many pupils and traditionally having a distinct position in educational policy, few attempts have been made to assess performances in these subjects, both nationally and internationally. Also, there is no common theoretical framework for these subjects – each one has its own tradition, theoretical background and teaching practices. The practical and artistic subjects have important objectives within the framework of the Swedish and Norwegian national curriculum, such as developing creative skills, co-operation in groups, equality between the genders, fostering consumer consciousness, and problem-solving. Learning by practical work and through experience are important for demanding practical skills and interest for the pupil to enter vocational training after compulsory school, but also for people´s life in general. Cultural traditions are important elements in the practical and artistic subjects. The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between the goals of the curriculum and the content of the education, students’ satisfaction and the students’ achievements in the practical and artistic subjects. In November 2004, the Swedish National Agency for Education published the main findings from a national evaluation of Swedish comprehensive school. The study focused grades five and nine in school and encompassed 16 of the school subjects. The evaluation involved different sets of questionnaires, administered to parents, pupils, teachers and headmasters, and different tests; performance tests and tests especially designed to assess pupils’ problem solving ability. Information from the Swedish Bureau of Statistics, such as parents’ level of education, was added. The study is the single biggest evaluation project that has been conducted in Swedish schools, and the findings have been much recognized, discussed and debated. Among the school subjects evaluated were the so-called practical and artistic subjects. The Norwegian Reform 97 in compulsory school came into force on 1 July 1997 and one of the important changes was to implement a new national curriculum. The Ministry of Education decided that an evaluation of the reform should be organized by the Research Council of Norway. This meant that some of the initiative and the responsibility for the evaluation were transferred from the users and the commissionaire to the research community. Only Art and Crafts, and Physical Education of the practical and artistic subjects were include in the Norwegian evaluation of Reform 97. The evaluation of Art and Crafts involved a survey to pupils and teachers. The evaluation on Physical Education is based on a survey to teachers and interviews with pupils and teachers. Results from the evaluation of those two subjects in lower secondary schools in Norway from 2002 and 2003, and statistic analysis of marks across all the practical and artistic subjects in the period 2002-2004 will be related to the Swedish findings. In the National Evaluation of Swedish compulsory schools of 2003, the practical and artistic subjects were evaluated alongside more traditional performance tests in subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Literacy. A wide variety of methods were used, such as questionnaires, student self-assessments, portfolios, log-books, interviews and classroom observations. The Norwegian evaluations are two separate studies, and they are not related to other subjects in school. Both in Sweden and Norway the findings are discussed in relation to the respective national curricula. The paper reviews the methodological experiences and implications from these studies, as well as shedding light on some of the more important findings. References are made to some international studies within this sparsely researched field of education. Central and common findings from the evaluation of these subjects in Sweden and Norway concern their important function in pupils´ life at school; difficulties in introducing new aspects (such as digital communication or health issues) in hugely traditional forms of teaching; increasing differences in performances between girls and boys; and severe problems of equivalence in assessing and the marking of pupils´ achievements.