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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

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Subject choices of students [e-publication].
ISSN=1799-1056. Subject choices of completers of upper secondary general school education 2009. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 29.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ava/2009/01/ava_2009_01_2009-12-11_tie_001_en.html