Home > Statistics > Subject choices of students > 2009 > Subject choices of completers of upper secondary general school education > Subject choices of completers of upper secondary general school education in 2009

Published: 11 December 2009

Subject choices of completers of upper secondary general school education in 2009

According to Statistics Finland, nearly all completers of the full upper secondary general school syllabus in 2009 had studied English, and Finnish or Swedish during their attendance of upper secondary general school. German had been studied by 28 per cent, French by 18 per cent, Spanish by 12 per cent and Russian by seven per cent of the completers of upper secondary general school education. The proportions of those having studied other, more unusual foreign languages remained at four per cent or below. They also vary considerably between genders in several languages.

The completers of upper secondary general school studies had mainly taken English, Swedish or Finnish as a compulsory language subject. German, French, Spanish, Russian and other foreign languages had been mainly studied as an elective language. A total of 31,361 students completed the full upper secondary general school syllabus in spring 2009.

In spring 2009, 42 per cent of all completers of the full upper secondary general school syllabus - 35 per cent of female students and 52 per cent of male students - had taken the long syllabus in mathematics.

Language choices of completers of full upper secondary general school syllabus 2009

Language	Compulsory languages		Elective languages			Total	Share of completers of full upper secondary general school syllabus, %1)
			At least six courses		Fewer than six courses
	A language	B1 language	B2 language	B3 language
English	31,247	25	5	4	-	31,281	99.7
Swedish	2,687	26,121	-	3	49	28,860	92.0
Finnish	1,983	10	-	48	6	2,047	6.5
French	770	29	1,006	1,342	2,474	5,621	17.9
German	1,992	40	1,682	1,738	3,263	8,715	27.8
Russian	237	1	59	628	1,211	2,136	6.8
Sami	-	-	2	4	11	17	0.1
Latin	-	-	33	131	536	700	2.2
Spanish	7	-	47	1,378	2,427	3,859	12.3
Italian	-	-	8	260	1,027	1,295	4.1
Other	-	-	-	53	328	381	1.2
1) In spring 2009, completers of full upper secondary general school syllabus numbered 31,361.

Source: Education Statistics. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Ms Maija Sikanen +358 9 1734 2292, Ms Irma Suovirta +358 9 1734 3280, koulutustilastot@stat.fi

Director in charge: Mr Jari Tarkoma

---

Last updated 11.12.2009