Share of passers left outside further studies rise

A total of 70 percent of those who completed the matriculation examination in the spring semester in 2018 did not continue studies leading to a qualification or degree in the year of the matriculation examination, according to Statistics Finland's education statistics.

Ten percent of them continued in university of applied sciences education and 18 percent in university education.

The share of those left outside further studies among new passers of the matriculation examination has grown for over 10 years. Eighty-two percent of passers of the matriculation examination applied for further studies. Of completers of comprehensive school, 53 percent immediately continued in upper secondary general education after comprehensive school and 41 percent in vocational education.

The share of those who received a place for further education at a university grew slightly from the previous year. Because the share of those continuing to vocational and university of applied sciences education continued to decrease, the number of new passers of the matriculation examination left outside further education grew by 0.7 percentage points from the previous year. Ten years previously, 20 percent immediately continued their studies in university of applied sciences education, when only close on ten percent of passers of the matriculation examination did so in 2018.

In recent years, the share of new female passers of the matriculation examination remaining outside further education has increased more sharply than that of male passers. In 2018, altogether 27 percent of women who passed matriculation examination in the spring semester and 35 percent of male passers immediately continued their studies, while ten years earlier, the share for both sexes was slightly over 46 percent. Male passers of the matriculation examination continued more often than women in university and university of applied sciences education, 34 percent of men and 24 percent of women started tertiary level studies.

Four out of five of those who passed the matriculation examination in the spring semester applied to further education in the year of the matriculation examination. Eighty-one percent of new passers of the matriculation examination in 2018 applied to tertiary education, 82 percent of women and 80 percent of men. Forty-eight percent of passers of the matriculation examination applied only to university education and 17 percent only to university of applied sciences education. Sixteen percent of new passers of the matriculation examination applied simultaneously to both university of applied sciences and university education and 1.2 percent to upper secondary vocational education.