Koulutus pääkaupunkiseudulla

Education in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

The Info Bank Education System page provides information about the Finnish education system.

The HelsinkiRegion.fi portal contains further information and links relating to study and education in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area in Finnish, Swedish and English.

Information on child day care and pre-school, basic and upper secondary education can be found on the individual cities’ Education pages.

Education in Helsinki 
Education in Espoo 
Education in Vantaa
Education in Kauniainen 

Child day care in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

General information on the Finnish day care system is available on the Info Bank Children and Young People page.

Normally application is made for a place in day care from within the municipality of residence. An exception to this rule applies in joint usage areas where residents may also apply for day care places outside their own municipality. The HelsinkiRegion.fi portal contains more information on joint usage areas in Finnish, Swedish and English. Application for municipal day care places is by using the form provided by the municipality of residence. Links to the form are available on the Education pages of individual city websites.

Temporary child care

Enquiries concerning temporary child care may be directed, for example, to: the Family Federation and the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare

Pre-school and basic education 

The Info Bank Basic Education page explains the system of pre-school and basic education in Finland.

The majority of children and young people attend a Finnish-language or Swedish-language school in their own municipality. Education is invariably free.

Preparatory education is provided for those immigrant pupils whose skills in Finnish or Swedish are insufficient. Preparatory instruction lasts for a maximum of one year. Training involves familiarisation with the key concepts of the different subjects in either Finnish or Swedish.

Pupils of immigrant background living in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area also have the right to study their mother tongue at all stages of basic education. Normally two hours per week are reserved for this purpose. It is also possible to receive instruction in other subjects in the mother tongue. In the Helsinki Metropolitan Area mother tongue instruction is provided for around 40 languages.

There are also a number of private and state schools providing foreign language instruction in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Private schools charge a fee for the school term. Entry into language schools often involves a language test. Some schools also enable study either in bilingual classes or classes held entirely in a language other than Finnish, starting from the first year of school. Entry into these classes is subject to an aptitude test. The website of the City of Helsinki Education Department contains information about aptitude tests in Finnish (suomeksi) . Enquiries about the language test schedule for private language schools can be made with the schools themselves.

Foreign language teaching in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

The Helsinki.fi portal contains general information on foreign languages in basic education for the Helsinki Metropolitan Area in Finnish and English.

English-language basic education in Helsinki in Finnish and English.
English-language basic education in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area in Finnish and English.
French-language basic education in Helsinki in Finnish and English.
German-language basic education in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area in Finnish and English.
Russian-language basic education in Helsinki in Finnish and English.
Estonian-language basic education in Helsinki in Finnish and English.
Spanish-language basic education in Helsinki in Finnish and Spanish 
Chinese-language basic education in Helsinki in Finnish, English and Chinese

Schools in the City of Helsinki may accept pupils living in other municipalities if any free places remain after the local intake. Pupils must have passed an aptitude test where this has been set.

Upper secondary education in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

The major part of upper secondary and vocational education is in Finnish or Swedish. However, in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area upper secondary education is also available in English, French, German and Russian.

The Helsinki.fi website contains information on upper secondary education in Helsinki as well as links to foreign-language upper secondary education in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area in Finnish and English.

The Selma online service contains information in Finnish, including the MAVA vocational education preparatory course for immigrants and education for young immigrants.

The HelsinkiRegion.fi portal contains further information and links relating to study and education in the Helsinki Region in Finnish, Swedish and English.

Application for upper secondary and vocational education is through the joint application system, available at Koulutusnetti or haenyt.

Career counselling

The Info Bank Career Counselling page contains information on where to obtain guidance in choosing a career.

Higher education

Once a vocational qualification has been obtained or matriculation completed, study can be continued in an institute of higher education. The Koulutusnetti website has more information on further education in Finnish, Swedish, and English.