Upper secondary students with inadequate Finnish or Swedish skills will be able to take classes and matriculation exams in English in coming years, the Finnish National Agency for Education announced on Monday.
However only students with insufficient abilities in the country's official languages, Finnish or Swedish, will be able to do so.
Currently, matriculation exams — which high school students take at the end of their studies — are only available in the two local languages.
Parliament approved the changes in December. English-language upper secondary education is scheduled to begin in August 2026, according to the agency.
"The tests that make up the matriculation examination can be completed in English from autumn 2028 onwards," an agency press release explained.
In 2023 the All Points North podcast covered the post-16 gap in educational provision in English. You can listen to the episode here.
Attracting talent
"The objective of the reform is to strengthen Finland's attractiveness among international actors and returnees. The reform will improve the right to education of students with poor Finnish or Swedish language skills," it said.
Yle News spoke with Education Minister Anders Adlercreutz (SPP) about the reforms last November. He said the addition of English is not meant to replace the local languages.
"I think it's important that we in Finland realise that we have to make reforms to attract talent. And when you attract talent, it's a necessity that their family also can settle down in Finland, and I think this is a step in the right direction," he said at the time.
The rollout of English will likely first occur in cities, according to the agency's counsellor of education unit chief, Petri Lehikoinen.
"English-language general upper secondary education will most likely be initially provided at the general upper secondary schools and adult general upper secondary schools of large cities and regional centres where there is sufficient demand for it," Lehikoinen said in the release.
After the changes, a selection of upper secondary schools will continue offering the possibility of studying in English in International Baccalaureate Diploma Programmes (IBDP).
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