Education at a Glance is the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and a number of partner economies. More than 100 charts and tables in this publication - as well as links to much more available on the educational database - provide key information on the output of educational institutions; the impact of learning across countries; access, participation and progression in education; the financial resources invested in education; and teachers, the learning environment and the organisation of schools. This country note provides a country-specific overview of Finland.

Finland has been widely regarded as one of the most successful education systems in the world. However, recent trends suggest that Finland's considerable achievements may be at risk. The country's performance in international student assessments has been declining over the past decade, as gaps among student groups and levels of school segregation have grown. In light of these developments, Finland is advancing a number of policies, notably under the umbrella of the Right to Learn (RtL) Programme, to improve quality and equity in early childhood education and care (ECEC), pre-primary and basic education. This analysis explores the Ministry of Education and Culture's (OKM) planned reforms in regard to the country's main education challenges and priorities. At the request of the Ministry, the analysis focusses on three main policy issues: (i) financing equity and quality in education, (ii) expanding participation and strengthen quality in ECEC, and (iii) equalising education opportunities through strengthening the local school policy. A final section looks at some of the cross-cutting issues that emerge from the OECD's analysis. This analysis offers policy considerations aimed at strengthening the design and implementation of the RtL Programme.

This policy brief is the second in a series of thematic policy briefs in the OECD's Resourcing Higher Education Project. This project provides a shared knowledge base for OECD member and partner countries on effective policies for higher education resourcing through system-specific and comparative policy analysis. To meet the skill needs of the Finnish economy, its government has set policy targets with respect to educational attainment and globally mobile learners, and backed those targets with additional resources to aid higher education institutions in accomplishing them. At the same time, Finnish policymakers are engaged in an assessment of their higher education landscape, examining whether the distribution of responsibilities among its higher education institutions is effectively coordinated and adapted to national innovation needs. This policy brief assesses the progress of initiatives to expand the capacity of the higher education system and increase its attractiveness to globally mobile learners, and takes stock of Finland's institutional landscape in light of international experience.

This country policy profile on education in Finland is part of the Education Policy Outlook series. Building on the first policy profile for Finland (2013), it offers a concise analysis of where the education system stands today in terms of strengths, challenges and ongoing policy efforts, and how this compares to other systems. The profile brings together over a decade's worth of policy analysis by the Education Policy Outlook, as well as the latest OECD data, relevant thematic and country-specific work and other international and national evidence. It also offers analysis of the Finnish education system's initial responses to the COVID-19 crisis and provides insight into approaches to building greater responsiveness and resilience for the future.

The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) is the first international large-scale survey that provides a voice to teachers and school principals, who complete questionnaires about issues such as the professional development they have received; their teaching beliefs and practices; the assessment of their work and the feedback and recognition they receive; and various other school leadership, management and workplace issues. This note presents findings based on the reports of lower secondary teachers and their school leaders in mainstream public and private schools in Finland.

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines what students know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. It provides the most comprehensive and rigorous international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning outcomes attained around the world, and allow educators and policy makers to learn from the policies and practices applied in other countries. This country note provides a country-specific overview of Finland.

The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) is the first international large-scale survey that provides a voice to teachers and school principals, who complete questionnaires about issues such as the professional development they have received; their teaching beliefs and practices; the assessment of their work and the feedback and recognition they receive; and various other school leadership, management and workplace issues. This note presents findings based on the reports of lower secondary teachers and their school leaders in mainstream public and private schools in Finland.

Finland's country notes describe policy measures and the planning, organisation, steering and objectives of transitions as they were in spring 2016. The country review also describes the transitions from the perspective of professional, pedagogical and developmental continuity. It further provides a summary of the challenges associated with the transitions and the strategies deployed to overcome these challenges. The country report also brings up Finnish research and researchers focusing on transitions from recent years.

This Data Spotlight note on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) provides a summary of ECEC policy inputs, outputs and outcomes in Finland. It uses data available within the OECD Secretariat - Education at a Glance, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the OECD Family Database - to make comparisons between Finland's ECEC system and the systems in other OECD countries. This note complements the 2015 OECD publication, Starting Strong IV: Monitoring Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care.

While Finland implements a wide range of practices to monitor quality in ECEC, several challenges remain. Firstly, there is no shared perspective for quality in ECEC. Setting out clear quality goals in a framework can overcome this. Secondly, Finland has no national monitoring system. Developing a national quality framework and standardising certain monitoring tools can create greater coherence in Finland's monitoring system. And thirdly, there is limited training on monitoring available which indicates a need for more in-service or on-the-job training.

In Finland, the numeracy and literacy skills of adults are among the highest in the countries measured through the OECD's 2012 Survey of Adult Skills. The Survey assessed the skills of adults in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments in 24 countries and sub-national regions in the first round of the Survey. But around 600 000 adults between the age of 16 and 65 still have low foundation skills (literacy or numeracy below level 2 in the Survey). These are people who struggle with basic quantitative reasoning or have difficulty with simple written information, and for them, entering and progressing in working life, and engaging in civic life, is becoming harder and harder. About half of them are over 55, many of them with more limited initial education; the other half are those younger people who have slipped through the net of an otherwise strong education system. This report looks at these issues and makes recommendations on how Finland might build on its strong performance, and ensure better levels of foundation skills for all.

This policy profile on education in Finland is part of the Education Policy Outlook series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across OECD countries. Building on the substantial comparative and sectorial policy knowledge base available within the OECD, the series also includes a biennial publication. It develops a comparative outlook on education policy by providing: a) analysis of individual countries' educational context, challenges and policies (education policy profiles) and of international trends and b) comparative insight on policies and reforms on selected topics.

The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some of these key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its kind, it directly measures proficiency in three information-processing skills: literacy, numeracy and problem-solving in technology-rich environments. This country note provides a country-specific overview of Finland.

As part of the OECD review on migrant education, countries were invited to provide information on their national migrant education policies. Note that this information is in addition to the full country background reports provided by the six countries participating in the policy review: Austria, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. The attached information was provided by Finland using a standard international questionnaire on migrant education policies in response to longstanding diversity.

This Country Note on Finland forms part of the OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education. This is a collaborative project to assist the design and implementation of tertiary education policies which contribute to the realisation of social and economic objectives of countries. The principal objective of the review is to assist countries to understand how the organisation, management and delivery of tertiary education can help them to achieve their economic and social objectives. The focus of the review is upon tertiary education policies and systems, rather than upon the detailed management and operation of institutions, although clearly the effectiveness of the latter is influenced by the former.

This is one in a series of country case reports prepared as part of the study on Digital Learning Resources as Systemic Innovation. The overall aim of the study is to review and evaluate the process of innovation involved in policies and public as well as private initiatives designed to promote the development, distribution and use of DLR for the school sector. In so doing, the activity will bring together evidence of: how countries go about initiating ICT-based educational innovations related to DLR, the players and processes involved, the knowledge base which is drawn on, and the procedures and criteria for assessing progress and outcomes; What factors influence the success of policies aimed at promoting ICT-based educational innovations, particularly those related to the production, distribution and use of DLR including user involvement in the production process and new actors such as the gaming industry and media companies; User-driven innovations related to DLR, carried out by learners and teachers, such as innovative production and use of DLR, and how the educational system responds to such innovations.

The report provides an overview of school leadership developments and issues in Finland, as a contribution to the OECD's Improving School Leadership Activity. It discusses the national context of schooling, the features of the school system, school governance and leardership, the attractiveness of school leaders' roles, and professional learning of school leaders in the country.

The cases from Finland were selected for the OECD project, because of their participation in a national project conducted in 1990's by the National Board of Education. The aim of this project was to improve teaching methods and reform the methods of student assessment in comprehensive education. Fourteen schools from different parts of Finland took part in the project. These schools were contacted in spring 2002. Tikkakoski and Meilahti schools were two schools, in which the new way of student assessment was considered to be practiced in the whole school and not only realised by a few individual teachers.

In Finland, both education and the teaching profession have traditionally been held in high regard. One sign of appreciation of teaching work is willingness to apply for teacher education and training. To date, Finnish teacher education has not faced any problems in attracting applicants, with the exception of mathematics and certain natural sciences. Class teacher education, special needs teacher education, student/pupil counsellor education, and art and practical subjects are examples of fields, where the number of applicants is far greater than the number of student places available. Some universities experience occasional shortages of applicants for foreign languages, but the problem is local. Conversely, there is a national problem with applicants for mathematics and natural sciences. Applicant volumes for vocational teacher education and training vary by sector of education.

In the early 1990s, in the midst of a major economic slump, the Finnish government embarked on a strategy to re-mold Finland into a knowledge society. This report prepared for the OECD by an independent group of experts raises issues of fees for higher education, examines strategies for internationalisation of higher education, addresses issues of governance and accountability in higher education and offers advice on how the new system could be strengthened further.

The main purpose of the thematic review on adult learning is to understand adults' access and participation in education and training and to enhance policies and approaches to increase incentives for adults to undertake learning activities in OECD countries. It is a joint activity undertaken by the OECD Education Committee (EDC) and the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee (ELSAC) in response to the need to make lifelong learning a reality for all, to improve learning opportunities of low skilled and disadvantaged adults and to sustain and increase employability.

This review covers children from birth to compulsory school age and includes the transition period into primary schooling. In order to examine thoroughly what children experience in the first years of life, the review has adopted a broad, holistic approach to study early childhood policy and provision. To that end, consideration has been given to the roles of families, communities and other environmental influences on children's early learning and development. Particular emphasis has been laid on aspects concerning quality, access and equity, with an emphasis on policy development in the following areas: regulations; staffing; programme content and implementation; family engagement and support; funding and financing.

In our rapidly changing and globalised society where permanent adaptation to new economic and social standards is a prerequisite for a successful integration in the labour market, the transition from initial education to working life has become of prime importance. It is therefore necessary to focus on the interfaces between education and training and the labour market affecting transition processes and outcomes and the role of guidance and counselling in this process.