Coronavirus delays YKI tests

The coronavirus situation has complicated organisation of National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) tests, said the Finnish National Agency for Education in a press release on Monday.

The YKI system is doing its best to ensure that a maximum number of candidates in need of the YKI certificate can sit the test as soon as possible.

This certificate may be needed when applying for Finnish citizenship, a study place or a job, for example. In addition to YKI tests, language proficiency in Finnish and Swedish may be required to be demonstrated in the civil service language proficiency certificate system.

The situation is challenging for those wishing to take the test. Until now, candidates have been able to postpone their registrations several times, but as the coronavirus epidemic continues, registrations can from now on only be rescheduled once.

After this, the educational institution arranging the test will refund the participation fee to the candidate and the candidate may re-register for the test date of their choice or prove their language proficiency in some other way.

The purpose of this is to prevent a backlog caused by rescheduling and to streamline the registration process. In today’s exceptional situation, registrations can be cancelled and postponed without a medical certificate.