Perusopetus
"If you want to learn the ultimate truth, begin from the alphabet."
(Japanese saying)
Pre-school Education
Pre-school Education (esiopetus) takes one year. Children go to pre-school when they are six years old. Pre-school education is organised in day care centres and primary schools. Pre-school education is free.
Basic Education
Education is compulsory for all children who are permanent residents in Finland. Children must start in compulsory education the year they turn seven and compulsory education ends once Basic Education (perusopetus) has been completed successfully or when 10 years have elapsed from the beginning of compulsory education. Lower stage comprehensive school takes six years, classes 1-6, and upper stage comprehensive school comprises years 7-9. Basic education is free.
Basic education is arranged in monolingual municipalities in the official language of the municipality at least, and in bilingual municipalities in Finnish and Swedish.
Adults can also obtain a school-leaving certificate for comprehensive school. More information is available from the Adult High School.
Information on international schools in Finland is available in the following languages:
English
Virtual thisisFinland website contains information on international schools in Finland in English.
The website of the Finnish National Board of Education contains information on basic education in Finnish, Swedish and English.
Preparatory instruction for basic education (Perusopetukseen valmistava opetus)
Preparatory instruction for basic education is intended for the pupil of immigrant background whose Finnish or Swedish language skills are not yet adequate for participation in normal classroom study. The instruction lasts for one school year. During this time the pupil is given instruction in the Finnish and Swedish languages and in basic education subjects. On completing preparatory instruction the pupil continues study in a normal class.
Teaching of Finnish or Swedish as a second language (Suomi tai ruotsi toisena kielenä-opetus)
During basic education a pupil studies Finnish or Swedish as a second language if his or her skill in either of these languages is not equal to the mother tongue. Study is generally through separate teaching of Finnish or Swedish as a second language or Finnish as mother tongue.
The aim regarding teaching of Finnish or Swedish as a second language is to furnish pupils with the basic language skills enabling them to function and learn in Finnish or Swedish.
Suomen sanoin – monin tavoin, a brochure on Finnish as a second language in basic education (2008) (3.3 Mb, pdf)
Teaching of mother tongue (Oman äidinkielen opetus)
Mastery of one's mother tongue supports the study of other languages and subjects. Teaching of immigrant mother tongue is an optional supplement to basic education.
The Edu.fi website contains information on the teaching of immigrant children’s own mother tongue in Arabic, Albanian, Kurdish, English, Somali, Russian, Vietnamese, Estonian and Swedish.
Oma kieli – oma mieli by the Finnish National Board of Education, a guide in support of native language learning (2009) (3.3 Mb, pdf). The guide is available in Finnish.
Additional Teaching in Tenth Year
Optional additional teaching is available for one year after basic education. The objective of the additional teaching is to increase pupils’ opportunities to be selected into further education.
Who provides counselling?
Schools have study counsellors who provide information about studying in your own school. They also give information on other educational institutions and how to apply to study in them.
You can use the pages of Opintoluotsi to look for information on places that provide counselling on education in different life situations. You can also contact educational institutions directly for information.
forms in various languages that are required by schools for administrative purposes.