What is my language of secondary education?

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By selecting a degree programme you are able to see the general content as well as the possible degree programme-specific content. You do not have to select a degree programme to see the Open University's instructions.

In these instructions, the term ‘languages of secondary education’ refers to Finnish and Swedish. If you completed your secondary education in another language, the language of your secondary education is “other than Finnish or Swedish”.

How to define the language of your secondary education

If you have studied Finnish or Swedish as your native language at a Finnish comprehensive school and/or general upper secondary school:

  • The language of your secondary education is the language in which you have completed the native language syllabus at comprehensive school and/or general upper secondary school. In other words, the language of your secondary education can be verified from your Finnish school-leaving certificate.
  • A Finnish matriculation examination or an equivalent international examination (IB, EB, Reifeprüfung, Deutsche Internationale Abitur) has no bearing on the language of your secondary education.
  • If you have completed a vocational upper secondary qualification instead of studying at general upper secondary school after comprehensive school, or if you have completed your secondary education outside Finland, the language of your upper secondary education is the language in which you completed the native language syllabus at comprehensive school.
  • If you have not completed secondary education, the language of your upper secondary education is the language in which you completed the native language syllabus at comprehensive school.
  • If you have not completed native language studies in Finnish or Swedish at general upper secondary school (for example, you attended a general upper secondary school offering the IB diploma), but completed the native language syllabus in Finnish or Swedish at comprehensive school, the language of your secondary education is the language in which you completed the native language syllabus at comprehensive school.
  • If you have completed the native language syllabus in Finnish at comprehensive school, but in Swedish at general upper secondary school – or vice versa – you can choose which of the two is the language of your secondary education. However, you cannot change the language of your secondary education during your university studies: you must complete the required native language studies, the maturity test and the studies in the second national language of Finland according to your choice of language of secondary education.

If you have studied Finnish or Swedish as a second language at a Finnish comprehensive school or general upper secondary school:

  • The syllabus of the subject “native language and literature, Finnish/Swedish as a second language” you have completed at comprehensive school or general upper secondary school does not mean that Finnish or Swedish is the language of your secondary education. If you have not completed the native language syllabus in Finnish or Swedish at comprehensive school or general upper secondary school, the language of your secondary education is “other than Finnish or Swedish”.
  • A Finnish matriculation examination, an equivalent international examination (IB, EB, Reifeprüfung, Deutsche Internationale Abitur) or separate tests associated with them have no bearing on the language of your secondary education.

If you have studied Finnish or Swedish as your native language at a Finnish comprehensive school and/or general upper secondary school abroad:

  • The language of your secondary education is the language in which you have completed the native language syllabus at comprehensive school and/or general upper secondary school. In other words, the language of your secondary education can be verified from your school-leaving certificate from Finnish comprehensive school or general upper secondary school completed abroad.

If you have not completed your secondary school education (comprehensive school and general upper secondary school) at a Finnish school, but, for example, outside Finland or at a general upper secondary school offering the IB diploma:

  • If you have no school leaving certificate from a Finnish comprehensive school or general upper secondary school , the language of your secondary education is “other than Finnish or Swedish”.

What role does the language of secondary education play?

In a bachelor’s degree

The language of your secondary education determines how and in which languages you will complete the native language studies and studies in the second national language of Finland as well as the maturity test required for your degree.

In a master’s degree

If you are pursuing only a master’s degree and the language of your secondary education is Finnish or Swedish, but you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside Finland, you must demonstrate your language proficiency as part of your master's degree. The language of your secondary education determines how and in which languages you will complete the required language studies.

In employment

If the language of your secondary education is Finnish or Swedish and you have completed the maturity test in the same language, your diploma demonstrates that you have excellent proficiency in the language in question, as required for central-government positions in the language of the majority population in bilingual areas. Such proficiency is also an asset when seeking other work (Government Decree No 481/2003 on the demonstration of language skills in Finnish and Swedish).

If the language of your secondary education is other than Finnish or Swedish, your diploma does not demonstrate that you have the excellent proficiency in Finnish or Swedish required for central-government positions in the language of the majority population in bilingual areas (Government Decree No 481/2003 on the demonstration of language skills in Finnish and Swedish). Instead, you can demonstrate that you have the required language proficiency as follows:

  • You completed the native language test (Finnish or Swedish) included in the Finnish matriculation examination with the grade of magna cum laude approbatur or higher;
  • You completed the Finnish as a second language test or the Swedish as a second language test included in the Finnish matriculation examination with the grade of eximia cum laude approbatur or higher; or
  • You earn the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate with the grade of excellent or the equivalent National Certificate of Language Proficiency with the grade of 6. Further information about language certificates is available on the website of the Finnish National Agency for Education.