Enrollment in school

Compulsory education begins the year a child has his or her seventh birthday. Basic education will last for nine years. You can enroll your child in first grade through the online Wilma system. Identifiers to the Wilma system will be mailed to your home address in January together with the compulsory-education notification.

Lapset istuvat luokassa ja kirjoittavat vihkoihin.

The notification of compulsory education will be mailed to first-graders' home addresses in January

A notification of compulsory education, as well as school-enrollment instructions, will be mailed to a new student's home address when the matter becomes topical. You can enroll your child in first grade through the online Wilma system. Identifiers to the Wilma system will be mailed to your home address in January together with the compulsory-education notification.

When a child has been enrolled in school, the district manager designates a school for him or her. This school is called the student's local school, even though it is not always the school geographically closest to the student's home. A guardian can make a request that siblings be admitted to the same school, by filling in the appropriate section of the enrollment form. In addition, a guardian can make a request that friends be admitted into the same class.

Enrollment in 1st grade in 2023 has ended

A decision on a local school is made for each first-grader, even if you did not enroll your child in school through Wilma in January. The decision on your child's future local school will be published on Wilma on March 30, 2023, or mailed to your home address, if you have not consented to electronic transacting.

School newcomers’ Wilma identifiers will be unavailable in February - March when decisions on local schools are prepared. The identifiers will again be available on March 30, 2023, when decisions on local schools are published on Wilma.

If your child will not begin school in Vantaa in 2023, please inform about the matter by email: lahikoulu@vantaa.fi.

Children moving to Vantaa

When a child moves to Vantaa, enroll them in the first grade by email. Email the following information to: lahikoulu@vantaa.fi, so that a district manager can assign a local school to your child:

child's name
child's identity number
child's guardians’ information (name and email)
the address where the child moves in Vantaa
the date of the move
the date of beginning school (for first-graders, it is August 10, 2023).

Help and further information

Further information on enrolling in school

Instructions for using Wilma

Vantaa Infos will help you enroll your child in school: Vantaa Info centres are located in Korso, Myyrmäki and Tikkurila.

Basic education in Vantaa.

Applying for basic education in English

Students can complete their basic education entirely in English. English language instruction is for those students, whose mother tongue is English or who have sufficient fluency in English to complete their studies.

Instructions for applying basic education in English

Basic education in English

Important dates for children beginning Finnish school

The notification of compulsory education will be mailed to first-graders' home addresses in January
March 30, 2023: The decision on the local school will be announced over Wilma
April 13, 2023: Application for secondary school (the decision will be mailed to your home address by April 19, 2023)
May 30, 2023: Online application for after-school activities
May 28, 2023: Application for school-transport subsidy
May 10, 2023: Introduction day to school
August 10, 2023: The first school day

More about working hours and vacations >

Important dates for children beginning English school >

Normally, children start school the year they turn seven. The city can, however, permit a child to start school earlier or later. If a child is not estimated to be ready to start school the year he/she turns seven, psychologists will make an assessment of his/her school readiness. For more information on the school-readiness assessment, contact the child's preschool, Consultant Special Teachers, or psychologists.

On the other hand, a child can start school already at the age of six, provided that he/she has sufficient facilities for school attendance. If you want to find out whether your child can start school a year earlier than usual, you shall acquire and pay for all the required psychological examinations. It is also worth your while to fill in the preschool education application.

If a child—due to disability or sickness—cannot achieve the goals set for basic education in nine years, it is possible to extend the child's compulsory education. Extended compulsory education begins at age six, in which case the child is entitled to free-of-charge preschool education at age five. Compulsory education will not, however, be extended in the middle or at the end. For more information about extended compulsory education, contact your child's day care place or district coordinators. The district manager will make a decision on beginning school one year earlier or one year later than usual.

Applying for secondary school

A student can apply for a secondary school if he or she is not satisfied with the school designated for him or her. Deliver the application for a secondary school to the school where you want your child to study. The principal of the school in question makes the decision on admission based on city-wide joint principles.

Priority is given to children living in Vantaa. Available places will first be given to students with medical or other special reasons, and next to students who want a place at the same school where their siblings are. The rest of the places will be given to other applicants. If there are more applicants than available study places, the students will be chosen by drawing of lots.

A secondary school is not the local school stipulated by legislation, and therefore the students are not usually entitled to school-transport subsidies.

More information school-transport subsidies >

If you are applying for a secondary school, you can also apply for schools located in Espoo, Helsinki and Kauniainen. In this case, however, please consider that the student is not necessarily entitled to all support services and the guardians will be responsible for the school-travel costs.

Applying for personalized studies and options

In Vantaa it is possible to study basic education in English or in Swedish. Additionally Vantaa can also offer Montessori education for grades 1-6 and the private Steiner school for grades 1-9.

Swedish-language immersion >

Montessori >

Vantaan Seudun Steinerkoulu (in Finnish) >

Moving to Vantaa

When a family is moving to Vantaa, the district manager will specify the local school for the child. In order to specify the local school, please email the following information to lahikoulu@vantaa.fi: the child's name

the child's identity number
the address where the child moves in Vantaa
the date of the move
the date of beginning school
the child's grade
the guardian's contact information
the municipality from which the family moves to Vantaa

Guardians of those who have recently arrived in Finland can contact their local basic education district coordinator to clarify their local school and educational arrangements. Preparatory instruction is meant for students whose Finnish or Swedish proficiency is not sufficient for them to study in a basic education group.

If the family moves to a different home, the school needs to be informed about it. When a student moves within Vantaa, the local school will always be redefined. If the student moves within Vantaa (or away from Vantaa) in the midst of a semester, they have the right to complete the ongoing semester in their prior local school. The caretakers are responsible for the possible costs of school transportations.

If the family moves away from Vantaa before the child starts the first grade (and the local school has already been defined), the caretakers are asked to inform this to the school which has been decided to be the new local school.

Preparatory education

Preparatory education is intended for 6–17-year-old children who do not yet speak Finnish well enough to begin their basic education. In preparatory education, the main focus is on learning Finnish and becoming familiar with the Finnish school system. An individual education plan is created for every pupil.