Almost half of the new students at universities of applied sciences (UAS) have graduated from a vocational school. In the context of UAS studies, these students’ strengths include industry-specific competence, work experience and workplace skills. Deficiencies in the students’ competence are typically related to communication skills, foreign languages and mathematics. However, universities of applied sciences provide diverse support to their students, and students who hold a vocational qualification are successful in their higher education studies.

Many 9th-grade students process even simple numerical problems significantly longer than is typical for their age group. On average, the lowest-performing students were at a sixth-grade level in terms of fluency, but a third of poorly performing students were at levels 3-5. 

The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) will publish several sets of topical evaluation results in winter 2023–2024. The themes of these publications include comprehensive school students’ learning outcomes, new forms of student counselling introduced as compulsory education was extended, and the competence produced by vocational education and training in relation to the requirements of studies at universities of applied sciences.

In recent years, early childhood education and care (ECEC) has seen major legislative amendments and curriculum updates. As new objectives have been set for early childhood education and care, some of the practices in ECEC centres and family day care have changed. ECEC management plays a key role in successfully mainstreaming reforms in the daily life of ECEC units.

FINEEC's old website had reached the end of its technical life cycle, and the need to redesign the website had been evident for a while. Here, we describe the key changes made to the website, so that you can continue to find the information you need.

The most important aspect of the website redesign project was to enable the better utilisation of information. That is why the content and structure of the website have been slightly rearranged and site search has been improved. Accessibility aspects have also been taken into account. 

The University of Turku (UTU) passed the audit conducted by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC). The University of Turku received special praise from the FINEEC audit team for its inclusive quality culture, which enables staff and students to participate widely in the development of the University’s operations and services. The development of curricula is systematic. The University has a strong commitment to promoting multidisciplinarity and societal impact.

Tampere University received special praise from FINEEC’s audit team for its effective quality management processes, which help the University identify its strengths and development areas. Diverse cooperation with stakeholders supports the working life relevance of the degree programmes and students’ integration into working life well. Societal impact is understood as part of the University’s basic task.

The development work carried out as part of the Government’s key projects for higher education strengthened cooperation between higher education institutions and staff competence. The development projects brought about several permanent changes. In the future, project development in higher education should strengthen the evaluation of the effectiveness of projects, and ensure that the results obtained are consolidated, and that the development continues after the projects have been ended.

According to the results of the evaluation of higher education pedagogy, the strengths of teaching and guidance at Finnish higher education institutions are that a variety of pedagogical methods are used in teaching and guidance and that the assessment practices support learning. Another strength is that the teaching cultures of higher education institutions support pedagogical development and cooperation between teachers. Students feel that they are treated equally and with respect.