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Published: 29 September 2020

Altogether 320,100 students in vocational education

According to Statistics Finland's education statistics, a total of 320,100 students attended education leading to a vocational qualification in 2019. Fifty-one per cent of them were women. Of the students, 241,100 studied in initial vocational education, 53,900 in further vocational education and 25,100 in specialist vocational education. Starting from 2019, the data are mainly based on the Finnish National Agency for Education's Koski database.

Students in vocational training by field of education (National Classification of Education 2016) and sex in 2019

The variation in the shares of men and women viewed by fields of education was large. Of all students, the share of women was 84 per cent in the field of health and welfare and 13 per cent in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT). The field of education divided most evenly by gender was the field of services, where 53 per cent were women. New students numbered 124,600. Of the new students, 86,600 attended initial vocational education, 27,200 further vocational education and 10,800 specialist vocational education. Twenty-six per cent of new students studied in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction, 23 per cent in the field of services and 19 per cent in the field of business and administration.

Altogether 70 per cent of the students attended education according to the reform of vocational education (Vocational Education and Training Act 531/2017). Of all students, 20 per cent had completed training agreement periods and 19 per cent apprenticeship training periods. Both training agreement and apprenticeship training periods had been completed by two per cent of students. Not all students had completed these periods at the time of review.

At the autumn cross-sectional period on 20 September, a total of 168,100 students attended initial vocational education leading to a qualification. The cross-sectional number of students is not comparable with the number of students in previous years. In 2019, the data for the cross-sectional period on 20 September include all students attending initial vocational education, regardless of the method of education (see Appendix table 1).

Completers of vocational qualifications 2012–2019

Altogether, 71,600 students completed a vocational qualification in 2019. A total of 47,800 initial vocational qualifications were completed, 16,100 further vocational qualifications and 7,700 specialist vocational qualifications. The number of attainers of qualifications was 10 per cent lower than in the previous year. Fifty-four per cent of them were women. Nearly one half, 48 per cent, completed a qualification in the fields of engineering, manufacturing and construction, and business and administration.

Twenty-four per cent of the qualifiers had apprenticeship training periods. Ten per cent of those with qualifications had training agreement periods. One per cent had both apprenticeship training and training agreement periods. If the completion of a qualification was started before the new criteria entered into force (1 August 2018), the qualification can be completed according to the old criteria until 31 December 2021. Sixty-five per cent of qualifications did not include training agreement or apprenticeship training periods.

More detailed information on vocational education students and completers of qualifications, for example, by region of education and age can be found in the database table .

Source: Education. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Helena Aaltonen 029 551 2697, koulutustilastot@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Students and qualifications in vocational education by type of education and method of education 2019 (29.9.2020)

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Updated 29.9.2020