Number of students in educational institutions in Finland 2023, by institution

With over half a million students, comprehensive schools accounted for the largest educational institution in Finland in 2023. These schools provide elementary education and include primary schools (grades 1 to 6) and secondary schools (grades 7 to 9). That year, there were roughly 422 thousand students in adult education centers, and 253.8 thousand students in vocational institutions.

The region of Uusimaa with the highest number of pupils

Uusimaa, Finland's most populous region with the capital city Helsinki, had over 500 comprehensive schools. Consequently, with roughly 170 thousand pupils, the region also had the highest number of children attending primary and secondary schools.

Finland’s PISA performance declining

Finland is globally acknowledged as one of the top countries when it comes to the education system. The Nordic country ranked first in the quality of primary education in 2017/2018, passing countries such as Singapore and Belgium. However, while the pupils in the country perform well overall, the student performance according to the PISA score has decreased since 2009. Furthermore, gender gap in PISA scores of girls and boys has widened in recent years.