FINNISH EDUCATION SYSTEM
The Finnish education system consists of comprehensive school, general and vocational upper secondary education, higher education and adult education. The comprehensive school is a nine-year compulsory school for all children from 7 to 16 years of age. Post-comprehensive education is given by general upper secondary schools and vocational institutions. The general upper secondary school offers a three-year general education curriculum, at the end of which the pupil takes the national matriculation examination. Vocational institutions award upper secondary vocational qualifications. Since 2001 all vocational qualifications have been three-year programmes.
General eligibility for higher education is given by the matriculation examination and the upper secondary vocational qualification. These qualifications need at least twelve years of schooling. Equivalent foreign qualifications also give general eligibility for higher education.
The Finnish Education System
The Finnish higher education system
The Finnish higher education system comprises of 20 universities and 29 Polytechnics/universities of applied sciences.Ten of the universities are multi-faculty universities and ten are specialised institutions. All universities engage in both education and research and have the right to award doctorates.
The polytechnics/universities of applied sciences are multi-field institutions of professional higher education with a practical orientation. The aim of studies is to provide the necessary knowledge and skills needed in expert functions and to meet workplace requirements and development needs.
Bachelor-level degree
The polytechnic/university of applied sciences degree is a Bachelor-level degree, the extent of which is 210 - 270 ECTS credits depending on the study field. 1 ECTS credit is equivalent to 24-28 hours of student work. The degrees take 3.5 to 4.5 years of full-time study to complete. In all fields the curriculum comprises of basic and professional studies, optional studies, a practical training period and a bachelor`s thesis.
