General upper secondary education in English to commence in August 2026

The Ministry of Education and Culture has granted the first five authorisations to provide general upper secondary education in English. The authorisations were granted to Gradia, Jyväskylä Educational Consortium Gradia, and to the cities of Helsinki, Oulu, Pori and Tampere. This is part of the Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government.

The authorisation to provide education applies to Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Languages, Jyväskylän Lyseo Upper Secondary School, Oulun Lyseon lukio (upper secondary school), Porin lukio general upper secondary school and Pyynikin lukio upper secondary school (in Tampere).

“The aim is to make Finland more attractive for international stakeholders and returnees. It will also improve the educational rights of students with a limited knowledge of Finnish or Swedish", says Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz. 

The matriculation examination in English is intended for students whose language skills are too limited to be able to complete the general upper secondary education syllabus and the related matriculation examination in Finnish or Swedish. Matriculation candidates whose primary language is neither Finnish nor Swedish are required to pass a compulsory mother tongue and literature test in either Finnish or Swedish in the form of a second language and literature test.

General upper secondary education in English will begin on 1 August 2026 and applies to altogether around 200 students annually.

The first time the matriculation examination can be taken in English is in autumn 2028.

Inquiries: Jukka Tulivuori, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 330 002, [email protected]