Address
Eurydice Finland
Ennakointi ja analyysi / Foresight and analysis
Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI)
P.O. Box 380 (Hakaniemenranta 6)
FI-00531 Helsinki
Tel: +358 295 33 11 17
E-Mail: KV-tiimi@oph.fi
Website
2026
New Competency Path service supports education and career choices in Finland
Finland has launched a new national digital service called Competency Path. The service helps people understand their skills, explore new opportunities, and make informed decisions about education and careers at different stages of life. It is designed for everyone — young people, students, jobseekers, and adults already in working life.
A central feature of the service is My Competency Path, a personal workspace where users can create their own competence profile. This profile helps them follow their progress as they plan their next steps. The service also offers access to guidance and advisory tools that support career changes, further studies, and professional development. By combining users’ self‑assessed strengths with extensive data on education and labour markets, Competency Path can reveal both traditional and unexpected opportunities.
Competency Path is part of a broader national service ecosystem together with Studyinfo, Job Market Finland, and Opin.fi. These services work together to support lifelong learning, career planning, and job searching. Competency Path helps users identify direction, while Studyinfo and the other services guide them toward concrete options and application processes.
The service is developed and maintained by Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. Competency Path was created between 2021 and 2025 as part of the Digital Service Package for Continuous Learning (JOD) project, funded by the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). By bringing together up‑to‑date information about education, skills, and labour markets, the service supports both individuals and organisations involved in learning and working life. (Source: Ministry of Education and Culture)
A New Vision for Higher Education and Research Is Being Prepared
The Ministry of Education and Culture has launched the renewal of the vision for higher education and research. The previous vision was drawn up in 2017, and since then the operating environment of higher education institutions has changed considerably. The new vision aims to respond to societal changes and establish long-term strategic directions for the development of higher education and research.
The vision work began in 2025 with a situational analysis and the definition of objectives. During spring 2026, policy recommendations will be prepared. The renewal process involves a wide range of actors from the higher education and research sectors, as well as representatives of various stakeholders. The completed vision and policy recommendations are planned to be published in early summer 2026.
More information is available on the Government website: Finnish parliamentary groups committed to preparing vision for higher education and research - Finnish Government
2025
Application Fees for Applicants from Outside the EU/EEA
Starting from the autumn term 2025, citizens of countries outside the EU/EEA must pay an application fee in order to apply for a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Finland. The amount of the application fee is 100 euros. The purpose of the application fee is to act as a deterrent to applications submitted on weak grounds and to increase applicants’ commitment to the application process.
Implementation of the Equality and Equity Development Programme Begins
The Ministry of Education and Culture has prepared a development programme for equality and equity, aimed at all levels of education. The programme, which spans the years 2025–2027, seeks to strengthen the competence and knowledge base of professionals in education and upbringing regarding equality and equity. The goal is for actors within the education system to better identify, prevent, and address bullying, harassment, and discrimination based on personal characteristics.
The programme also promotes the participation of children, young people, and students at all levels of education and upbringing. It includes ten concrete measures, such as strengthening staff competence in equality and equity issues by providing a continuing professional education programme for teachers.
Teacher education 2050 : Vision for Finnish Teacher Education
The Finnish Teacher Education Forum, a collaborative body tasked with strengthening Finland's research-based teacher education, has released a new vision for Finnish teacher education, "Teacher Education 2050."
The vision guides the development of pre- and in-service teacher education and continuous learning. It emphasizes teachers' strong professional agency and broad expertise to address complex challenges and future uncertainties and to promote learning and wellbeing equally and equitably throughout life. The development focus areas defined by the vision are:
1. Enhancing attractiveness and retention through predictions and student admissions
2. Continuous development of teacher expertise
3. Strengthening teacher education through collaboration and networks
4. Skilful leadership enhancing educational institutions to become learning and evolving communities
For further information: Teacher education 2050 : Vision for Finnish Teacher Education
2024
New Funding Model for Higher Education Institutions - first-time students emphasized
The funding model for universities and universities of applied sciences will change in 2025. The funding allocated to higher education institutions will partly be determined based on the number of first-time students. Conversely, institutions will receive less funding for students pursuing a second or additional degree at the same level. The significance of students completing their degrees within the target timeframe will also be emphasized in the funding allocation.
The reform aims to support the increase in the overall level of education, enhance the efficient use of educational capacity, and improve the completion rate of studies. The Finnish Government approved the reform in the spring of 2024.
Despite the changes, the basic principles of higher education funding models will remain the same. Funding will continue to be based on the institutions' performance in education and research, as well as strategic funding. Employment outcomes of graduates and feedback from students on the quality of education will remain key funding criteria. Additionally, the allocation of core funding as a single entity to the institution will stay unchanged, and higher education institutions will retain autonomy in deciding how to use the funding granted to them.
Finland will reform university entrance exams with the aim of simplifying the application process and reducing the load on applicants
In Finland, admission to universities is granted either through certificate-based selection, which evaluates a student's performance in the matriculation examination taken at the end of general upper secondary studies, or through an entrance exam measuring both general academic readiness and field-specific skills. In recent years, the majority of students have been selected based on their upper secondary level certificates, with a smaller portion admitted through entrance exam performance.
Starting in 2025, the number of entrance exams will decrease from the current 120 to just 9. The large number of exams has led to the overlapping scheduling of tests for different universities and fields of study. The reform introduces joint entrance exams that combine multiple fields of study and will be organised in a way that avoids overlapping schedules, allowing more applicants to apply to all the programs they are interested in.
Additionally, the exams will be held slightly later than before, allowing applicants to receive their certificate-based selection results before taking the entrance exams. Currently, most entrance exams are held in late May and early June, at a time when not all certificate-based selection results are available, forcing some applicants to prepare for the entrance exams to be on the safe side.
To aid in exam preparation, applicants are given pre-reading materials. With the reform, the amount of pre-reading will be significantly reduced, and the materials will be made available 2–4 days before the exams, depending on the field of study.
This reform applies to written entrance exams for universities and will not affect aptitude tests used in programs such as teacher education.
A section common to all applicants and a separate section for each field of education
All the renewed entrance examinations will have a common test section for all applicants, which measures general academic readiness and the skills and competences that are central to all the fields of education involved in the examination. In addition, there will be a separate section for applicants in each field of education, which measures the essential generic skills required for studies in the field in question, as well as competence related to the field of education.
Many fields, such as engineering and education, already have decades of experience with joint entrance exams between universities. According to these experiences, common entrance exams work well from both the applicants' and universities' perspectives.
Changes to tuition fees for non-EU and non-EEA students
Finnish Government has proposed changes to the tuition fees for non-EU and non-EEA students. Application fees for such students will also be introduced according to the proposal. The changes would apply to students coming to Finland from non-EU and non-EEA countries to attend degree programmes where instruction is given in English.
According to the proposal, the tuition fees should cover the cost of education provided. The amendments would be a step towards charging tuition fees at full cost. This has been an objective for the present Government of Prime Minister Orpo. Persons who have entered Finland based on a residence permit for studies would remain liable to pay tuition fees even if they change the basis of their residence permit. Beneficiaries of temporary protection would not be liable to pay tuition fees.
In addition, the Government aims to introduce an application fee for citizens of non-EU and non-EEA countries. The objective is to reduce the number of low-quality applications, which have caused extra work for higher education institutions.
The provisions on application fees would enter into force on 1 August 2025 and the provisions on the tuition fees on 1 August 2026.
For more information: https://okm.fi/en/-/government-proposes-changes-to-tuition-fees-for-non-eu-and-non-eea-students
The Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland is investing EUR 255 million into piloting new practices in doctoral education in 2024-2027
This action is part of Finland's strategy to enhance international competitiveness, foster innovation, and better utilise research-based knowledge. The doctoral education pilot is part of an increase in research and development funding, aiming to raise R&D funding to 4% of the GDP by 2030.
This initiative will fund 1,000 doctoral researchers with three-year employment contracts to complete their degrees. The funding will support 15 field-specific doctoral education pilots. Among the fields are for example cancer medicine, artificial intelligence, and social services, with the largest pilot in software development education involving 49 doctoral researchers across 9 universities.
Doctors are traditionally educated for service in universities, but one of the goals with this pilot is for an increasing number of doctors to also work in the private companies in the future. The expertise of doctors is utilised more widely in many European countries than in Finland.
The first doctoral researchers will begin in the field-specific pilots in August 2024. The Ministry of Education and Culture will establish a monitoring group and a research evaluation project for the doctoral education piloting.
The pilot will increase the number of doctoral candidates. Between 2024 and 2030 more than 2,000 doctorates each year is needed to R&D work. In Finland 1,623 doctoral degrees were completed in 2022.
More information
Ministry of Education and Culture:
https://okm.fi/-/yliopistoille-lisarahoitus-tuhannen-uuden-tohtorin-kouluttamiseen?languageId=en_US
Research Council of Finland: