Education
The school system is divided into pre-school, comprehensive school (6-16 years old), upper secondary and / or vocational school, and higher education (university or vocational institutes). In Finnish schools, great emphasis is put on foreign language education. The upper secondary school maintains the traditional general academic education. The studies in the upper secondary school are usually finalised in three years. However, based on their personal preferences and ambitions, students can choose to graduate in two or four years as well. At the end of their studies, students take a national-level matriculation examination.
The Finnish upper secondary school is based on a course system. The school year is divided into five or six periods and, for each period, there is a selection of courses to choose from. Some courses are obligatory, some are optional. Thus, in addition to the obligatory courses, a student in Finland can focus their studies on the subjects of their own interest. Finnish school subjects include physics, chemistry, mathematics, languages, Finnish language and literature, psychology, society studies, history, biology, geography, religion, sports, music and arts, among others.
A student can also choose a vocational school, e.g. business school, or corresponding study at high school.
Finland and its schools have been rated as one of the best educational systems in the world in the PISA studies for years.
For more about the Finnish school system, please see the website of the Centre for International Mobility of Finland http://www.cimo.fi/