Studying at Helsinki School of Natural Sciences
Non-graded
Finnish upper secondary schools are non-graded system. This means that the studies have been divided into study units or modules, allowing students to plan their own individual learning path. The non-graded studies develop the students' study abilities and increase the responsibility for the studies. Upper secondary school education is usually completed in three years, but the curriculum may also be completed in four years.
The school year (190 working days) starts in early August and ends in early June, and is divided into four periods. Each period ends with an evaluation week, after which schedules change and new study units are started. Evaluation criteria may include a written exam, small tests, presentations, portfolio work, exercises, essays, papers, continuous observation of the study progress, self-evaluation, and peer-evaluation.
Each student must complete a minimum of 150 credits, about two thirds of which consist of compulsory study units. At the end of the general upper secondary education, students take a matriculation examination, which is the term used for the national school-leaving examination.
The curriculum is based on the national Framework Curriculum given by the Board of Education. The allocation of time for each subject and the minimum number of study units in each subject has been determined by the Council of State.
Study units
The studies consist of compulsory and optional (specialization and applied) study units:
study units differ in scope from 1 to 3 credits
one study unit worth 2 credits comprises circa 38 hours (the length of a lesson is 90 minutes)
the optional study units supplement the studies of compulsory subjects, and they have been planned by the school on the basis of quite flexible national instructions
the applied study units have been planned by the school alone
study units are normally graded with numbers 4-10, some (applied) study units, however, are marked "passed" only.
Due to the focus on natural sciences, there is a large selection of study units in mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, and geography. These study units are available to all students. The selection of study units in other subjects is wide as well, enabling the students to progress individually and focus on the subjects of their choice. Besides natural sciences, students may emphasize mathematics, languages and humanities, and social sciences.
Languages
The curriculum of the upper secondary school includes at least two languages, one of which must be the second national language, i.e. Swedish for the Finnish speakers and Finnish for the Swedish speakers.
the compulsory A-level language starts at the lower level of comprehensive school (3rd or 4th grade)
the compulsory B1-level language starts in 6th grade. This must the second national language: Swedish for the Finnish speakers and Finnish for the Swedish speakers.
the optional B2-level language starts at the higher level of comprehensive school (7th grade)
the optional B3-level language starts in upper secondary.
In practice, all students study A-level English and B-level Swedish. In addition, students can have several other A-level and/or B-level languages.
The following languages are offered at the City of Helsinki upper secondary schools:
A-level English, Swedish, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Chinese
B-level Swedish, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Latin, Korean, Arabic
Some languages are taught online and/or in cooperation with other municipal upper secondary schools.
