Publication and use of test performances and test tasks in teaching

Test performances

Test performances are confidential under section 24(30) of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999).

Test performances from the autumn 2019 examination onwards are available in the My Studyinfo online service to candidates and to the guardians of candidates under the age of 18. The candidate may print or download their test performance from the service and share it for publication or other purposes. Copies of digital test performances from autumn 2016 to spring 2019 can be ordered from the Matriculation Examination Board’s Secretariat by the candidate or by a person authorised to act on their behalf. The retention period for paper-based test performances has expired, and copies can no longer be ordered.

It is not necessary to obtain separate permission from the Board to publish a test performance, for example in learning materials or a newspaper. It is advisable to obtain the candidate’s written permission for publication. If the test performance contains confidential information concerning other persons, the consent of those persons is also required for publication.

Test performances provided by the candidate may be used in teaching with the candidate’s permission. Published works containing test performances may be used in teaching under the copying and user licence agreement between the Finnish National Agency for Education and Kopiosto, unless the author prohibits such use.

Individual answers may be used in teaching without the candidate’s permission if they are used in a way that does not reveal the candidate’s identity directly or indirectly, and if the test performance does not reach the threshold of originality. Under the Copyright Act, the author holds copyright to their work, and the use of the work requires the author’s consent. A condition for copyright protection is that the product of intellectual effort is independent and original.

Test tasks

The tests of the Matriculation Examination may include, under section 14(3) of the Copyright Act, parts of a published work or, if the work is not extensive, the entire work. According to the statement of the Copyright Council (2020:4), the Matriculation Examination Board is to be regarded as an authority within the meaning of section 9(4) of the Copyright Act, and the test questions as its written statements, which are not subject to copyright. According to the statement, it is permissible under section 25d(4) of the Copyright Act to reproduce the tests of the Matriculation Examination and the materials attached to them in the context of the Matriculation Examination also outside the test session.

For other uses of the materials, the publisher must independently clarify copyright issues with the copyright holders of the materials and agree with them on publication permission and any compensation. To ensure the fulfilment of the author’s moral rights, the Board will continue to include source information in the materials.

The Board’s previous interpretation was that test materials could not be used outside the test session without permission. On the basis of the Copyright Council’s statement, previously granted publication permissions for test tasks have been granted for official statements that are not protected by copyright; therefore, the Board considers that such earlier permissions have lapsed.

The new interpretation concerning the copyright of test tasks has also been taken into account in the terms of use of the Examina service.