Progress of studies: documentation of statistics
The documentation of the statistics describes how the statistics were compiled and what methods were used in the compilation. The data help interpret the figures of the statistics and evaluate their reliability and comparability. The quality report is based on the EU's SIMS model. The documentation also contains change releases describing changes in the statistics and possible specifying methodological descriptions.
If you are looking for statistical figures for these statistics, go to the statistics page: Progress of studies
Quality report
Data description (SIMS 3.1)
The statistics on progress of studies describe completion of qualifications by students in post-comprehensive education within the target time. The data are produced by combining several register data and published once a year.
Sector coverage (SIMS 3.3)
The statistics on the progress of studies cover students in post-comprehensive education with a Finnish personal identity code.
All incorrect personal identification numbers are excluded from the examination, which causes some under-coverage in the pass rate data of students with foreign backgrounds.
Statistical unit (SIMS 3.5)
The statistical unit of the statistics on progress of studies is a person.
Statistical population (SIMS 3.6)
The statistical population consists of new students in post-comprehensive education.
These statistics describe how new entrants progress in their studies until the attainment of a qualification or degree. The statistics contain data on the education started, duration of education, change of education, and on what students have done if they have discontinued education.
The statistics describe persons who have a correct Finnish personal identity code. All incorrect personal identity codes are excluded from the review, which causes some under-coverage regarding the completion of a qualification or degree among students with a foreign background.
Reference area (SIMS 3.7)
The statistics describe persons studying in Finland. At regional level, the data are reported at the level of municipality or higher.
Time coverage (SIMS 3.8)
The statistics were produced for the first time in 2003, since when the statistics have been produced annually. The annual statistics are final.
Base period (SIMS 3.9)
The statistics annually examine a new cohort of entrants to education at different points in time after the start of their studies. An index is not calculated from the statistics.
Unit of measure (SIMS 4)
The units of measure of the statistics include the number of persons having started education and the proportion of persons who complete a qualification in the target time (%).
Reference period (SIMS 5)
The reference period of the Progress of Studies statistics is the calendar year.
Classifications (SIMS 3.2)
Data are produced in accordance with the National Classification of Education 2016, by level and field of education, among other things, as well as by regional classifications.
Concepts and definitions (SIMS 3.4)
Education
An organised activity, the aim of which is to produce competence based on teaching. Comment: Education can be divided into education and training leading to a qualification or degree and non-qualification studies.
Educational institution
An educational institution refers to an administrative unit with a principal or other head, which has teachers and other personnel in its service (role of employers), and which is liable to keep books and compile other documentation, in which students are registered, whose activities are regulated by a legal act or decree, which follows a national curriculum, and which is financed and controlled by a public authority. An educational institution does not refer to a school building or facility. A new educational institution is established, an educational institution is abolished or merged with another educational institution at the decision of the organiser of education (maintainer of the educational institution) or a public authority. Statistics Finland has assigned an individualised educational institution ID to each educational institution. Educational institutions are classified according to a classification of types of educational institutions.
Educational system
Early childhood education and care, pre-primary education, general comprehensive education of nine years, liberal adult education and post-comprehensive education, which includes vocational education, general upper secondary education and tertiary education provided by universities of applied sciences and universities.
Level of education
Category into which programmes leading to a qualification or degree are divided on the basis of the requirement level. Comment: Selection to education on a particular level of education often requires completion of a lower level of education. The level of education is measured on the basis of both the overall duration or target time of the education and the requirement level. Levels of education: early childhood education and care and pre-primary education (duration varies), primary education (6 years), lower secondary education (3 years, in total 9 years from the beginning of comprehensive education), upper secondary education (3 years, in total 12 years from the beginning of comprehensive education), post-secondary non-tertiary education (1-2 years, in total 13-14 years from the beginning of comprehensive education), lowest tertiary education (2-3 years, in total 14-15 years from the beginning of comprehensive education), bachelor's or equivalent level (3-4 years, in total 15-16 years from the beginning of comprehensive education), master's or equivalent level (5-6 years, in total 17-18 years from the beginning of comprehensive education) and second stage of tertiary education (2-4 years, in total 19-22 years from the beginning of comprehensive education). The level of education indicator cannot be calculated directly on the basis of the duration presented in this concept.
Main type of activity
The concept of main type of activity describes the nature of a person's economic activity. The population is divided into people in the labour force and those outside the labour force. These categories can further be divided into subgroups. The classification is based on data on a person's main type of activity during the last week of the year. The following classification is used: Labour force - employed labour force - unemployed Persons outside the labour force - 0-14-year-olds - students, pupils - pensioners - conscripts, conscientious objectors - others outside the labour force. Information on the main type of activity is based on data obtained from various registers. Where the data conflict as to whether a person is in the labour force or outside it, priority is given to the former. If, within the labour force, the data conflict as to whether a person is unemployed or employed, priority is given to the former. The group "others outside the labour force" consists of persons who are not in the labour force and do not belong to the following groups: 0-14-year-olds, students, conscripts, conscientous objectors or pensioners.
New student
In the statistics on entrants to education and progress of studies new students in upper secondary general education and university of applied sciences education refer to the students studying on 20 September who had registered into certain studies in the educational institution concerned between 1 January and 20 September. New students in vocational education refer to students who became registered in the educational institution during the calendar year studying in curriculum-based vocational education and attending education preparing for a skills examination, as well as students who have made an apprenticeship training agreement during the calendar year. Before 2013, new students in curriculum-based vocational education were those registered between 1 January and 20 September. From 2010 onwards, new students in university education refer to students having started studies leading to the current university degree at the university concerned and studying on 20 September. Previously, new students referred to students that had enrolled at the university concerned for the first time to study for a lower or upper university degree in any field of education and studying on 20 September. The number of new students is lower than in other statistics by sector of education because it only includes students with a correct Finnish personal ID number and because a new student is only included once in the number of students by sector of education, level of education or some other variable, such as educational institute.
Programme leading to a qualification or degree; formal education
Programme leading to a qualification or degree refers to education comprising the comprehensive education syllabus, the general upper secondary education syllabus, the matriculation examination, the international diplomas, the Gymnasieexamen diploma, or education and training leading to an initial vocational qualification, a further vocational qualification, a specialist vocational qualification, a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, a licentiate, a doctoral degree, or a specialist degree in veterinary medicine.
Qualification or degree
An accomplishment in accordance with the requirements laid down by the education authority subject to an administrative decision.
Qualification/Degree
In statistics on the educational structure of the population, transition form school to further education and work and progress of studies attainers of qualifications or degrees refer to completers of matriculation examination, international matriculation examinations (IB, Reifeprüfung or Gymnasieexamen examination), and attainers of vocational qualifications, university of applied sciences degrees, higher university of applied sciences degrees or university degrees by the end of the statistical reference year. Attainers of qualifications or degrees also include attainers of qualifications or degrees in the armed services, frontier guard service or abroad. One qualification or degree per person is included in statistics: vocational qualification attained at the highest level of education/most recently attained. The data are obtained from Statistics Finland's Register of Completed Education and Degrees. Data can only be entered into the Register for persons who have a Finnish personal ID number. For this reason data on the qualifications or degrees of persons without a personal ID number, e.g. many foreign persons, are missing from the Register.
Student
In the statistics on students and qualifications of educational institutions, on progress of studies, on employment of students and on transition from school to further education and work, students refer to the students attending upper secondary general, vocational, university of applied sciences education and university education leading to a qualification or degree and registered at educational institutions on 20 September and, since 2004, in respect of preparatory education for a skills examination and apprenticeship training, between 1 January and 31 December of the statistical reference year. In the statistics on students and qualifications of educational institutions, students also include comprehensive school students according to the situation on 20 September. Up to 2001, data on students in university education describe the situation on 31 December and include attainers of a degree in autumn.
Student
A learner studying in other than pre-primary or comprehensive education. Comment Students include persons studying in general upper secondary school, vocational upper secondary education and training, tertiary education and liberal adult education. Adults studying in comprehensive education are also referred to as students. In Statistics Finland's statistics the concept refers to upper secondary and tertiary level students. In Statistics Finland's statistics students are required to be registered at an educational institution.
Tertiary level degree
Lowest level tertiary or university degree completed after upper secondary qualification.
University education
Tertiary education provided by universities. Comment: The objective of the education is a bachelor’s or master’s degree or a scientific postgraduate degree, which are licentiate's and doctoral degrees. Education not leading to a qualification or degree can also be completed.
Vocational education and training
Education and training completed after the comprehensive education syllabus, aimed at producing vocational competence. Comment: Initial, further and specialist vocational qualifications can be obtained in vocational education and training. In addition to completing a qualification, parts of a qualification can also be completed in vocational education and training.
Institutional mandate (SIMS 6)
The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.
Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.
Further information: Statistical legislation
Data sharing (SIMS 6.2)
The data are distributed to the Education Administration as data according to an information service agreement.
The data from the Progress of Studies statistics are also used for international reporting, such as for producing education completion indicators published by the OECD.
Cost and burden (SIMS 16)
A total of 52 working days were used to produce the Progress of Studies statistics in 2025. The workload includes data processing, analysis, and publication.
The statistics impose no response burden, as they are compiled by combining several administrative register data sources. No separate data collection is required to produce the statistics.
Source data (SIMS 18.1)
The data used to produce the statistics are obtained from Statistics Finland’s individual-based Register of Completed Education and Degrees, employment and student data, and population data. The data from the employment statistics have been produced using existing administrative records. The release of the statistics is compiled from the preliminary data of the employment statistics and the main type of activity variable, which describes the situation in the last working day of the statistical reference year.
Data validation (SIMS 18.4)
The statistics are based on already published and validated student and qualification data. In the Progress of Studies statistics, changes that have occurred and the internal logical consistency of the data are checked.
Data compilation (SIMS 18.5)
The statistics on progress of studies are based on administrative data, for the production of which no further statistical measures are needed.
User needs (SIMS 12.1)
The data are used, among other things, for education planning, research, and evaluation. The statistical data are delivered for use by the education administration in accordance with the data service agreement between the Finnish National Agency for Education and the Ministry of Education and Culture. The education administration publishes more detailed data based on the material in its Vipunen statistical service.
The data from the Progress of Studies statistics are also used for international reporting, such as for producing education completion indicators published by the OECD.
User satisfaction (SIMS 12.2)
The contents of information service agreement materials are negotiated annually with the education administration.
The production of the statistics aims to take into account national and international data needs, if it is possible to produce them from source materials.
Overall accuracy (SIMS 13.1)
The statistics describe persons who have a correct Finnish personal identity code. All incorrect personal identity codes are excluded from the review, which causes some under-coverage regarding the completion of a qualification or degree among students with a foreign background.
Non-sampling error (SIMS 13.3)
The quality of the data is influenced by the quality of the registers used.
Coverage error (SIMS 13.3.1)
The statistics describe persons who have a correct Finnish personal identity code. All incorrect personal identity codes are excluded from the review, which causes some under-coverage regarding the completion of a qualification or degree among students with a foreign background.
Measurement error (SIMS 13.3.2)
There may be individual measurement errors in the dataset, which may be due to errors, for example, in the records administrators' incorrect entries or errors in the processing phase of the dataset. The accuracy of the data is monitored as part of the validation of the statistical process.
Processing error (SIMS 13.3.4)
Possible errors in the statistical release include, among other things, incorrect figures presented in the release texts, charts, or tables, or the use of incorrect concepts.
Quality assurance (SIMS 11.1)
Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The European Statistics Code of Practice forms the basis for the common quality system of the European Statistical System.
The Code of Practice is based on 16 principles that concern statistical authorities' independence, accountability and the quality of the processes and data to be published.
The principles are in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics approved by the United Nations Statistics Commission and are supplementary to them. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Further information: European Statistics Code of Practice | Statistics Finland and Recommendations of the Advisory Board of Official Statistics of Finland | Statistics Finland
Quality assessment (SIMS 11.2)
The quality of the data regarding those who have started education are assessed in relation to the student data. The data are also compared with the data on those who have discontinued education because the data describe the same phenomenon from different angles.
Timeliness (SIMS 14.1)
The data are published 15 months after the reference period.
Punctuality (SIMS 14.2)
The data are delivered in a timely manner. Any delays are reported on a case-by-case basis.
Comparability - geographical (SIMS 15.1)
The data cover the whole of Finland.
Comparability - over time (SIMS 15.2)
No time series data are published in the statistics. The review is always conducted on the starting cohort.
Coherence – cross domain (SIMS 15.3)
A corresponding topic is also examined in the statistics on discontinuation of education, although the perspective, indicators produced and reporting differ from the statistics on progress of studies.
The register-based data of education statistics are comparable with each other.
Coherence - internal (SIMS 15.4)
The data are internally coherent. Exceptions such as educational system reforms are reported separately.
Release calendar (SIMS 8.1)
Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data become public after they have been updated in the web service.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland
Release calendar access (SIMS 8.2)
Future publications of the statistics can be found on the page of the statistics at: Future publications of the statistics
User access (SIMS 8.3)
The data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may be processed at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics
Unless otherwise specifically stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer and copyright owner of the data. The terms of use for statistical data.
Frequency of dissemination (SIMS 9)
The statistics are published annually in February/March.
News release (SIMS 10.1)
The release is published annually on the home page of the statistics.
Online database (SIMS 10.3)
The database tables of the statistics can be found in the StatFin database.
The older database tables of the statistics are available in the archive database.
Micro-data access (SIMS 10.4)
The unit-level data of the statistics on the progress of studies are only used to produce the statistics. Persons other than those involved in the production of the statistics do not have access to unit-level data.
The unit-level data of the statistics are not released for researcher use.
Other (SIMS 10.5)
It is possible to produce fee-based ad hoc analyses from the data.
Confidentiality - policy (SIMS 7.1)
The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed. The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. Alongside the Statistics Act, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the Finnish Data Protection Act are applied to the processing of personal data. Provisions on the confidentiality of data collected for statistical purposes are laid down in the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
The data are processed only by persons who need the data in their work. The use of data is restricted by usage rights. All persons employed by Statistics Finland have signed a pledge of secrecy, where they have obliged to keep secret the data prescribed as confidential by virtue of the Statistics Act or the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
Confidentiality - data treatment (SIMS 7.2)
The key guideline in data protection activities is to avoid publishing statistical data in a form from which an individual person can be identified. Data on students and qualifications belonging to the organisers of education or educational institutions are otherwise in the public domain, because the education or training they organise is funded or supervised by a public authority (Section 12 of the Statistics Act).
The tables in the database are more standardised and more specific than the tables used in the statistical release. Background variables are also typically more detailed than those used in the tables of the statistical release.
To ensure data protection, the classification was already changed to less detailed at the table design stage; the database tables are not published using the most detailed possible classification variables for data protection reasons. For example, education data are made less detailed to the level and sub-level of education and the place of residence of the person who completed a qualification to the regional level, when the table contains data describing main type of activity.