More people taking intermediate level YKI test in Finnish

The intermediate level tests for the National Certificates of Language Proficiency (YKI) in Finnish have been booked up increasingly fast in the past few years, said the Finnish National Agency for Education in a press release on Friday.

The reasons behind this include a growing interest in completing the YKI test and the limited number of test locations and dates.

The majority of those who take the test use the certificate to prove sufficient language proficiency when applying for Finnish citizenship.

The Finnish National Agency for Education aims to find more organisers for YKI tests and develop the registration system by consulting clients.

YKI tests have been organised since 1994. Since 2003, it has been possible to use the YKI certificate to prove sufficient proficiency when applying for Finnish citizenship.

Sufficient language proficiency can be proved, for example, with the intermediate level YKI certificate in Finnish or Swedish.

The number of people taking the intermediate level test in Finnish has therefore increased significantly since 2003.

In 2003, the number of people who took the intermediate level test in Finnish was 960, whereas in 2023, their number had already risen to 7,392.

Although it is possible to use the YKI certificate for many different purposes, such as applying for a job or a study place, customer feedback reveals that the majority of those who take the intermediate level test in Finnish and Swedish need the certificate specifically for a citizenship application.

The increasing demand for YKI tests is visible especially when registration for the intermediate level test in Finnish or Swedish begins. Because of the growing interest in YKI tests, the test events become fully booked faster time and time again.

Registration for the YKI test organised on 18 May 2024 started on Monday, 22 April 2024. The test events became fully booked in about 15 minutes and unfortunately, based on the number of visitors on the website and the contact requests the Finnish National Agency for Education has received from customers, many did not get a place in the test they wanted.