Daycare and School in Finland 2026: Complete Guide for Newcomer Families

1. Early childhood education and care

ECEC/daycare is not merely childcare; in Finland it is a pedagogical early-childhood education service. It can be provided in municipal centres, family daycare or subsidised/private settings.

Municipal ECEC fees follow a national formula based on family income, family size and the hours of care. From 1 August 2026 the maximum fee for full-time care is EUR 335 a month for the youngest child (EUR 311 until 31 July 2026), the fee for the second child is at most 40% of that (EUR 134), and the smallest fee charged is EUR 32; the fee percentage stays at 10.7% of income above the family-size income limit. If a family does not hand in its income details, the municipality charges the maximum fee.

2. Pre-primary at six, basic education from seven

According to the Finnish National Agency for Education, all six-year-olds have one year of pre-primary education. Basic education normally starts in the year the child turns seven and lasts nine years, grades 1–9.

Compulsory education continues until age 18 unless an upper-secondary qualification or equivalent is completed earlier. Compulsory education is therefore broader than grades 1–9 alone.

3. What is free in basic education?

Pre-primary and basic education are free. Textbooks, learning materials and required tools are provided free of charge, as is a balanced daily school meal.

Necessary student-welfare services are free, and school transport can be free where statutory distance or safety conditions are met.

4. How school placement works

The municipality generally assigns a nearby school based on the home address. Families can often request another school, subject to available places and municipal rules.

For newly arrived families, correct DVV address and municipality registration make placement easier. For school-age children, contacting municipal education services before moving is useful.

5. Preparatory education and S2

If a newly arrived child does not yet have sufficient Finnish/Swedish to follow basic education, the municipality can provide preparatory education. The aim is to strengthen language and school skills for transition to mainstream education.

S2 (Finnish as a second language) is not automatic for every pupil with an immigrant background; it is based on assessed language-learning needs.

6. New support model from 1 August 2026

From 1 August 2026, education providers can offer additional instruction after preparatory education to certain foreign-born pupils whose Finnish/Swedish foundation remains insufficient. The support can last up to one year and is linked to basic education.

The remaining learning-support reform provisions also entered into force on that date. In the relevant special-needs context, varhennettu oppivelvollisuus replaced the earlier pidennetty oppivelvollisuus model.

7. What should a newcomer family prepare?

8. Newcomer family education checklist

9. Education stayed with the municipality; healthcare did not

The 2023 reform moved social and health services to the wellbeing services counties, but education stayed with the municipalities. The distinction matters for a newly arrived family: for a health station you look at the county's site, for daycare and school at the municipality's. The same family deals with two bodies and registers in two online systems, and looking at the wrong site is the commonest cause of delay.

Helsinki is the exception: it was left outside the wellbeing services counties, so the City of Helsinki organises health and social services as well as daycare and school, and a Helsinki family deals with one body. In Espoo and Kauniainen health services come from the Western Uusimaa wellbeing services county and in Vantaa from the Vantaa and Kerava county, while education stays with the city.

Compulsory education has extended to the age of eighteen since 2021. After comprehensive school a young person must continue in general upper secondary or vocational education, and that stage is free within the obligation. A young person arriving at sixteen is therefore not expected to go straight into the labour market, and the municipality has a duty to follow up their education path.

10. Mother-tongue instruction and why it matters

Many municipalities offer weekly instruction in the child's own mother tongue; Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian and Arabic are commonly among them. A group needs enough pupils in the municipality, so it has to be requested at enrolment: if nobody asks, the group may never form and the family finds out only mid-year.

Keeping the mother tongue is not only a matter of communication at home. Research in education indicates that children with a strong first language learn the new one faster and more deeply, because concepts built solidly in one language transfer to the other. Maintaining the mother tongue at home therefore supports learning Finnish rather than competing with it.