The Finnish National Agency for Education issues decisions for the teaching positions listed in the following. The link will direct you to the corresponding occupational description on Suomi.fi Web Service.
Finnish National Agency for Education's decisions on eligibility for positions in the field of education and training
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If you have completed your qualifications abroad and wish to become eligible for a position in the field of education and training in Finland, it is likely that you will need a decision from the Finnish National Agency for Education recognising your qualifications.
Photo:
Satu Haavisto
Qualification and language requirements for teachers
Provisions on the language proficiency requirements for different teaching posts and the demonstration of language proficiency are laid down in the Teaching Qualifications Decree (986/1998).
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Using this flowchart, you can map your route to teaching eligibility in Finland.
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If you have qualified in another EU/EEA member state or Switzerland, and you are an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen, you can apply for recognition of your professional qualifications.
The decision may provide an eligibility in the field of education and training which is most similar to the eligibility you have gained in another state.
Compensation measures
If your qualifications differ in terms of content from the qualifications required in Finland, you may have to complete a compensation measure, before you gain eligibility in Finland. Professional experience or life-long learning may compensate for the differences either in part or in full.
The compensation measure can be an adaptation period or an aptitude test. During the adaptation period, you will work in your profession. The aptitude test is an examination organised by a higher education institution, in which you demonstrate your professional competence. The higher education institution may charge a fee for organising the aptitude test.
Apply for a final decision to the Finnish National Agency for Education, after you have completed the adaptation period or the aptitude test.
In case
• you have completed a higher education degree or higher education studies in a country that is neither an EU/EEA Member State or Switzerland,
• you are not an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen, or
• for some other reason you cannot receive a decision on recognition of professional qualifications,
you can apply for recognition of your studies completed outside Finland as comparable to a higher education degree or higher education studies that are required for a certain position in the field of education and training.
Preconditions for recognition
The degree or studies must be comparable both in terms of level and content to the higher education degree or the studies, with which it is recognised as comparable.
Additional requirements
Supplementing studies, that are completed at a Finnish higher education institution, are generally required in the decisions.
If you receive a decision requiring you to complete supplementing studies, contact a Finnish higher education institute to complete them. Apply for a final decision from the Finnish National Agency for Education after you have completed the required supplementing studies.
If you intend to work as a teacher only in education that is provided in a foreign language, you can apply for a decision on sufficient studies for teaching in a language other than Finnish, Swedish or Sami. In these decisions the teaching eligibility is restricted to a specific foreign language of instruction and teaching position, for example class instruction that is provided in English.
The decisions on recognition of professional qualifications and decisions on recognition of foreign teacher education studies give eligibility to teaching positions in foreign language education.
Preconditions for a positive decision on sufficient studies
A positive decision is subject to the following preconditions,
• you have received your teacher training in the same language that you would teach in Finland, and it is an official language in the country of origin,
• the teacher training completed is at least bachelor-level,
• the teacher training has prepared for the same teaching position for which you apply eligibility in Finland, and
• the teacher training is sufficiently similar to the teacher training required in Finland for the position in question.
Compensation measures
Generally, the decisions require that an aptitude test is completed. The aptitude test is organised by a Finnish university that provides teacher training. The university may charge a fee for organising the aptitude test.
The decision issued by the Finnish National Agency for Education determines the subject areas included in the aptitude tests and where the test can be taken.
When you have completed the aptitude test, you will demonstrate your eligibility with the conditional decision issued by the Finnish National Agency for Education and a certificate issued for completing the aptitude test.
The Finnish National Agency for Education issues decisions on eligibility to provide education that is based on Steiner pedagogy and pre-primary education based on Montessori pedagogy. Decisions may be based on studies completed in Finland or abroad.
Pre-primary education based on Montessori pedagogy
If you wish to gain eligibility only for pre-primary education that is based on Montessori pedagogy, you can apply to the Finnish National Agency for Education for a decision on sufficient studies qualifying for such a position. Supplementing studies may be required in the decision.
Teaching based on Steiner pedagogy
Finnish National Agency for Education’s Regulations specify studies that provide eligibility for positions of a rector or a teacher in teaching that is based on Steiner pedagogy. If your training does not fulfil the conditions specified in the regulations, you can apply for a personal decision from the Finnish National Agency for Education on the eligibility that your studies provide. Supplementing studies may be required in the decision.
Finnish Agency for Education regulations (in Finnish)
If you have completed a class teacher’s qualification in Sweden, Denmark, Norway or Iceland, you are, with certain conditions, eligible to provide class instruction in Finland (decree 986/1998, section 4). If you wish, you can apply for a decision on recognition of professional qualifications.