Finland's school system is straightforward once you know its shape: a year of pre-primary, nine years of basic education, around three years of upper secondary, then a choice between two types of higher education. The one change that older guides miss is that compulsory education now lasts until 18, not until the end of basic school.
Compulsory education, ages 6 to 18
Since the reform that took effect on 1 August 2021, compulsory education covers everyone from ages 6 to 18. It ends when a young person turns 18 or completes an upper secondary qualification, whichever comes first. The first year group it applied to was the one leaving basic education in spring 2021.
Two practical consequences for a family moving here:
- Before leaving basic education, a pupil must apply to upper secondary education or another programme that counts as compulsory education. If they do not find a place, the municipality assigns one.
- Upper secondary is now genuinely free: teaching, daily meals, textbooks and other materials, equipment, and the five matriculation tests (including resits). School travel is supported when the journey is 7 km or more. The right to free education lasts until the end of the calendar year in which the student turns 20.
Early childhood and pre-primary
Before school, there is early childhood education and care for younger children, and then pre-primary education, which normally starts at the age of six. It is compulsory: a child must attend pre-primary or an equivalent activity for the year before basic education begins. It is free, lasts about four hours a day, and includes a free meal. If the child lives more than 5 km away, or the route is difficult, transport is free as well.
Basic education (peruskoulu)
Children usually start school in the year they turn seven and stay for nine years in a single comprehensive system — shorter days in the lower years, longer ones in the upper years. The Basic Education Act makes teaching, textbooks, other materials and tools free, and requires a free, balanced meal every school day. If the school journey is longer than five kilometres, transport is free too.
The school year runs from August to late May or early June, with the summer off in June and July. By law, it has 190 working days.
Grades are given on a scale of 4 to 10: 4 is a fail, 5 is adequate, 6 is moderate, 7 is satisfactory, 8 is good, 9 is very good and 10 is excellent. Schools may also use written assessments instead of numbers in some years.
Teaching is in Finnish or Swedish. The larger cities have international schools and schools that teach in English, and there are private schools in a few other languages. A child who does not yet speak enough Finnish or Swedish studies it as a second language, and there is preparatory education, usually a year long, before joining a regular class. If you are still choosing where to live, a municipality's school provision is worth checking before looking for a flat — see finding a flat in Finland.
After basic school: two routes
General upper secondary (lukio)
General upper secondary education usually takes three years (anything from two to four is possible) and totals 150 credits of compulsory and elective modules. It ends in the national matriculation examination (ylioppilastutkinto), which is held simultaneously across the country every spring and autumn, and has been fully digital since 2019. Passing it qualifies a student to apply to universities and universities of applied sciences. Graduates traditionally celebrate with the white student cap, which you will see all over the country around the start of June.
Vocational education and training (ammatillinen koulutus)
The alternative is a vocational qualification, which typically takes three years for a school-leaver. All vocational qualifications are competence-based, include on-the-job learning, and also give access to higher education. Vocational education is not only for teenagers: adults use it to retrain, and there are further and specialist qualifications above the basic one. Most teaching is in Finnish or Swedish, with a few programmes in English. You apply through the national joint application system or directly to the institution through continuous admission.
Higher education
There are two parallel types of institution:
- Universities (yliopisto) combine teaching with research and are the only ones that award doctorates. A bachelor's degree is 180 credits, designed to take three years, and a master's is a further 120 credits, taking about two years.
- Universities of applied sciences (ammattikorkeakoulu, often shortened to AMK or UAS) are professionally oriented. Their bachelor's degrees are 180 to 270 credits — typically 3.5 to 4.5 years — and always include at least 30 credits of practical training. They also award master's degrees of 60 or 90 credits.
Sixty credits represent a year of full-time study, or about 1,600 hours of work. Applications for both types usually go through the national Studyinfo service.
Higher education is free for citizens of the EU and EEA. Students from outside the EU/EEA pay tuition fees for bachelor's and master's programmes taught in English or another foreign language, and for those starting on or after 1 August 2026, the fee must cover at least the average cost of the education. The full picture — applications, fees, residence permits and exchanges — is in studying in Finland, and what day-to-day life looks like is in student life in Finland.
Adult education
Liberal adult education is a large, separate world: adult education centres, summer universities, study centres and sports institutes offering languages, arts and much more at every level. It is a good companion to the rest of the first steps after moving to Finland, and the evenings are long enough in winter — see daylight in Helsinki — to make an evening class an easy decision.
