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Concepts and definitions

Completers of full upper secondary general school syllabus

In the statistics on upper secondary general education a completer of full upper secondary general school curriculum refers to a student who has completed satisfactorily the national syllabi contained in upper secondary general school curriculum and received for it a school-leaving certificate from upper secondary general school. Full upper secondary general school syllabus can be completed in upper secondary general schools or folk high schools.

Education

Education refers here to education leading to a qualification or degree.

Education leading to a qualification or degree (qualification or degree-oriented education) refers to education leading to the completion of the full syllabus of comprehensive school (school-leaving certificate), completion of the full syllabus of upper secondary general school (matriculation examination certificate), International Baccalaureate certificate, Reifeprüfung certificate, European Baccalaureate certificate, Gymnasieexamen certificate, initial vocational qualification, basic vocational qualification, specialist vocational qualification, university of applied sciences degree, higher university of applied sciences degree or university degree.

Education leading to a qualification or degree is classified by the classification of education.

Education

An organised activity, the aim of which is to produce competence based on teaching.

Comment:

Education can be divided into education and training leading to a qualification or degree and non-qualification studies.

Educational system

The Finnish educational system is comprised of the following:

Pre-primary education is provided in Finland to 6-year-old children, usually at children's day care homes. Some 6-year-old children receive pre-primary education in comprehensive schools. Attendance of pre-primary education has been compulsory since 2015.

Comprehensive school education is general knowledge education provided for entire age cohorts. All children permanently resident in Finland must attend compulsory education. Compulsory education starts in the year of the child's seventh birthday.

Compulsory education finishes when the syllabus of comprehensives school education has been completed (9-year comprehensive school), or 10 years from the start of compulsory education. In exceptional cases compulsory education may start already at the age of six and last 11 years due to a disability or illness. A student who has received a leaving certificate from comprehensive school in the same year or in the year before it may continue to attend optional additional education (10th grade).

Post-comprehensive school education, or upper secondary general education and vocational education represent secondary level of education. Upper secondary general school education is education leading to a matriculation examination. Its scope is three years and it gives general eligibility to further education. Vocational education can be either educational institution-based or apprenticeship training. In apprenticeship training, most of the studying is comprised of learning through practical work tasks at a workplace. The qualifications are initial vocational qualifications attained in three years, which also give general eligibility to further polytechnic or university studies.

Further and specialist vocational qualifications represent further vocational education. They, as well as initial vocational qualifications can be attained in a skills examination that can be taken irrespective of the way of acquisition of professional skills, and in which skills can be proven on the basis of preparatory education for a skills examination or work experience.

Attainment of university of applied sciences degrees takes 3.5 to 4.5 years and higher university of applied sciences degrees requiring work practice 1-1.5 years. Attainment of lower university degrees takes three years while higher university degrees take two years longer. Attainers of higher level university degrees may continue their studies to licentiate and doctorate level degrees.

General education

Education intended to provide information and skills which facilitate functioning and influencing in society.

Comment:

General education comprises pre-primary education, comprehensive education, general upper secondary education and other non-vocational studies, for example, at liberal adult education institutions.

Matriculation examination

Matriculation examination refers to a final examination of upper secondary general school which is set by the matriculation examination board and which a student studying the full upper secondary general school syllabus can take. Satisfactory pass of the matriculation examination leads to a matriculation examination certificate.

New student

In the statistics on upper secondary general education new students refer to the students registered in an educational institution on 20 September who had been entered into the register of the educational institution between 1 January and 20 September of the same year.

Programme leading to a qualification or degree; formal education

Programme leading to a qualification or degree refers to education comprising the comprehensive education syllabus, the general upper secondary education syllabus, the matriculation examination, the international diplomas, the Gymnasieexamen diploma, or education and training leading to an initial vocational qualification, a further vocational qualification, a specialist vocational qualification, a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, a licentiate, a doctoral degree, or a specialist degree in veterinary medicine.

Qualification or degree

In the statistics on upper secondary general school education qualifications comprise matriculation examination, international matriculation examinations (IB, EB and Reifeprüfung) and Gymnasieexamen examination.

Matriculation examination is a school-leaving examination from upper secondary general school which measures the knowledge, skills and maturity attained in upper secondary general school.

IB (International Baccalaureate) examination is an international matriculation examination that can be taken in some upper secondary general schools in the country.

The EB examination is the European Schools' European Baccalaureate, which can be taken at the European Schooling Helsinki.

Reifeprüfung examination is a type of matriculation examination that can be taken in the Deutsche Schule, Helsinki.

Gymnasieexamen is an upper secondary general school examination that can be taken in Ċlands lyceum.

School-leaving certificate from upper secondary general school

In the statistics on upper secondary general education and on subject choices of students, a school-leaving certificate from upper secondary general school refers to a certificate issued to a student who has completed satisfactorily the full upper secondary general school syllabusiculum. A school-leaving certificate from upper secondary general school can be issued by an upper secondary general school or a folk high school.

Student

In the statistics on upper secondary general education, a student of upper secondary general education is a student who is completing the full upper secondary general school syllabus (matriculation examination) or corresponding education (IB examination, Reifeprüfung examination, EB examination or Gymnasieexamen examination).

Data on the number of students attending upper secondary general education describe the situation on 20 September.

Subject student

In the statistics on adult education of educational institutions a subject student refers to a student who studies a specific subject belonging to the syllabus, but not the full syllabus, of comprehensive school or upper secondary general school education.

Upper secondary general education

In the statistics on upper secondary general education, upper secondary general education refers to general knowledge education leading to the completion of the full upper secondary general school syllabus (matriculation examination) or a comparable examination (IB examination, Reifeprüfung examination, EB examination or Gymnasieexamen). Individual upper secondary general school subjects can also be studied as a subject student in educational institutions providing upper secondary general education.

Upper secondary general education is provided in educational institutions of the following type:

15 Upper secondary general schools

19 Comprehensive and upper secondary level schools

63 Folk high schools.