Published: 12 February 2015
Number of educational institutions fell further, highest number of closures in the Region of Pirkanmaa
According to Statistics Finland's Register of Providers of Education and Register of Educational Institutions, there were 758 active providers of education and 3,628 educational institutions in which 1.89 million students pursued studies at the end of 2014. The number of all educational institutions has fallen by 13 per cent in five years. In 2009, the number of comprehensive schools was nearly 3,100, whereas at the end of 2013 their number was only just under 2,500.
Number of all educational institutions and comprehensive schools 2009–2014
*Comprehensive schools include types 11,12,19 of educational institutions
The number of providers of education was 1 higher than in 2013. Of the providers of education 46 per cent were municipalities or joint municipal boards, six per cent were central government units and 45 per cent private. The remaining three per cent of the providers of education operated in the region of Åland. In 2014, there were 15 new providers of education to be added to the Register of Providers of Education. The number of educational institutions was 112 lower than the year before.
Educational institutions of the school system and numbers of students by type of educational institution in 2014
Type of educational institution | Number | Change from previous year 1) | Students 2) |
11 Comprehensive schools | 2 498 | -78 | 522 700 |
12 Comprehensive school level special education schools | 99 | -6 | 5 200 |
15 Upper secondary general schools | 366 | -7 | 113 800 |
19 Comprehensive and upper secondary general level schools 3) | 42 | - | 28 000 |
21 Vocational institutes | 105 | -15 | 173 400 |
22 Special needs vocational institutes | 6 | - | 5 000 |
23 Specialised vocational institutes | 33 | -1 | 27 800 |
24 Vocational adult education centres | 25 | - | 37 100 |
28 Fire, police and security service institutes | 1 | - | 300 |
29 Military vocational institutes | 12 | -1 | .. |
41 Polytechnics | 26 | -1 | 143 200 |
42 Universities | 14 | - | 162 900 |
43 Military academies | 1 | - | 900 |
61 Music schools and colleges | 87 | - | 65 100 |
62 Sports institutes | 14 | - | 5 600 |
63 Folk high schools | 77 | -1 | 16 200 |
64 Adult education centres | 185 | -2 | 521 400 |
65 Study circle centres | 11 | 1 | 30 500 |
66 Summer universities | 20 | - | 32 900 |
99 Other educational institutions | 6 | -1 | 500 |
Total | 3 628 | -112 | 1 892 500 |
2) The data on the number of students are mainly as on 20 September 2014 and include the number of all students in educational institutions belonging to the type of educational institution independent of the level of education.
3) The type of educational institution for one educational institution was changed from type 15 to type 19.
There were 2,498 active comprehensive schools which had 522,700 pupils. Special education schools at the comprehensive school level numbered 99 and they had 5,200 pupils. A total of 77 comprehensive schools or comprehensive school level special education schools were closed down or merged with another educational institution. Of these, 12 were educational institutions with under 20 pupils, 34 had between 20 and 49 pupils while 31 had at least 50 pupils. The number of closures was the highest in the region of Pirkanmaa.
Of all comprehensive schools 72 per cent taught grades 1 to 6, 12 per cent taught grades 7 to 9 and 16 per cent of comprehensive schools taught grades from 1 through to 9. In all, 22 per cent of comprehensive schools had under 50 pupils and seven per cent had over 500 pupils.
According to preliminary data for 2014, there were 1.23 students in education leading to a qualification or degree. The number of students remained unchanged in basic education and in vocational and polytechnic education but decreased in all other sectors of education. These data derive from education statistics compiled by Statistics Finland. Data on the subject matter are published on Statistics Finland’s website on the statistics on students and qualifications of educational institutions, pre-primary and comprehensive school education, upper secondary general education, vocational education, polytechnic education, university education, and adult education of educational institutions.
Source: Education Statistics. Statistics Finland
Inquiries: Mika Witting 029 551 3571, koulutustilastot@stat.fi
Director in charge: Riitta Harala
Publication in pdf-format (221.2 kB)
Updated 12.2.2015
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF):
Providers of education and educational institutions [e-publication].
ISSN=1799-5825. 2014. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 27.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/kjarj/2014/kjarj_2014_2015-02-12_tie_001_en.html