Bilingual education

Application period 5 May–27 July 2025

An additional supplementary application round can be arranged for bilingual basic education only if the groups have free places. More places may become available during the summer and therefore you can apply even though there were no free places available at the time (marked with a '0' zero in the table below).  If there are no free places to the grade you applied, the language test will not be arranged, and we will notify you by 30 July 2025. 

The supplementary application round will be held during the spring and summer so that the accepted pupils can start school in a new class in August 2025.

For grades 2–9, the applicant must always take a language test.  There is no language test for Grade 1 in bilingual education, and the places will be drawn by lottery. You can also use the same application form for all bilingual programmes and English-language basic education. If you apply to multiple schools, list the schools in the order of preference. Schools with the same language programme use the same language test and the results of your child can be taken into consideration in the pupil admissions of all these schools.

You can apply to all grades from 1 to 9 in the supplementary application round for bilingual basic education.

If you are interested in studying in bilingual Finnish-North Sámi education, please contact the Pasila comprehensive school principal directly. There are free places available at all grades 1–9.

Who can apply?

• If you are an applicant living in Helsinki, you can apply through the supplementary application for the 1st and 7th grade only if you have moved to Helsinki after January 2025. For all other grades, anyone can apply.
• Applicants living outside Helsinki can also apply, but Helsinki residents are given priority in the pupil admission. However, applicants living outside Helsinki can’t participate in the supplementary admission round if they have already applied for a place earlier in autumn 2024 or spring 2025.
• The applicant must have an address in Helsinki when the school starts.
• If the pupil later moves out of Helsinki, they can continue at the school in Helsinki until the end of the school term. After that, they can continue only if the school has free places.
• If your child is in bilingual education in another city or municipality in Finland, they may be eligible to apply in the Continuous Admission. See application criteria above in section 'Finnish–English: Continuous admission for grades 1–9, open all year round'
   

Apply with an electronic application form

Apply by filling out the electronic application form via the link below. The form closes on Sunday 27 July 2025. Using the electronic form requires a valid email address. All guardians of the applicant must agree on sending the application, but the electronic identification via email is required from one guardian only.

Fill out the electronic application form here.(Link leads to external service)

No Wilma username and password are needed for filling in the application form, but you need to have a valid email address. 

Start by writing your email address in the address field and click “Send verification”. Then, go to your inbox, open the email that you received and click on the link in the message, and you can proceed to fill in the application form. 

After submitting the form, you will receive a confirmation email to confirm that we have received your application. However, the confirmation email does not include a detailed description of the options that you chose.

If you have problems with filling in the form, check the following things:

• If you have previously logged in on Wilma using an existing username and password, log out.
• Clear your browsing history.
• Change the language of Wilma to match the language of the application form.
• If none of the above works, try again later.
• If necessary, contact oppilaaksiotto@hel.fi(Link opens default mail program)

Language tests for bilingual Finnish-English education on Friday 1 August 2025

The language test for bilingual Finnish-English education will be held on Friday 1 August 2025 at Laajasalo Comprehensive School at Holmanmoisionpolku 1, 00840 Helsinki. Check the further instructions on the school website.

Please note! We will not send out invitations to the language test for bilingual Finnish-English education. 

Language tests for other bilingual education options on Friday 1 August 

The language tests for all other language pairs in bilingual education will take place on Friday 1 August as follows:

• Finnish-Spanish at Käpylä Comprehensive School
• Finnish-Chinese at Meilahti Primary School
• Finnish-Estonian at Latokartano Comprehensive School
• Finnish-Russian at Myllypuro Comprehensive School
• Finnish-Swedish at the Nordic Comprehensive School

Check the test details on the school website. There is no need to prepare for the language test. The test measures the applicant's language skills in both languages. 

Free places in bilingual education in 2025–2026

More places may become available during the summer and therefore you can apply even though there were no free places available at the time (marked with number zero in the table below). If there are no free places to the grade you applied, the language test will not be arranged, and we will notify you by 30 July 2025.
 

If the grade is marked with a hyphen (-) bilingual education is not provided in this grade. 

Number of free places per school and grade

Admission decisions

The schools will send out the admission decisions to guardians by secure email on 5 August 2025.

Further information and enquiries about supplementary admission

English-language and Bilingual Services

If you have questions about the supplementary admission or applying, get in touch with Eduguidance:
eduguidance@hel.fi(Link opens default mail program)
+358 9 310 53754(Link starts a phone call)