Subject choices of students in upper secondary level education in 2018

According to Statistics Finland, nearly all students attending upper secondary general education in autumn 2018 studied English as a foreign language. A majority of students in vocational education, 94 per cent, also studied English. Ninety-two per cent of students in upper secondary general education and 86 per cent of students in vocational education studied Swedish. Of students in upper secondary general education, 61 per cent studied two languages and 38 per cent studied three or more languages.

Number of languages studied by students in upper secondary general and vocational education in 2018

Number of foreign languages	Upper secondary general education	Share of students, %	Vocational education	Share of students, %
0	0	0,0	7 264	5,6
1	1 435	1,4	5 506	4,3
2	62 954	60,6	111 872	86,7
3	32 651	31,4	3 830	3,0
4	5 934	5,7	480	0,4
5	732	0,7	50	0,0
6	114	0,1	4	0,0
Students total	103 820	100	129 006	100

The share of students in vocational education studying two languages was 87 per cent. Three per cent of students in vocational education studied three or more languages.

Languages studied by students in upper secondary general and vocational education in 2018

Language studied	Upper secondary general education	Share of students, %	Vocational education	Share of students, %
English	103 442	99,6	120 814	93,6
Swedish	95 046	91,5	111 491	86,4
Finnish	6 703	6,5	5 983	4,6
French	9 792	9,4	778	0,6
German	16 239	15,6	717	0,6
Russian	5 535	5,3	1 524	1,2
Spanish	14 113	13,6	1 314	1,0
Italian	867	0,8	29	0,0
Sami	32	0,0	3	0,0
Latin	631	0,6	4	0,0
Other	976	0,9	277	0,2
Students total	103 820	.	129 006	.

The order of the five most commonly studied languages in upper secondary general education has remained the same from 2014 to 2018 (see Appendix tables). The languages most commonly studied are English, Swedish, German, Spanish and French. In 2014, two languages were usually studied in upper secondary general education, and this was also the situation in 2018. The share of those studying three or more languages has decreased by around three percentage points compared to 2014.

Since 2014, the most commonly studied languages in vocational education have been English and Swedish. Two languages are also typically studied in vocational education.

Source: Education. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Vesa Hämäläinen 029 551 2594, koulutustilastot@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Tables

Appendix tables

Updated 18.12.2019

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Subject choices of students [e-publication].
ISSN=1799-1056. Subject choices of students in upper secondary level education 2018. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 22.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ava/2018/01/ava_2018_01_2019-12-18_tie_001_en.html