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.

Children sit in class and write in notebooks.

The notification of compulsory education has been 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 2024 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 28, 2024, 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 28, 2024, when decisions on local schools are published on Wilma.  

If your child will not begin school in Vantaa in 2024, 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 8, 2024).  

Help and further information: lahikoulu@vantaa.fi

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.

Important dates for children beginning Finnish school

  • The notification of compulsory education will be mailed to first-graders' home addresses in January
  • March 28, 2024: The decision on the local school will be announced over Wilma
  • April 12, 2024: Application for secondary school (the decision will be mailed to your home address by April 18, 2024)
  • March 28 - April 28, 2024: Online application for after-school activities
  • April 28, 2024: Application for school-transport subsidy
  • May 8, 2024: Introduction day to school
  • August 8, 2024: The first school day

Grounds for school admission

Vantaa has been divided into four school admission districts, and the regional directors of basic education will assign a school place for each child in a comprehensive school in their residential area, i.e. their ‘local school’. However, the school building nearest to the child’s home may not be their local school. If a student attends a comprehensive school comprising all nine grades, they do not need to change schools when transitioning to the 7th grade. Decisions concerning school admission will be made for the duration of school grades taught at the school in question.

General criteria of school admission will not be applied when accepting students into preparatory teaching and into schools where school admission is based on an examination or test (such as teaching in English) or other, separately decided admission criteria and when accepting and transferring students to regional or city-level special support groups (such as workshops).

Applying for secondary school

A student can apply for another, secondary choice of a school if they are not satisfied with the local school assigned to them. An application to this secondary choice of a school should be delivered to the school from which the student place is applied for. The school’s principal will make the decision on whether to grant a school place to the student. 

The principals will adhere to the common principles when electing students. After the process of assigning a local school to students, any free student places can be filled with secondary applicants based on the criteria below, in the following order:

  1. The student lives in Vantaa.
  2. The student’s sibling goes to the same school with a secondary school admission decision at the start of the student’s schooling.
  3. If there are more applicants meeting the criteria than there are free student places, the students will be selected through a draw. 

A secondary choice of a school is not the local school determined by the law, which means that the student is not entitled to free school transport. If a student is applying for a school outside Vantaa, it should be noted that the student will not necessarily be entitled to all the support services in a school of another city and that the guardians are liable for any school journey transport costs. More information school-transport subsidies.

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 teaching for grades 1-6 and the private Steiner school for grades 1-9.

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.

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.