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Finland Education System
The Finnish education system is based on providing all children and young people with equal basic education services. In Finland, education is compulsory, starting from the year in which the child becomes seven years old and ending when he/she is 16.
Both municipal and private day-care services are available for children below school-starting age, up to the age of six. All 6-year-olds are entitled to pre-school education for one year before starting basic education. Pre-school education is available in both schools and day-care centres.
Pupils normally start their comprehensive school education in a local school indicated by the municipality. Having completed comprehensive school, young people may seek further education in upper secondary schools or vocational schools.
Some upper secondary schools specialize in education with an emphasis on music, physical education, the fine arts, languages or the natural sciences, for example. The schools have no grades. The idea is to complete the courses in three years. The upper secondary school-leaving certificate qualifies the student for studies in universities and other university-level institutes. Matriculation examinations are arranged twice a year. Upper secondary schools for adults also provide an opportunity to take the matriculation examination and to supplement the upper secondary school curriculum.
Vocational schools provide vocational qualifications. The studies take three years. Practical training is part of vocational school education. In addition to written exams, professional skills must be demonstrated in practice. Completing vocational education qualifies the student to seek admission to polytechnics or universities.
Finland also operates an apprenticeship training system. Young people already in working life can obtain basic vocational qualifications through apprenticeship training.
Finland has two types of higher education institutes, universities and polytechnics. The universities concentrate on academic and scientific research and teaching methods. The role of polytechnics is to respond to the needs of working life. The education focuses on developing professional skills.
Adult education and training offers citizens the opportunity to obtain education and complete qualifications at any stage of life. Adults can study either in the same educational institutions as young people, or at institutions and units aimed at adults, as is done in liberal adult education. Vocational upper secondary qualifications, further vocational qualifications and specialist vocational qualifications can also be obtained through competence tests independent of how the vocational skills have been acquired. Read More >>
 Finnish pupils spend the shortest amount of time in lessons |
First results from the PISA study of 40 countries put it top overall in the maths, reading and science tests.
PISA is a three-yearly appraisal of 15 year olds in the principal industrialised countries, organised by the OECD economic grouping.
The UK as a whole was excluded for failing to provide enough results, though Northern Ireland did well.
Maths focus
PISA - the Programme for International Student Assessment - aims to assess the knowledge and skills needed for full participation in society, rather than mastery of a curriculum.
It compares Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member nations and "partner countries" and regions, such as Russia and Brazil. 
The tests were taken by more than a quarter of a million students, representing about 23 million in the participating countries.
The focus of the 2003 study was mathematics, with problems mainly set in real-world situations, covering space and shape, change and relationships, quantity and uncertainty.
Hong Kong had a slightly higher mean score than Finland but on overall proficiency, Finland came top, ahead of South Korea then Canada, with Indonesia bottom.
The OECD used seven proficiency levels in increasing order of skill, from "below Level 1" to Level 6.
Half or more of the 15-year-olds reached at least Level 4 in Finland, South Korea and Hong Kong. 
In Mexico, only 3% did so - with an even lower percentage in Indonesia and Tunisia.
In most countries that are members of the OECD, at least three quarters of students reached Level 2 - but more than a quarter were unable to complete those tasks in Italy, Portugal and the US.
"These students fail to demonstrate consistently that they have baseline mathematical skills," the report said. Read More >>
Virtual Education in Research>>
Why is Finland’s Education System the Best in the World? - Read it
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