Published: 25 May 2011
Language choices of comprehensive school pupils in 2010
According to Statistics Finland, English was the most commonly studied foreign language on grades 1 to 6 of comprehensive school in the autumn semester of 2010. Sixty-seven per cent of the pupils attending grades 1 to 6 studied English either as a compulsory or optional foreign language. The percentages of pupils studying other foreign languages remained at 5 per cent or below. A total of 345,615 pupils attended grades 1 to 6. 177 312 of the pupils were boys and 168 303 were girls. Nearly all pupils attending grades 7 to 9 studied both English and Swedish or Finnish either as mother tongue, or as a compulsory, optional or elective foreign language. German was studied by 11 per cent and French by 6 per cent of the pupils attending grades 7 to 9, mainly as an optional or elective foreign language. A total of 186,368 pupils attended grades 7 to 9. 95 175 of the pupils were boys and 91 193 were girls.
Language choices of comprehensive school pupils in 2010
| Compulsory language A1 | Optional language A2 | Compulsory language B1 | Elective language B2 | Total | Share of pupils in grades 1-6 % | Share of pupils in grades 7-9 % | ||
| Grades | Studied language | |||||||
| Grades 1-6 | English | 218 458 | 13 365 | - | - | 231 823 | 67.1 | - |
| Swedish | 2 919 | 12 625 | - | - | 15 544 | 4.5 | - | |
| Finnish | 14 016 | 1 086 | - | - | 15 102 | 4.4 | - | |
| French | 2 164 | 4 439 | - | - | 6 603 | 1.9 | - | |
| German | 3 076 | 9 042 | - | - | 12 118 | 3.5 | - | |
| Russian | 843 | 810 | - | - | 1 653 | 0.5 | - | |
| Sami | 1 | 210 | - | - | 211 | 0.1 | - | |
| Other | 253 | 626 | - | - | 879 | 0.3 | - | |
| Grades 7-9 | English | 170 345 | 14 252 | 310 | 100 | 185 007 | - | 99.3 |
| Swedish | 1 856 | 12 786 | 156 747 | 7 | 171 396 | - | 92.0 | |
| Finnish | 10 071 | 1 058 | 209 | 2 | 11 340 | - | 6.1 | |
| French | 1 234 | 3 689 | 229 | 5 896 | 11 048 | - | 5.9 | |
| German | 1 659 | 9 038 | 391 | 8 513 | 19 601 | - | 10.5 | |
| Russian | 518 | 331 | - | 1 706 | 2 555 | - | 1.4 | |
| Sami | 3 | 34 | - | 6 | 43 | - | 0.0 | |
| Latin | 0 | 0 | - | 342 | 342 | - | 0.2 | |
| Other | 27 | 269 | - | 2 267 | 2 563 | - | 1.4 | |
Source: Education. Statistics Finland
Inquiries: Irma Suovirta (09) 1734 3280, Maija Sikanen (09) 1734 2292, koulutustilastot@stat.fi
Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma
Publication in pdf-format (225.2 kB)
Updated 25.5.2011
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF):
Subject choices of students [e-publication].
ISSN=1799-1056. Subject choices of comprehensive school pupils 2010. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 19.4.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ava/2010/02/ava_2010_02_2011-05-25_tie_001_en.html