Vantaa wants upper secondary school education in English, not all high school students have sufficient Finnish skills

English-language teaching is scheduled to begin in August next year at Aviapolis Upper Secondary School.

Vantaa plans to start English-language upper secondary education as part of Aviapolis upper secondary school in August 2026, if the Ministry of Education and Culture grants permission.

The education is intended for students whose Finnish or Swedish language skills are not sufficient to complete upper secondary school and who are considered capable of completing their upper secondary school studies in English.

If the Ministry of Education and Culture grants permission, education would begin in August next year as part of Aviapolis Upper Secondary School.

Vantaa plans to start upper secondary education in English. The Education and Learning Board decided on Tuesday that the city will apply for permission for the education from the Ministry of Education and Culture.

If the ministry grants permission, teaching will begin in August next year at Aviapolis Upper Secondary School. Construction of the upper secondary school, which will be located near Aviapolis Railway Station, began in the spring.

The law has added the possibility of completing upper secondary education and the matriculation examination in English. The education is intended for students whose language skills are not sufficient to complete upper secondary education in Finnish or Swedish.

A student’s Finnish language skills are considered sufficient if they have studied in Finnish-language basic education for at least three years, says Hanna Kukkonen, Development Manager for Secondary Education from the City of Vantaa.

According to Kukkonen, in March there were 129 ninth-grade students in Vantaa who had lived in Finland for less than three years.

Of these, 17 are studying at the Vantaa International School in English. In addition, there are students in Finnish-language schools whose Finnish language skills are not sufficient to complete upper secondary school, Kukkonen says.

Not all students whose Finnish or Swedish language skills are sufficient to complete upper secondary school are necessarily immigrants. According to Kukkonen, they may include, for example, return migrants who have attended school abroad before returning to Finland.

Students may also include children whose parent or parents have come to Finland on a temporary work assignment.

Vantaa has planned to have thirty starting places for English-language upper secondary education. The total number of students in the education would then be 90–100. In total, Aviapolis upper secondary school can accommodate approximately 700 students.

Kukkonen says that it is difficult to predict whether everyone who is willing and suitable for the education will be able to access English-language upper secondary education if the education begins.

“After the first joint search, we will know what the situation is.”