Joint application to general upper secondary education and vocational education

Spring 2023 joint application for upper secondary education after basic education will take place on February 21 - March 21, 2023.

You can participate in joint application, if you have finished comprehensive school and you do not yet have a matriculation or vocational qualification, or an academic degree.

High school education provides general education that will give you good facilities for postgraduate studies at universities and higher education institutions. Vantaa high schools’ specialized studies cover sports, the theater, drama, natural sciences, media, music and dance. You can also take the English-language IB Diploma Programme qualification.

Vocational studies aim at a real occupation and workplace, which means that you will have contact with the labor market throughout your studies. Vocational studies provide wide and varied study options. Vantaa Vocational College Varia offers 17 different vocational qualifications on four different campuses.

Vantaa Vocational College Varia >

Upper secondary schools >

Applying during the joint search

Joint application comprises high school education, vocational education, vocational special needs education, TUVA education, TELMA education, as well as adult education colleges’ open education for those subject to compulsory education.

Leave an online application at opintopolku.fi (application forms only in Finnish and Swedish). On the same online form you can apply for high schools, vocational institutions, or both. You should discuss your choices with a student counselor and your parents before filling in the application.

Fill in the application form

You will find the joint application online form on the Opintopolku website.

Go to opintopolku.fi

Enter 7 wishes on the form. Enter your wishes in order of your preferences. Even if your points were sufficient for all the study places you entered on the form, you can only be chosen for one: the one you placed highest and for which your points are sufficient.

Save and send your application

When you have sent your application, you will receive a confirmation message to the email address you entered on the application form. The message has a link through which you can go and change your wishes and their order. You can only make changes during the application period, i.e., Feb. 21 - March 21, 2023. After the application period, you cannot make any changes in your application. Send your application at the latest on March 21, 2023, by 15:00.

Check whether any appendices are needed or whether there will be an entrance examination

Check on the educational institution's website or on the opintopolku.fi website whether the educational institution applied for needs any additional forms, certificates or statements. Deliver the required appendices to the educational institution in time.

High schools’ specialized studies and many vocational institutions arrange entrance or aptitude tests, or require that applicants make preliminary assignments. A separate invitation for entrance examination will not always be sent: check the time of the exam on the educational institution's website.

The preliminary tasks, selection tests and interviews regarding special programs of the general upper secondary school of Vantaa are usually held during April and May. Please check all the information needed from the home pages of the schools.

Important Dates

21.3.2023 Joint application ends. Online applications must be saved in the search system by 15:00.

When applying for specialized studies at some high schools, the application forms shall be delivered directly to the educational institution at the latest on March 22, by 15:00. Read more detailed instructions for specialized studies on the high schools’ websites.

15.6.2023 The names of those admitted to high schools and vocational education will be published at the earliest on June 15.

You will be sent a link to your result letter to the email address entered in the joint application form as soon as the election process has been completed. Check instructions for accepting a study place on educational institutions’ websites.

29.6.2023 The last day for accepting a study place.

The selection criteria for vocational schools and general upper secondary schools

The student selection for vocational schools is based on points, whereas for general upper secondary schools the selections are based on the average grade number of the students’ primary school diploma. In case of an identical score between two applicants, the selection is based on the order of the applied schools in their application.

Students are selected based on the average grade of their primary school graduation diploma. If one or more applicants have the exact same average grade, the order of selection is based on the order of the applied schools in their application and the average grade of all subjects in the graduation diploma.

The average grade is calculated from the following subjects:

Mother tongue and literature, second native language and foreign languages
Religion or ethics
History and social studies
Mathematics, physics and chemistry
Biology, health information and geography

The acceptable average grade for a Finnish general upper secondary school in Vantaa needs to be at least 7,00. The required average grade varies annually based on the amount of applicants.

If the applicant has a personalized amount of studies in mathematics and mother tongue, the applicant will only be in the consideration-based selection.

In the joint application system for Finnish general upper secondary schools that operate during the day (and their general line of studies) it’s the average of the lowest grades.

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Lumon lukio	7,42	7,38	7,58	7,58	7,08	7,08
Martinlaakson lukio	8,00	7,92	8,08	8,17	8,50	8,25
Sotungin lukio	8,25	7,92	8,33	8,25	8,17	7,67
Tikkurilan lukio	8,00	8,17	8,25	8,25	8,08	8,08
Vaskivuoren lukio	8,08	8,08	8,25	8,25	7,92	7,92

The selection criteria for presonalized studies.

In the general upper secondary schools of Vantaa there is also a possibility to have personalized studies. These studies have a heavy emphasis on a selected subject. Ie. The subject can be natural sciences, theater or media. The applying process for personalized studies might include preliminary-tasks, interviews or entrance tests. The students are selected using a total score which consists of possible preliminary-tasks, entrance tests and the grades on the students’ graduation diploma.

For vocational schools the student selection is done based on selection scores. If one or more applicants have the exact same score, the selection is based on the order of the applied schools in their application.

Selection scores are given from:

Success in school
If you have completed basic education on the same or the previous year of joining the joint search.
Certain other studies after basic education, such as the 10th grade or VALMA.
Possible entrance and suitability tests.

Read more about the selection criteria for vocational schools from the institutes home pages and in opintopolku.fi

Support for job seeking and vocational guidance

Studyinfo General upper secondary education Ammattiosaaja Vocational education and training prepares you for life and working life Ohjaamo Ohjaamo will counsel and advice you; no advance appointment required. At Ohjaamo, you can also enroll yourself as an unemployed job-seeker and get help in finding accommodation, in applying for benefits, and in filling in applications. Kipinä Visit Kipinä, if you are an under-29-year-old Vantaa resident without a study place or job. Kipinä will help you plan the future and counsel you about applying for studies or employment. Uusimaa TE Office TE Office will give you information on vacancies, training, studying, financing of studies, as well as different occupations and training required for them.

Click here to go to the joint application system front page

Joint application Applying Upper secondary level High schools Vocational schools