Regulations and Guidelines for the Humanities and Natural Sciences Tests

Approved 4.6.2025, published 6.6.2025

The Regulations and Guidelines for the humanities and natural sciences tests include content based on the legislation governing the Matriculation Examination. Unless otherwise stated, the section references in the text relate to the Act on General Upper Secondary Education (714/2018), the Matriculation Examination Act (502/2019) and the Government Decree on the Matriculation Examination (612/2019).

The Regulations and Instructions for the humanities and natural sciences tests shall apply for the first time in the autumn 2025 examination.

The humanities and natural sciences tests are organised in psychology, philosophy, history, social studies, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, health education, religion, and ethics. Tests in religion are organised in Evangelical Lutheran religion and Orthodox religion (Act 612/2019, section 4). Registration for the test in Evangelical Lutheran religion, Orthodox religion or ethics is not dependent on possible membership of a religious community.

The purpose of the humanities and natural sciences test is to determine whether the student has acquired the knowledge and skills set out in the national core curriculum for general upper secondary education and has attained a sufficient level of maturity, as required by the objectives of general upper secondary education, in mastering the subject.

At each examination round, two test days are organised for the humanities and natural sciences tests. The order of the test days may vary. The tests in the different subjects are distributed over the two test days as follows:

on the same examination dayon the same examination day
psychologyEvangelical Lutheran religion
philosophy Orthodox religion
historyethics
physicssocial studies
biologychemistry
 geography
 health education

A candidate may participate in only one humanities and natural sciences test on a single examination day. Consequently, a candidate may complete a maximum of two humanities and natural sciences tests in one examination round. When the tests are taken over more than one examination round, a candidate may, if they so wish, participate in in several humanities and natural sciences tests.

The Board prepares the tasks for the matriculation examination tests in accordance with the compulsory and nationally optional studies in the relevant subject included in the general upper secondary education syllabus for young people (Decree 810/2018; Decree 612/2019, section 5).

The tests include interdisciplinary tasks (Government Decree 612/2019, section 5). Interdisciplinary tasks may be based on the transversal competences described in the National Core Curriculum for General Upper Secondary Education (2019). Candidates are not required to demonstrate detailed knowledge or skills from another subject in their answers.

A humanities and natural sciences test consists of parts that differ in task type and level of difficulty; each part may include several tasks. Some of the tasks may be compulsory. The tasks may include various types of materials. Where necessary, the materials may be provided as separate files in formats suitable for completing the task. For each file, information may be provided on the software intended for opening it. The candidate decides which of the examination system’s software tools they use to process the material.

The number of tasks in each humanities and natural sciences test depends on the number of compulsory and nationally defined advanced courses in the subject, the nature of the subject, and the nature of the tasks. The numbers of tasks and the maximum numbers of answers in the tests are as follows:

subjectnumber of tasksmaximum number of answers
Evangelical Lutheran religion95
Orthodox religion95
ethics9 5 
philosophy9 5 
psychology9 5 
history9 5 
social studies9 5 
geography9 5 
health education9 5 
physics11 7 
chemistry11 7 
biology11 7 

The maximum number of answers in each test is also determined separately for each part of the test.

Depending on the scope of the task and the format of the question, the maximum number of points awarded for a task is 15, 20 or 30 points. The maximum total score for the test is 120 points.

The tests may include tasks or subtasks with a character limit. Exceeding the permitted number of characters results in a deduction of points in proportion to the maximum score for the task or subtask concerned; however, the deduction is at least 1 point from the score awarded to the candidate for that task or subtask. The point deduction applied for exceeding the permitted number of characters is determined primarily by the table below. For justified reasons, the censors’ meeting may decide that the deduction is applied in a manner that deviates from the table below or that no deduction is applied at all. However, the censors’ meeting may not decide on point deductions greater than those specified in the table. The use of the character limit in assessment is described in the features of a good answer for the test. If the point deduction exceeds the score awarded to the candidate for the task or subtask, zero points are awarded for that.

Maximum scoreAmount of excessPoint deduction
1–3 p.< 10%1 p.
1–3 p.10–30%1 p.
1–3 p.> 30%1 p.
4–6 p.< 10%1 p.
4–6 p.10–30%1 p.
4–6 p.> 30%2 p.
7–10 p.< 10%1 p.
7–10 p.10–30%2 p.
7–10 p.> 30%3 p.
11–15 p.< 10%1 p.
11–15 p.10–30%2 p.
11–15 p.> 30%5 p.
16–20 p.< 10%1 p.
16–20 p.10–30%3 p.
16–20 p.> 30%7 p.
21–30 p.< 10%1 p.
21–30 p.10–30%5 p.
21–30 p.> 30%10 p.

If a candidate submits more answers than permitted for a part of the test, only the permitted number of answers with the lowest combined score are counted towards the total score for that part. If, after this, the total number of answers submitted by the candidate for the whole test still exceeds the maximum number permitted, the total score for the test is calculated on the basis of the seven answers (physics, chemistry and biology) or five answers (other humanities and natural sciences subjects) with the lowest combined score. The teacher carries out initial assessment of all answers and records their scores in the examination service. The Matriculation Examination Board selects the tasks that constitute the test.

The equipment required for using the digital test system is specified in the Board’s general regulations and guidelines.

In tests in humanities and natural sciences, separate calculators and separate formulae and tables booklets may not be used as aids.

Candidates are not permitted to bring mobile phones or other communication devices into the test session (the Board’s general regulations and guidelines, subchapter 1.6).

In assessing candidates’ performances, particular attention is paid to the following aspects.

Maturity is demonstrated, for example, by the following:

  • The handling of issues demonstrates independent mastery of knowledge and skills and the ability to apply them.
  • The answer shows versatile and advanced information‑processing skills.
  • The answer contains a sufficient amount of information relevant to the task.
  • The overall response is well structured and coherent in terms of content.
  • Causes and effects are examined appropriately from different perspectives.
  • Claims are clearly justified.
  • Materials related to the tasks are used appropriately.
  • The information presented is placed in broader contexts.
  • Particularly in tasks that require reflection, facts, reasoned standpoints and opinions are clearly distinguished.
  • The tools provided have been used appropriately.

In tasks requiring mathematical reasoning, the use of equations with physical quantities and formulae must be justified in a way that shows that the candidate understands the situation and applies the appropriate principle or law.

The value of a performance is reduced, for example, by the following:

  • The performance contains clear factual errors.
  • Ideas are expressed unclearly or imprecisely.
  • The information presented indicates that the candidate has misunderstood the task, or the information presented is otherwise irrelevant to the task; the length of the answer and the amount of detail are not merits in themselves.
  • The answer is based solely on opinions.
  • The same points are repeated in the response.
  • The performance includes statements that are clearly contrary to the law or to accepted standards of conduct.

In addition to the general assessment criteria, emphasis is placed on subject-specific conventions in the humanities and natural sciences and on precision in language use.