Service guidance for early childhood education and pre-primary education provides guidance in application-related matters. Send email to  varepalveluohjaus@hel.fi (Link opens default mail program)  or call +358 9 310 80488. The telephone service is open Monday, Tuesday Wednesday and Friday at 9.00–12.00 and Thursday at 9.00–11.00. Guidance in Swedish Tuesday at 9.00–12.00.  

Unfortunately, our telephone service cannot accept calls after the service hours are over, even if there are callers in the queue. Please make sure to close the line when the service hours are over. The answering machine does not inform you about the time.

How to get a pre-primary education place for a child

Apply for a pre-primary education by sending us the filled out PDF form.  If your child has previously been in municipal early childhood education or you enrolled them in pre-primary education in January 2026, they will automatically receive a place in municipal pre-primary education. You can also apply for a place outside the official application period, but in that case, we cannot promise you the nearest place.

On this page

Apply for a place in pre-primary education by filling out and submitting a PDF form. Your child will get a place at your preferred pre-primary school if places are still available. 

If there are no places available where you applied for, we will assign your child a place within your own admission area determined by your home address. If there are no places available in your admission area, your child will be get the nearest available place in another area.

My child is in municipal early childhood education

Your child will automatically receive a place in pre-primary education if they are in municipal early childhood education. For the 2026–2027 pre-primary education period, your child has been assigned a place in their admission area based on your home address valid on 22 January 2026. The period to accept the assigned place for your child was from 13 to 27 February 2026.  

  • Accept the pre-primary education place during 13–27 February 2026 on Asti

    A pre-primary education place has been confirmed for your child for the school year 2026–2027. If you are happy with the assigned place, accept it.

  • Or reject the assigned pre-primary education place during 13–27 February 2026

    If you are not happy with the place assigned to your child, reject it and submit a new application between during 13–27 February 2026 on Asti.

  • Decisions on pre-primary education to be sent out to families by the end of March

    If you applied for pre-primary education on Asti before 2 March 2026, you will receive the decision in the suomi.fi service by 31 March 2026. Your child’s pre-primary education will begin on 12 August 2026. Your child’s future pre-primary education school will contact you before the pre-primary education begins. If you have any questions about pre-primary education, please contact your child’s future pre-primary education school.

My child is not in municipal early childhood education

Do this if you want municipal pre-primary education and your child is:

  •  in the City of Helsinki’s club activities,
  • in home care,
  • on a temporary break from early childhood education, or
  • in early childhood education in a private daycare centre

If you want your child to continue in a private pre-primary school, read more about private pre-primary education here. 

  • Enrol in pre-primary education on the Asti during 7–21 January 2026

    If you enrolled your child in pre-primary education on the Asti online service during 7–21 January 2026, the city will assign the child a place in pre-primary education at the same time as the children in municipal early childhood education. Pre-primary education places will be assigned based on the child’s current home address on 22 January 2026. 

    If you forgot to enrol, you can still apply for a pre-primary education place on Asti. In this case, your child will get a pre-primary education place from the nearest pre-primary education place with free places.

  • Accept the pre-primary education place during 13–27 February 2026

    A pre-primary education place has been confirmed for your child for the school year 2026–2027. If you are happy with the assigned pre-primary education place, accept it on Asti.

  • Or reject the assigned pre-primary education place and apply for a new one during 13–27 February 2026

    If you are not happy with the place assigned to your child, reject it and submit a new application between 13 and 27 February 2026 on Asti. 

  • Decision on pre-primary education to be sent to families by the end of March

    Your child’s pre-primary education will begin on 12 August 2026. Your child’s future pre-primary education place will contact you before the pre-primary education begins. If you have any questions about pre-primary education, please contact your child’s future pre-primary education place.

If your child is in early childhood education with extended hours in a round-the-clock daycare centre and needs it also in pre-primary school, please indicate the need for care with extended hours in the pre-primary education application. You must verify the need for care with extended hours by providing the daycare centre manager with proof.

Extended hours are available only in the Finnish-language pre-primary education.

 

Children in the Swedish-language immersion programme will automatically get a pre-primary education place according to the language immersion path. For more information, ask you child's current Swedish-language immersion daycare centre. 

Learn more about the Swedish-language immersion and find the instructions on how to apply on page Pre-primary education in different languages.

If you did not accept a pre-primary education place in the spring

You can apply for a pre-primary education place for your child with the PDF form at any time. Your child will get a place in the pre-primary school you apply for if there are free places, and if the placement is possible according to the grounds for getting a place in pre-primary education. 

If there are no free places where you are applied for, your child will gets place from another pre-primary school in the admission area. If there are no free places in your admission area, your child will receive the nearest free place from another admission area. The pre-primary school is indicated in the pre-primary education decision.

Are you moving to Helsinki and need a pre-primary education place for your child?

My family will have a home address in Helsinki by 22 January 2026

You can enrol to pre-primary education if you have a home address in Helsinki by 22 January 2026. When you enrol your child to pre-primary education, they will get a place within the school admission area according to your new home address. Remember to accept or reject the place during 13–27 February 2026. Learn more in section "My child is not in municipal early childhood education".

My family will have an address in Helsinki after 22 January 2026

Apply for a pre-primary education place for your child with the PDF form. Please note that we cannot guarantee that your child will get a place in your own admission area, but your child will get the nearest available place.

Do you need a place in pre-primary education in the middle of the school year?

You can also apply for a place for your child in the middle of the pre-primary education year. Apply for a pre-primary education place with the PDF form. Your child will be placed in the pre-primary school you have applied for if there are places available. If there are no places available in the option you have applied for, your child will be placed in another option within the admission area. If there are no places available in your admission area, your child will be offered the nearest available place in another admission area. The pre-primary education place will be indicated in the pre-primary education decision.

Moving within Helsinki during the pre-primary education year

If your child’s home address changes within Helsinki during the pre-primary education year, the child may continue at the current place until they start school. If you want to change your child’s pre-primary school, due to a change of address, apply for a new place as soon as the child’s new address is valid.

You can add your new registered home address separately in the application if it does not update automatically. The pre-primary education place can be assigned from the admission area in accordance with the new home address if there are free places. Otherwise, the place will be assigned from a pre-primary school closest to the child’s home address in another admission area.

Based on secondary school admission, you can apply for a pre-primary education place for the child in the future admission are before the new address is valid. Applications from those living in the admission area for pre-primary education are processed before those applying based on secondary admission.

If  you want to apply for a new place after your child already has a pre-primary education place, you can apply with the PDF form. You can include two options on the application. If you apply for a new place in the same school admission area where your current home address is and there are no vacancies in the places you chose in the application, the decision will be negative. In this case, the existing pre-primary education place stays valid.

We process applications sent during the current pre-primary education year twice a month. The processing of applications received during the spring pre-primary education application period has a separate schedule due to the large number of applications.

Moving within Helsinki before the child starts pre-primary education 

If your child's home address changes before the start of pre-primary education, you can reject the place assigned to your child and apply for a new place as soon as the new address is known. 

You can edit your new registered home address in the application if it is not automatically updated. If there are places available, your child can get a pre-primary education place within the admission area according to the new home address. Otherwise, your child will be placed in the nearest option in another admission area.

If you apply after 27 February 2026, your child can get a place in the pre-primary education option you applied for only if there are places available. If there are no places available in the place you applied for, your child will be placed in another pre-primary education option in the admission area. If there are no places available in your admission area, your child will be offered the nearest available place in another admission area. The pre-primary education place is indicated in the pre-primary education decision. We will make decisions on applications received after 27.2.2026 from the beginning of April onwards.

In Helsinki, private daycare centres and units also provide pre-primary education. Private service providers offer versatile options for pre-primary education. Private pre-primary education is similar to the municipal pre-primary education. 

In private daycare centres and units, the child can participate in, for example, pre-primary education in a foreign language, pre-primary education emphasising Montessori or Steiner pedagogy or pre-primary education emphasising religious and ethics education. If you want a pre-primary education place from a private daycare centre, contact the manager of the private daycare centre you are interested in.

Pre-primary education in private daycare centres is free for four hours per day. However, the private service provider determines the fee for any supplementary early childhood education they provide before and after the pre-primary education. You can apply for private daycare allowance from Kela for supplementary early childhood education.

You can apply for pre-primary education in a private daycare centre by submitting the City of Helsinki’s PDF application directly to your preferred private daycare centre. The application period for pre-primary education in private daycare centres was 7–21 January 2026. 

Submit the paper application to the private pre-primary education school you are applying to. Pre-primary education decisions will be posted to families in February or March 2026.    

A private service provider applies for a permit as a unit organising pre-primary education from the city of Helsinki. The prerequisite to form of a pre-primary education group is seven children at minimum. In pre-primary education with a special emphasis (foreign-language, Montessori or Steiner, religion or worldview-based education), which is enabled by the school path, the group may also be smaller. If the formation of a sufficiently large pre-primary education group is uncertain, you should also register for municipal or other private pre-primary education with the PDF application within the application period. Notify in the application form if a place in private pre-primary education is your primary preference.  
 

Private pre-primary education places in Helsinki 2025–2026 (PDF)

Private pre-primary education places on the Service Map

Having a non-disclosure for personal safety is a voluntary and additional measure that allows you to restrict the disclosure of your address information from the Finnish Population Information System. 

If someone in your family has a non-disclosure for personal safety, if you or your family do not have Finnish personal identity codes or Finnish online banking credentials, or if you are otherwise unable to apply online, send us the enrolment form via Secure email. The decision about your child's pre-primary school place will also be sent to you by Secure email. By replying to the email, you can accept or reject the assigned place.

Send the PDF application form by Secure email

Helsinki is divided into admission areas for pre-primary education. Pre-primary education places are allocated to both children in municipal early childhood education and children enrolled in pre-primary education on the basis of the child’s home address Learn more about the admission to pre-primary education.

Enrolment in pre-primary education applies to children who are not in municipal early childhood education before the start of pre-primary education, are on a temporary break from early childhood education, are in club activities or need shift care during the pre-primary education year. You can apply for private pre-primary education by submitting an application directly to the desired private daycare centre providing pre-primary education.

You can also apply for a pre-primary education place in the middle of the school year 2025–2026. Apply for pre-primary education with the PDF form.

If there are places available, your child will get a place in the location you have applied for. If there are no places available in the location you have applied for, your child will be placed in another pre-primary education place in the admission area. 

If there are no places available in your admission area, your child will be offered the nearest available pre-primary education place in another admission area. The assigned place will be indicated in the pre-primary education decision.