The web pages of the Finnish National Agency for Education are intended for individuals who have completed their qualification abroad provide useful information for your guidance work. There is also information on the different types of decisions and instructions on how to apply for a decision from the Finnish National Agency for Education.
Information on recognition of qualifications for guidance purposes
The service guide helps you to find out
- whether a person with a foreign qualification needs a decision on recognition
- how and where to apply for the decision on recognition and
- where you can find further information
The service guide advises you step-by-step. You can use it in Finnish, Swedish or English.
The brochure explains in which situations one needs a decision on recognition of qualifications completed abroad and who makes the decision. The brochure also describes the decision-making process at the Finnish National Agency for Education.
The brochure is published in Finnish, Swedish, English, Arabic, Chinese, Estonian, Farsi, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
With help of the flow chart, individuals who have completed their qualifications abroad can find out whether they need a decision on recognition of their qualifications. The flow chart also clarifies which bodies are responsible for the recognition decisions. It can be useful in guidance work. The flow chart was updated in June 2024 and is published in Finnish, Swedish, Arabic, English, Russian, Turkish and Ukrainian.
The guide on recognition of teacher education completed abroad is intended primarily for experts working with teachers who hold foreign qualifications.
As an annex in the guide, there is a flow chart that can be used to find out, together with the individual who has obtained a foreign qualification, how to gain eligibility to work as a teacher in Finland. The guide is published in Finnish, Swedish and English.
Guide to recognition of early childhood education and care education completed abroad is intended primarily for experts working with people who have a foreign qualification.
As an annex in the guide, there is a flow chart that can be used to find out, together with the individual who has obtained a foreign qualification, how to gain eligibility to work in early childhood education and care in Finland. The guide is published in Finnish, Swedish and English.
The Finnish National Agency for Education collaborates with education providers, higher education institutions, authorities and other professionals working in integration services to improve education and employment opportunities of immigrants in Finland.
Questions related to the higher education of immigrants and asylum seekers are handled especially in the higher education institutions responsible for SIMHE (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education in Finland) -services that aim at enhancing the identification and recognition of prior learning of immigrants.
In addition to the other sources of information on this page, the links below may be useful in your guidance work.
- SIMHE services at higher education institutions
- Learners with immigrant backgrounds (pages in Finnish and Swedish)
- Education for immigrants / Studyinfo.fi
- SIMHE services and other support by higher education institutions
- Finnish education system
- Qualifications frameworks
- SIMHEapp for identification of prior learning and planning of further studies (in Finnish)
- MAAMOT pages for guidance and counselling of immigrants (in Finnish)
- EU Skills Profile Tool for Third Country Nationals
- Integration.fi