Published: 24 May 2018
English the most studied language in comprehensive school
According to Statistics Finland, English was the most commonly studied foreign language in comprehensive schools in the autumn term 2017. Among students in grades 1 to 6, in all 71 per cent and of students in grades 7 to 9 almost all studied English. Eighteen per cent of students in grades 1 to 6 and 93 per cent of students in grades 7 to 9 studied Swedish as a foreign language.
Language choices of comprehensive school pupils in 2017
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 | 245 541 | 16 206 | 60 | . | 261 807 | 71.1 | . |
Swedish | 3 311 | 12 454 | 51 019 | . | 66 784 | 18.1 | . | |
Finnish | 18 215 | 1 203 | 2 | . | 19 420 | 5.3 | . | |
French | 2 966 | 4 446 | 23 | . | 7 435 | 2.0 | . | |
German | 3 212 | 11 336 | 77 | . | 14 625 | 4.0 | . | |
Russian | 1 139 | 1 148 | . | . | 2 287 | 0.6 | . | |
Spanish | 697 | 4 211 | . | . | 4 908 | 1.3 | . | |
Italian | 0 | 0 | . | . | 0 | 0.0 | . | |
Sami | 5 | 237 | . | . | 242 | 0.1 | . | |
Other | 399 | 123 | 0 | . | 522 | 0.1 | . | |
Grades 7-9 | English | 163 490 | 12 978 | 193 | 82 | 176 743 | . | 99.5 |
Swedish | 1 533 | 12 036 | 150 789 | 6 | 164 364 | . | 92.5 | |
Finnish | 9 044 | 1 156 | 208 | 2 | 10 410 | . | 5.9 | |
French | 1 628 | 3 566 | 167 | 4 445 | 9 806 | . | 5.5 | |
German | 1 691 | 7 452 | 264 | 9 422 | 18 829 | . | 10.6 | |
Russian | 528 | 1 695 | . | 1 865 | 4 088 | . | 2.3 | |
Spanish | 169 | 1 104 | . | 3 489 | 4 762 | . | 2.7 | |
Italian | 30 | 0 | . | 108 | 138 | . | 0.1 | |
Sami | 2 | 52 | . | 5 | 59 | . | 0.0 | |
Latin | 0 | 0 | . | 400 | 400 | . | 0.2 | |
Other | 166 | 14 | 8 | 38 | 226 | . | 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 11 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 368,027 pupils attended grades 1 to 6. 188,449 of the pupils were boys and 179,578 were girls. A total of 177,607 pupils attended grades 7 to 9. 91,049 of the pupils were boys and 86,558 were girls.
Source: Education. Statistics Finland
Inquiries: Vesa Hämäläinen 029 551 2594, koulutustilastot@stat.fi
Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma
Publication in pdf-format (212.1 kB)
Updated 24.5.2017
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF):
Subject choices of students [e-publication].
ISSN=1799-1056. Subject choices of comprehensive school pupils 2017. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 17.8.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ava/2017/02/ava_2017_02_2018-05-24_tie_001_en.html