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)

Finland to introduce tuition fees for upper secondary students from non-EU countries

Finland will introduce tuition fees for students from non‑EU and non‑EEA countries in both general upper secondary education and vocational education and training. From August 2026, the fees will mainly apply to new students from third countries who come to Finland with a residence permit issued for studies. Students with a permanent residence permit in Finland, as well as exchange students, will not have to pay the fees. Students receiving temporary protection will also be exempt from the fees, in the same way as in higher education.

Municipal funding can no longer be used to cover the costs of students who are required to pay tuition. Education providers must therefore finance these costs through the new tuition fees.

Education in Finland is free for young people who fall under compulsory education. Anyone under 18 who permanently lives in Finland with their family and has been assigned a municipality of residence is within compulsory education and does not pay tuition fees.

However, minors under 18 who live in Finland only because they hold a residence permit for studies are not considered to be within compulsory education. They must therefore pay tuition fees, even if they have a municipality of residence.

More information Tuition fees in upper secondary education

2025

Flexible authorisations to provide VET qualifications

Finland will launch an eight-year pilot in 2026 to test a more flexible licensing model VET. The reform aims to make VET provision more responsive to labour market needs and strengthen collaboration between providers, public administration, and regional actors.

Forty VET providers, selected from 85 applicants, will receive broad experimental authorisations to offer nearly all Finnish qualifications, including programmes in English. Exceptions apply only to qualifications with exceptionally high delivery costs, legally regulated or internationally bound competence requirements, or cases where broad authorisation could undermine specialised providers.

The Ministry of Education and Culture will agree on specific objectives with each provider in spring 2026 and monitor progress throughout the pilot. The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) will conduct an independent evaluation of the outcomes and impacts.

New Guidelines for Entrepreneurship Education and Financial Literacy Across All Education Levels

The Ministry of Education and Culture’s working group is preparing new guidelines to strengthen entrepreneurship education and financial literacy across all education levels. The update considers 21st-century changes, including digitalization, the green transition, and ethical and responsible entrepreneurship.

In vocational education, entrepreneurship education is included in qualifications such as the Entrepreneurial Vocational Qualification and Business Vocational Qualifications, supporting students’ work-life and entrepreneurial skills.

The guidelines also promote financial literacy as a key civic skill, enhancing individual well-being and helping prevent over-indebtedness. The work is being developed in collaboration with advisory councils and other stakeholders, supporting the goals of government program “A Strong and Caring Finland” (2023–2027).

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 objectives, such as strengthening staff competence in equality and equity issues and dismantling gender segregation in VET to promote gender equality.

https://okm.fi/en/-/ministry-of-education-and-culture-promotes-equity-and-non-discrimination-across-the-whole-education-system

Vocational education is driving changes in the workforce with new modules focused on the digital and green transition

Optional modules that develop skills needed for the green transition and digitalization are being added to vocational and specialist qualification criteria. These modules have already been included in the first set of qualifications and will be added to others by the end of 2027. Additionally, the range of options for choosing qualifications is being expanded.The new qualification modules are specifically designed for students who are enhancing, deepening, or renewing their professional skills. These modules can be studied individually, for example, alongside work or as part of a degree program.

VET teachers need up-to-date skills to implement new optional qualification modules and provide the workforce with necessary expertise. The Finnish National Agency for Education encourages vocational education providers to collaborate on implementing the new modules. This collaboration fosters dialogue among teachers from different fields and helps create a shared understanding of the introduction, teaching requirements, and skill assessment for the new modules.

National recommendations on the use of AI in education

In March 2025, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI) released national recommendations on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in early childhood education and care, primary and lower secondary education, general and vocational upper secondary education, as well as liberal adult education. These recommendations outline legal obligations and guidelines to support the responsible, safe, and innovative use of AI in educational settings.

The guidelines emphasize that education providers must establish clear policies and provide guidance to staff on the use of AI applications. Before implementing AI tools, providers are responsible for assessing their compliance with relevant laws, such as the EU AI Act, data protection regulations, and copyright legislation, as well as their alignment with the objectives of the national core curricula.

A wide range of evidence, including international comparative data, was used in the development of these recommendations. The process also involved extensive consultations with various stakeholders, including educators, researchers, and families. Children and young people were engaged through participatory methods to ensure their perspectives were considered in shaping the final recommendations.

The "AI in Education – Legislation and Recommendations" material aims to support education providers in utilizing AI as part of teaching and learning. The material is divided into two parts: obligations and recommendations, and the background materials that support them. The material is available on the EDUFI website in Finnish and Swedish, and later also in English.

2024

Support for learning will be reformed 

The goal of Finland’s current government program is to clarify learning support and unify the continuum of learning support from early childhood education to upper secondary education. A key focus is to shift the emphasis of support towards early intervention.

The Ministry of Education and Culture is undergoing legislative changes, through which the learning support system will be reformed at all educational levels. The changes concerning vocational education and training are aimed to come into effect on January 1, 2026.

The legislative changes are scheduled to proceed to the Parliament for decision in the fall of 2024. The legislative reforms will not cause changes to the requirements for VET qualifications. The guide "Special Support in Vocational Education and training" will be updated to align with the legislative changes.

The effectiveness of preparatory education for an upper secondary qualification (TUVA) was evaluated

The preparatory education for an upper secondary qualification (TUVA) supports students in preparing for general upper secondary or VET studies by providing individualized support and guidance. TUVA education started on 1 August 2022. The effectiveness of the TUVA education was evaluated through a survey with responses from 1,936 individuals across Finland. Additionally, extensive interview data was collected.

According to the evaluation, students are generally satisfied with the TUVA education, although there are differences in the adequacy of guidance. Teachers appreciate the program's flexibility but require more resources for special education and guidance. Challenges for the TUVA education includes the high number of non-native students and language proficiency requirements.

Education providers view the system as functional, but it is criticized for insufficient amount of special education. According to the evaluation, effective student welfare is crucial because the support needs of students in the TUVA education are diverse.Proposed improvements include enhancing the funding system and clarifying students’ language proficiency requirements before starting the TUVA education.

Finland’s National Implementation Plan (NIP) has been updated 

In Finland, the most important instrument for implementing the Council of the European Union Recommendation and the Osnabrück Declaration in VET policy is the Education Policy Report of the Finnish Government. The strategic report, which steers the development of entire education system in the long term, describes the target state of education and research into the 2030s and towards the 2040s. The report also presents the resources needed to achieve the target state and the need for changes in structures and guidance. The report examines VET and its development as part of the entire education system and its development.

The Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government  has been implemented in Finland June 2023, and the National Implementation Plan (NIP) was updated in February 2024 to correspond to the development measures under the new Government Programme. The key development measures are related to strengthening the impact and overall efficiency of VET activities. The first version of the National Implementation Plan 2022 was based on the Programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Government.