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Published: 25 May 2010

Language choices of comprehensive school pupils in 2009

According to Statistics Finland, English was the most commonly studied foreign language on grades 1 to 6 of comprehensive school in the autumn semester of 2009. Sixty-eight per cent of the pupils attending grades 1 to 6 studied English either as a compulsory or optional foreign language. The percentages of pupils studying other foreign languages remained at 5 per cent or below. A total of 347,060 pupils attended grades 1 to 6. 177 888 of the pupils were boys and 169 172 were girls. Nearly all pupils attending grades 7 to 9 studied both English and Swedish or Finnish either as mother tongue, or as a compulsory, optional or elective foreign language. German was studied by 11 per cent and French by 6 per cent of the pupils attending grades 7 to 9, mainly as an optional or elective foreign language. A total of 191,684 pupils attended grades 7 to 9. 97 957 of the pupils were boys and 93 727 were girls.

Language choices of comprehensive school pupils in 2009

  Compulsory language A1 Optional language A2 Compulsory language B1 Elective language B2 Total Share of pupils in grades 1-6 % Share of pupils in grades 7-9 %
Grades Studied language              
Grades 1-6 English 221 473 13 214 . . 234 687 67.6 .
Swedish 2 907 12 921 . . 15 828 4.6 .
Finnish 14 164 1 127 . . 15 291 4.4 .
French 2 075 4 298 . . 6 373 1.8 .
German 3 113 9 633 . . 12 746 3.7 .
Russian 755 828 . . 1 583 0.5 .
Sami 1 235 . . 236 0.1 .
Other 252 436 . . 688 0.2 .
Grades 7-9 English 174 252 15 569 333 75 190 229 . 99.2
Swedish 2 239 12 393 161 550 8 176 190 . 91.9
Finnish 10 447 1 032 200 2 11 681 . 6.1
French 1 401 3 981 277 5 756 11 415 . 6.0
German 2 103 10 304 350 8 760 21 517 . 11.2
Russian 490 258 . 1 515 2 263 . 1.2
Sami 4 35 . 12 51 . 0.0
Latin 0 0 . 631 631 . 0.3
Other 30 360 . 1 857 2 247 . 1.2

Source: Education 2009. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Irma Suovirta (09) 1734 3280, Maija Sikanen (09) 1734 2292, koulutustilastot@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

Publication in pdf-format (193.9 kB)

Tables

Appendix tables


Updated 25.5.2010

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Subject choices of students [e-publication].
ISSN=1799-1056. Subject choices of comprehensive school pupils 2009. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 10.11.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ava/2009/02/ava_2009_02_2010-05-25_tie_001_en.html