National classification of education 2016

The national Classification of Education 2016 is primarily meant for national statistical reporting. The Classification of Education is used for classifying education obtained by the population, labour force, employees and other such personnel groups and individual people, as well as for the education activities of educational institutions. Statistics Finland and the educational administration agreed in spring 2016 on the adoption of the National Classification of Education. The classification will be taken into use for national statistical reporting concerning the statistical reference year 2016 at the latest.

The National Classification of Education 2016 is formed of fields of education on three levels and levels of education on two levels. All levels 1 to 3 of the field of education are the same as in ISCED 2011. Field of education level 1 (broad field) has 2 digits, level 2 (narrow field) 3 digits and level 3 (detailed field) 4 digits. Field of education, 1 level 00 Generic programmes and qualifications 01 Education 02 Arts and Humanities 03 Social sciences, journalism and information 04 Business, administration and law 05 Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 06 Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) 07 Engineering, manufacturing and construction 08 Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary 09 Health and welfare 10 Services 99 Unknown All levels of the field of education can be found under the national field of education 2016. The English nomenclature of all levels of the field of education is the field nomenclature of ISCED 2011, which is translated into Finnish and Swedish for national statistics compilation. Level 1 of the level of education is the same as in ISCED 2011. Level 1 of the level of education has one digit. Level 2 has two digits, which are used for national statistical needs and in early childhood education for international needs as well. The division of levels of education follows the structure of the education system, where education progresses from lower education levels to higher ones. The longer education takes, the higher the level of education is. The level of education is primarily determined by the target level of qualification. The target level is based on official syllabuses, normative lengths of education, basic training requirements and eligibility for further studies. Level of education, level 1 0 Early childhood education 1 Primary education 2 Lower secondary education 3 Upper secondary education 4 Post-secondary non-tertiary education 5 Short-cycle tertiary education 6 Bachelor's or equivalent level 7 Master's or equivalent level 8 Doctoral or equivalent level 9 Level of education unknown All levels of education can be found under the national level of education. The English nomenclature on level 1 of the level of education corresponds to the level nomenclature of ISCED 2011, which is translated into Finnish and Swedish for national statistics compilation. The Finnish names of level 2 of the level of education are translated into English and Swedish. The education headings of Statistics Finland's classification of education with 6-digit education codes (last renewed in 1997) can be linked to the National Classification of education. The first digit of the education code is the same as level 1 of the level of education. The other digits in the code are random from the viewpoint of the National Classification of Education. To make linking possible for all headings, the first digit of the 6-digit education code of specialist vocational qualifications is changed into 4. Statistics Finland and the education administration agreed in spring 2016 that starting from 2017, they would cease to maintain the classification conversion keys of the education administration's Classification of field of education and level of education 1995 and 2002 and UNESCO’s International Standard Classification of Education 1997 (ISCED 1997). This means that from 2018 on, the fields and levels of education of the above-mentioned classifications will no longer be maintained for 6-digit education codes.

The International Standard Classification of Education 2016 is based on UNESCO's International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED 2011).