Quality Management in Finland

In Finland the quality of education and training is seen as a key factor related to the efficiency and excellence of education and training as well as the equality of individuals.

Quality assurance in Finland comprises the quality management of VET providers, the national steering of VET and external evaluation. The Ministry of Education and Culture issues the outlines of national quality assurance and is responsible for developing the quality assurance of VET together with the Finnish National Agency for Education. EDUFI also gives support to education providers in matters of quality assurance. External evaluation is carried out on a national level by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC). 

Local autonomy in education is extensive in Finland, and there is no inspection system in place. Education providers are responsible for the quality of their own operations and may decide on the system of quality assurance they choose to employ. The quality assurance of VET consists of the quality management systems of education providers, national steering and regulation, and external evaluation. The legislation regulating VET requires education providers to evaluate the qualifications, education and other activities they provide as well as their quality and effectiveness. Education providers must also regularly participate in external evaluation of their activities and quality management systems.
Today, the ideology is to steer through information, support and funding. The activities of VET providers are guided by objectives laid down in legislation as well as the national qualification requirements (national curricula). In addition, education providers are encouraged to develop quality on a voluntary basis. National authorities support this by providing tools and support, for example such as VET quality strategy and Peer Review Criteria and other tools, tools supporting quality culture. 

The system also relies on the proficiency of teachers and other personnel. Teaching personnel are required to hold a master’s degree. All personnel are encouraged to develop their own work as well as participate in the quality management of their institutions, the idea being that everyone is the quality manager of their own work.

Quality management is one of the main policy priorities. For example VET providers were obligated to have systems for effective quality assurance and improvement from 2015.

National student feedback surveys are carried out to find out how satisfied students are with vocational education and training provision and its effectiveness. The feedback is used internally by VET providers and nationally to monitor and improve quality. A new student feedback survey was launched on 1 July 2018 and has been in use since.

Feedback is collected from students studying for a vocational upper secondary qualification, a further or a specialist vocational qualification, or a part or parts of these. Students submit the feedback twice during their studies: in the beginning and towards the end. There are different national feedback forms for those starting their vocational training and for those who already have a vocational qualification, or a part or parts of one. The feedback is anonymous.

The results of the surveys are published in the Finnish education statistics service Vipunen.fi where they are available for all to see. The results are organised by questions asked, by qualifications and by VET providers. VET providers can add further questions to the survey in addition to the national ones. Feedback from these questions are only reported to the VET providers themselves and are not visible to others.

The student feedback is used by VET providers, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish National Agency for Education, and working life commitees. All questions provide information to support development. Furthermore, from 2020 onwards, some of the questions will have an impact on how the effectiveness-based funding granted to training providers will be calculated.

The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education are responsible for the survey and its development.

The aim of the quality award is to support and encourage vocational education and training providers in continuing assessment and improvement of quality as a part of their basic remit. Another aim is to identify best practices to be shared with other organisations. With the help of the quality awards, the aim is also to make VET better known, more attractive, respected and to increase its social impact. The award has a different theme each year, raising topical education policy issues.

The presenting of quality awards is based on predefined criteria and on VET providers’ own assessment of their performance plus on external assessment. The European Quality Award Criteria (EFQM) is applied in the competition and these criteria are annually supplemented by special themes determined by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. 

The quality award is a recognition of the quality of VET providers’ work, continuing improvement and results and of their exemplary work in developing VET.