Knowledge of Finnish and Swedish required of personnel in public bodies

What is specific about language studies in higher education is that the student must be able to prove competence in such oral and written Finnish or Swedish skills that are required of public office holders (Act 424/2003 and amendment 693/2016). Such language competence must be proved by students whose schooling language is Finnish or Swedish.

Students whose schooling language is other than Finnish or Swedish are exempted from language skill requirements specified in section 6 of Act 424/2003 (amendment 693/2016). Such students must complete the language and communication studies presented in the appendix. 

The student's language competence is entered in the language statements of their degree certificate, containing proof of language competence as stated in the act above, for example when applying for a civil servant position. According to the law, oral and written proficiency in Finnish and Swedish is graded as satisfactory, good or excellent.

The knowledge of languages required of personnel in public bodies is described in the table below. The criteria for Swedish are presented in  section 5 of the appendix: Specific competence level descriptions for universities of applied sciences.

Language skill requirements by the schooling language