Upper secondary students' number inches down

A total of 103,400 students attended upper secondary general school education leading to a qualification in 2018, according to the Statistics Finland.

The number of students decreased by 0.3 per cent from that in the previous year. A total of 30,400 students, or 200 more than that in 2017, passed the matriculation examinations. Fifty-eight per cent of the students who sat and passed the matriculation examination were women.

Upper secondary general education was provided by 384 educational institutions. There were 336 upper secondary general schools, which is four fewer than one year earlier. Education in Swedish was offered by 36 upper secondary schools and six per cent of the students in upper secondary general school education studied at these schools.

Of all students, 1,937 studied for an international matriculation examination. The International Baccalaureate examination was passed by 470 students of 17 upper secondary schools, the European Baccalaureate examination by nine students at the European School of Helsinki, and the Reifeprüfung by 29 students in the Helsinginsaksalainenkoulu (the German School of Helsinki).

From 2008 to 2018, the number of educational institutions providing upper secondary general school education has fallen by 65. Over the same period, the number of students in upper secondary general school has diminished by nine per cent. The number of matriculation examinations has gone down by seven per cent in 10 years. Throughout the 2000s, over one-half of the students who took and passed the matriculation examinations have been women.