Matriculation Examination
The Finnish Matriculation Examination is a national examination generally taken at the end of the Finnish upper secondary school. Its purpose is to discover the extent to which students have assimilated the knowledge and skills required by the curriculum for upper secondary school, and how well they have reached an adequate level of maturity in line with the goals of general upper secondary education. Passing the Matriculation Examination entitles the candidate to continue their studies at university and other institutions of higher education.
The Matriculation Examination Board is responsible for administering the examination, its arrangements and execution. The examination is held biannually in the spring and in the autumn, simultaneously in all Finnish upper secondary schools. Around 30,000 candidates pass the examination annually, of which 25,000 pass it in the spring.
The examination is organised digitally. The first digital tests were held in the autumn of 2016, and the examination became fully digital in spring 2019.
The Matriculation Examination is regulated by Section 18 (714/2018) of the Upper Secondary School Act, the Matriculation Examination Act (502/2019) and the Government Decree on the Matriculation Examination (612/2019).
For more information about the Finnish education system and the Matriculation Examination's role in it, please visit the web page of the Finnish National Agency for Education.
The Matriculation Examination Board
The Matriculation Examination Board issues guidelines on the contents, arrangement and assessment of the tests. The Ministry of Education and Culture nominates the chair of the Board and its members (about forty in number) at the suggestion of universities, institutions of higher education and the Finnish National Agency for Education. Members represent the various subjects covered by the Matriculation Examination. With the help of over 300 associate members, the Board prepares and assesses the tests. Technical arrangements of the tests are taken care of by the Board’s secretariat which has approximately twenty-five civil service employees.