General upper secondary education in different languages

In general upper secondary education, you study many of the same school subjects as in comprehensive school. In addition to the compulsory studies, you study optional subjects, and get to plan your individual study path. In the city's general upper secondary schools in Helsinki, you can study in the general track or apply to a general upper secondary school that has a special emphasis, such as physical education, languages, technology or visual arts. 

Most of the general upper secondary school provide teaching in Finnish or Swedish, and the National Matriculation Examination that you must take at the end of your studies to graduate is available only in Finnish or Swedish. For these reasons, you should have good skills in Finnish or Swedish before applying.

General upper secondary school usually starts in the year you turn 16 and take two to four years to finish, depending on your pace. To graduate from general upper secondary education, you need to complete the general upper secondary syllabus of 150 study credits and pass the National Matriculation Examination in your final year. 

The city of Helsinki has 15 general upper secondary schools that can be applied to during the joint application period in the spring. The Konepaja Upper Secondary School for Adults offers Finnish-language upper secondary syllabi for adults. At Tölö gymnasium Upper Secondary School, adults can study upper secondary syllabi in Swedish. You can sign up for courses at both of these upper secondary schools flexibly all year round.

Have you completed basic education in Finland or in another country? Would you like to improve your skills before entering general upper secondary or vocational education and training, or strengthen your Finnish or Swedish language skills before starting upper secondary studies? 

In that case, you should consider preparatory education for an upper secondary qualification in Finnish (TUVA) or Swedish (Hux), which can also be a good option if you wish to refine your plans for further studies and improve your basic education grades. 

TUVA and Hux also allow you to study vocational qualification and general upper secondary school units, which can be accredited to a later degree. 

Read more:

• Preparatory education for an upper secondary qualification in Finnish (TUVA)
• TUVA education provided by Stadin AO (Link leads to external service)
• Preparatory education for an upper secondary qualification in Swedish (Hux), page in Swedish

Almost all upper secondary education requires good Finnish or Swedish language skills. You should also study Finnish or Swedish because proficiency in Finnish or Swedish will increase your chances and opportunities to apply for further studies. Also, many employers value proficiency in Finnish or Swedish.

Where to learn Finnish

• If you are or will be 16 years of age this year, you can apply for preparatory education for basic education in Finnish.

• If you are or will be 17 years of age or over this year, you can apply independently for a Finnish language course of your choice (see, for example, the adult education centres’ ‘Finnish as a second language’ courses in the Ilmonet service(Link leads to external service) and the course offering in the Finnishcourses.fi service(Link leads to external service)). Please note that these studies are considered voluntary activities supporting integration: you cannot complete compulsory education by attending language courses. 

• If you have not completed basic education, basic education for adults may be a good choice for you. The City of Helsinki organises basic education for adults in Finnish at Helsinki Upper Secondary School for Adults. You can also check what private schools have to offer.

Where to learn Swedish

• If you are or will be 16 years of age this year, you can apply for preparatory education for basic education in Swedish.
• If you are or will be 17 years of age or over this year, you can apply independently for a Swedish language course of your choice (see, for example, the adult education centres’ ‘Swedish as a second language’ courses in the Ilmonet service(Link leads to external service) and Luckan’s Swedish language courses in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area(Link leads to external service). Please note that these studies are considered voluntary activities supporting integration: you cannot complete compulsory education by attending language courses. 
• If you have not completed basic education, basic education for adults may be a good choice for you. The City of Helsinki organises basic education for adults in Swedish at Tölö Gymnasium Upper Secondary School.