Can you explain how university entry test works in Finland?

[EP]

you had to pass several tests on many subject

That is not an entry test for university, that is matriculation exam at the end of secondary school. You show how well you master the subjects you have been taught.

Universities have entrance exams. The results from that PLUS your matriculation exam is what counts.

[MikeD]

Foreign applicants who haven't taken the matriculation exam are often dealt with on individual basis if they choose to apply for a programme that is not specifically designed with foreign students in mind. For Finns, it is only the relevant categories of the matriculation exam that are taken into account, and it is possible to apply even if you haven't taken the exam. Part of the students who are accepted get in on the points they get from their matriculation exam and entrance exam combined, some get in on the entrance exam alone.

[EP]

And, is it true that any test an applicant writes is sent to different teacher in the nation, which evaluet it anonymosly?

You are mixing up the before mentioned matriculation exam that ends secondary school (you have to pass the exam) and university entrance exams. Matriculation exams are the same in every school and they are evaluated by a board (anonymous).

just students which pass the tests can study and anybody else have to give up and can't enter any university in the country

Not getting into a certain university to study that particular subject and that particular year does not mean that you cannot try again next year, the same university or another one. The same subject or another one.

I don´t know about government. At least now we are educating too many artsy people, dancers, actors and such. They don´t have work.

[MikeD]

I'm not interested to apply a Finnish university, I'm a bit old indeed... I'm just curious to realize how you deal with first-year students. Is it true that the Finnish Government settle how many students have to study on any faculty based on needs of Finland economy (for example 1000 engineers, 1500 lawyers, 1200 architects...)? And just students which pass the tests can study and anybody else have to give up and can't enter any university in the country? And, is it true that any test an applicant writes is sent to different teacher in the nation, which evaluet it anonymosly?[/quote]

I don't think it's actually the goverment per se which decides how many students are accepted, more likely it's the universities themselves. But yes, you do need to pass the entrance exam in order to get the right to study in a university. You can apply to as many different universities and different study programmes as you wish, and if you don't get in on the first try you can always try again the next year. Once you're in, you have seven years to finish your degree.

[sammy]

I don´t know about government. At least now we are educating too many artsy people, dancers, actors and such. They don´t have work.

So it isn't true somebody in the Government or inside universities plan how many students to get in in each faculty, to avoid to have to many graduates in, for instance, architecture or literature which will not have work?

Of course they plan things like this, but it's a question of cooperation between the Ministry and the HEI's and not "somebody deciding"

http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset ... 090558.pdf

Chapter 6. University steering and financing

Section 48. Objective-setting

1. The Ministry of Education and the university shall conclude a fixed term
agreement on the quantitative and qualitative targets of central relevance to
education and science policy and on the monitoring and evaluation of their
implementation. On the part of the university, the agreement shall be signed by
the chairperson of the board and the rector.

2. Where the university-specific targets cannot be coordinated at the national level
or within fields of education (?), the Ministry of Education may, with the purpose
of assuring funding, decide on quantitative and qualitative targets in regard of an
individual university to the extent that they form part of the grounds for the
financing allocated to the university.

You see there's no such thing as "free education". The universities need to take financial issues into consideration too, when planning their student intakes.

But I'd also say that this kind of planning can not be made solely on the basis of employment situation - education can also be considered as "an end in itself", even if not all graduates can instantly find employment. However I do not know all the nuts and bolts of higher education policy - like for example to what extent exactly the government (i.e. the Ministry) can decide on, say, the annual intake of architecture students at any given university.

If you're desperate to know the details, why not ask from the Ministry...

[MikeD]

Chatting with a girl from Sweden (where universities works very similar to yours with entry exams) I realized she didn't pass the entry test in her country and now she is studying medicine in a medicine faculty in Poland. Then she will go back in Sweden to look for a job (tricking the law...) How do you deal with persons graduated in a foreign country who wants to practice in Finland? Do you force them to pass an evaluation test made by your staff?[/quote]

I don't think there's any "tricking the law" there - it doesn't really matter where she gets her qualification to practice medicine. All that matters is that she has one. People who have a degree from a foreign university can try to find employment in Finland as they please, it's up to the employers whether or not they would prefer someone with a degree from a Finnish university. Whether they automatically meet the legal requirements for some public sector jobs is another matter, but there are always ways (open university courses etc.) to rectify that.

[sammy]

I don't think there's any "tricking the law" there - it doesn't really matter where she gets her qualification to practice medicine. All that matters is that she has one. People who have a degree from a foreign university can try to find employment in Finland as they please, it's up to the employers whether or not they would prefer someone with a degree from a Finnish university. Whether they automatically meet the legal requirements for some public sector jobs is another matter, but there are always ways (open university courses etc.) to rectify that.

Yep - if a degree is awarded by a foreign university (also if it's a question of a Finnish student who has studied abroad), then is some cases official recognition is required - when applying for public posts, or to certain regulated professions (teaching, health care & medicine for example). The actual recognition procedure may vary depending on the case.

IIRC the Nordic (and also to an extent, the EU) agreements & regulations may ease the recognition process somewhat for degrees awarded in these countries. At least in some fields it's even "automatic", between the Nordic countries...

Teaching qualifications from another Nordic country

If you have completed a class teacher degree with a duration of at least three years in Sweden, Denmark, Norway or Iceland and are a fully qualified class teacher in that country, you are qualified to work as a class teacher without any specific decision

You'll find info on this at the National Board of Education site: http://www.oph.fi/recognition...

[Pursuivant]

There was just in.. umm.. where the UAS courses where they had 1 person applying ...

[sammy]

There was just in.. umm.. where the UAS courses where they had 1 person applying ...

You mean this one? http://www.taloussanomat.fi/tyo-ja-koul ... 011238/139

[sammy]

Do you consider your present system fair and effective? And do you think it avoids too many students take a degree for branches 'over populated'? Are there, between you readers from Finland, somebody who apply for the university test and couldn't get in? And, then, what have you take up?

If you ask me, there are pros and cons in having entrance examinations and numerus clausus student intake quotas (limited number of annual placements).

Anyway it appears to me you are looking for "expert information" on educational policy. You're not likely to find it here at least not when the issue is "Finnish students applying to Finnish universities"...

...so if you're looking for something more than just opinions, see/contact http://www.kka.fi for example...

[MikeD]

Do you consider your present system fair and effective? And do you think it avoids too many students take a degree for branches 'over populated'? Are there, between you readers from Finland, somebody who apply for the university test and couldn't get in? And, then, what have you take up?

I first applied after taking my matriculation exam, didn't get in, did my military service, applied again, didn't get in, applied to study something else than I'd originally planned and got in. In retrospect, it worked out just fine for me.