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Published: 23 May 2014

Majority of comprehensive school pupils study English

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 2013. Sixty-six 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.

Language choices of comprehensive school pupils in 2013

  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 218 473 13 765 . . 232 238 66.0 .
Swedish 2 996 12 885 . . 15 881 4.5 .
Finnish 14 038 872 . . 14 910 4.2 .
French 2 671 4 491 . . 7 162 2.0 .
German 3 053 10 227 . . 13 280 3.8 .
Russian 1 034 1 850 . . 2 884 0.8 .
Spanish 345 1 081 . . 1 426 0.4 .
Italian 0 0 . . 0 0.0 .
Sami 2 220 . . 222 0.1 .
Other 298 154 . . 452 0.1 .
Grades 7-9 English 161 619 13 072 201 92 174 984 . 99.4
Swedish 1 580 11 114 149 740 4 162 438 . 92.3
Finnish 9 220 1 086 163 15 10 484 . 6.0
French 1 185 3 557 175 5 069 9 986 . 5.7
German 1 591 7 092 451 8 322 17 456 . 9.9
Russian 530 763 . 2 999 4 292 . 2.4
Spanish 15 651 . 2 764 3 430 . 1.9
Italian 0 0 . 142 142 . 0.1
Sami 1 47 . 8 56 . 0.0
Latin 0 0 . 415 415 . 0.2
Other 55 57 . 18 130 . 0.1

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 10 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 351,663 pupils attended grades 1 to 6. 180,041 of the pupils were boys and 171,622 were girls. A total of 176,008 pupils attended grades 7 to 9. 90,267 of the pupils were boys and 85,741 were girls.

Data on the language choices of students studying comprehensive education elsewhere than at comprehensive schools (1,627) are published in the database table of these statistics.


Source: Education. Statistics Finland

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

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

Publication in pdf-format (236.3 kB)

Tables

Appendix tables


Updated 23.5.2014

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Subject choices of students [e-publication].
ISSN=1799-1056. Subject choices of comprehensive school pupils 2013. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 28.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ava/2013/02/ava_2013_02_2014-05-23_tie_001_en.html