Local school and secondary school

It is possible to enroll in a local school during school year if the pupil

• moves to Espoo or within Espoo area
• gives up his/her school place in Weighted-curriculum education, English-language education, bilingual education, etc.

Fill in the application form Application to a local school and submit it to the school your child is applying.

• Application to a local school can be found on this page.

APPLICATION PERIOD HAS ENDED!

Enrolling in the 1st grade takes place through the electronic Wilma(external link) service between 10th and 20th January 2023 by filling in the form Application for 1st grade of Comprehensive School. If you are unable to use the Wilma service, you can fill in the paper form.

The paper form must be submitted by 20 January 2023 at the latest to the following address: 
The Finnish Basic Education Unit
Secretary of Pupil Administration Sara Raitala
P.O. Box 31
FIN-02070 City of Espoo.

• 10-20 January 2023

• Application for 1st grade of Comprehensive School -form 

Application form can be found on this page.

• If a health or other significant reason must be taken into account, this must be informed in the application form.
• In addition, a psychological/medical report or other statement must be submitted by 10 February 2023 at the latest to the following address: The Finnish Basic Education Unit, Administration Services / School admission statements, P.O. Box 31, FIN-02070 City of Espoo.

You have chosen the means of delivery for the decision when filling in the form 'Application for 1st grade of Comprehensive School'. 

• If you have chosen the decision to be published in Wilma, the decision is available in Wilma on 26 April 2023. The decision will not be delivered by post.
• If you have chosen the decision to be mailed, the decision is mailed on 26 April 2023 to arrive during week 18. The decision will not be published in Wilma.

It is not possible to change the means of delivery after application period has ended. 

APPLICATION PERIOD HAS ENDED!

Enrolling in the 7th grade takes place through the electronic Wilma service between January 10th and 17th 2023 by filling in the form Application for 7th grade of Comprehensive School. If you are unable to use the Wilma(external link) service, you can fill in the paper form. The paper form must be submitted to your child's current school in Espoo by 17 January 2023 at the latest. 

If your child is attending a school in another municipality or a private school, submit the paper form by 17 January 2023 at the latest to the following address:
The Finnish Basic Education Unit
Katri Pietarinen
P.O. Box 31
FI-02070 CITY OF ESPOO.

• 10-17 January 2023

• Application for 7th grade of Comprehensive School 
• A2-kielestä luopuminen (only in Finnish)

Application forms can be found on this page. 

If your child decides to stop studying an A2 language, fill in the separate application form A2-kielestä luopuminen (only in Finnish) and submit it to the principal of your child’s current school in Espoo by 20 January, 2023 at the latest.

• If a health or other significant reason must be taken into account, this must be informed in the application form.
• In addition, a psychological/medical report or other statement must be submitted by 20 January 2023 at the latest to the following address: The Finnish Basic Education Unit, Administration Services / School admission statements, P.O. Box 31, FIN-02070 City of Espoo.

You have chosen the means of delivery for the decision when filling in the form 'Application for 7th grade of comprehensive school'. 

• If you have chosen the decision to be published in Wilma, the decision is available in Wilma on 5 April 2023. The decision will not be delivered by post.
• If you have chosen the decision to be mailed, the decision is mailed on 5 April 2023 to arrive during week 15. The decision will not be published in Wilma.

It is not possible to change the means of delivery after application period has ended. 

When enrolling in a Swedish-language local school, the pupil’s  school is determined based on the home address, and there is no separate application process. There are 10 catchment areas, and each area has a comprehensive school. You can find the catchment areas in the map service of the City of Espoo. In the map service, you can also check your child’s local school.  

• Click the down pointing arrow in the upper left corner of the page and select ‘Area search’. 

• In point 1, select ‘Swedish pupil district’, and 

• in point 2, write your home address. 

The pupil catchment areas are: Espoonlahti, Eastern Leppävaara, Western Leppävaara, Central and Northern Espoo, Matinkylä-Olari and Tapiola. A local school is assigned within these catchment areas in the following order:

1. Pupils with a healt or other special reason. A guardian must inform this in the application form and send a psychological/medical report or other document within a deadline. Deadline is determined yearly.
2. Pupils on sibling bases. A guardian must inform this in the application form. The sibling in question must live in the same address and attend a local school assigned by City of Espoo. 
3. Pupils based on the school travel lenght. A local school is assigned so that the travel is as safe and short as possible by taking into account all pupils in the catchment are. The geographically closest school cannot always be assigned as a pupil's local school. 
4. Pupils whose school wish is possible to fulfill. A guardin is able to make one wish within a child's catchment are. The wish does not mean applying solely to this school.

A-languages are taken into account as pupils transfer in the 7th grade.

You can find the pupil catchment areas on the Map service of the City of Espoo. Go to Map service and click the menu in the upper left corner. Select what is shown on the map and click ‘Regional divisions’. Check the option ‘Finnish pupildistricts’.
The Map service can be found on this page. (external link)

Pupils studying at Hösmärinpuisto school's general education in the 2nd grade are assigned to Tuomarila school in the beginning of the 3rd grade according to the decision made by the Growth and Learning Board. Guardians do not fill in any application forms. The assigning order (1-4) mentioned above is not considered. 

Contat your childs current school's school secretary and ask for a key code to create an account. 

If your child is in pre-school, the Finnish Basic Education Unit will send you a key code and a letter regarding starting school. This letter is sent before application period starts to all guardians, whose child is starting 1st grade in school year 2022-2023. 

Espoo schools do not have their own catchment areas based on addresses. Espoo has six pupil catchment areas: Espoonlahti, Eastern Leppävaara, Western Leppävaara, Central and Northern Espoo, Matinkylä-Olari and Tapiola. 

The education board decides every year, how many pupils can be assigned to each school (maximum pupil places). Each school is assigned within these maximum places according to the principles of pupil admission. Since number of pupils, places of residence and school capacity varies each year, children do not go to the same schools from same addresses than previous years. 

You can find the pupil catchment areas on the Map service of the City of Espoo. Go to Map service and click the menu in the upper left corner. Select what is shown on the map and click ‘Regional divisions’. Check the option ‘Finnish pupil districts’.
The Map service can be found on this page. (external link)

Local school preference can be stated in the application form. Stating a local school does not mean your child is applying solely to that school. The preference will be considered where possible. 

When a local school is assigned, the distances must be as short as possible for all children enrolling to a local school. This means distances must be viewed as whole, not individually. As a result, the assigned local school can be other than the nearest located school.

The decision can be appealed by submitting a written demand for rectification to the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland within 14 days of receiving notice on the decision. You have received instructions with the decision. 

Alternatively or additionally, you can fill in the application form Application for a secondary school and submit it to the school you prefer. Note! Applying for a secondary school is not a means of appeal and does not mean your child is applying to another local school. 

Fill in the form Toissijaiseen kouluun hakeminen and submit it to the school Your child is applying. 

The form 'Toissijaiseen kouluun hakeminen' can be found on this page.

• 27 January, 2023 by 3:45 pm (grades 1-9)
• 24 February, 2023 by 3:45 pm (grades 1-9)
• 29 March, 2023 by 3:45 pm (grades 1-9)
• 20 April, 2023 by 3:45 pm (grades 1-9)

• 20 April, 2023 by 3:45 pm (grades 7-9)
• 9 May, 2023 by 3:45 pm (grades 1-6)
• 26 May, 2023 by 3:45 pm (grades 1-9)
• 1 August, 2023 by 3:45 pm (grades 1-9)
• 8 August, 2023 by 3:45 pm (grades 1-9)

Secondary applicants can be admitted only if there are free study places in the school's teaching groups after all pupils have first been assigned a local school. If there are free study places, pupils are admitted to a secondary school in the following order:

1. A pupil who has moved away from the school's close region and still lives in Espoo, but wants to continue in one's present school.
2. Short commute (pupils living in Espoo).
3. Lottery (pupils living in Espoo).
4. A pupil living in another municipality (if there are several applicants, a lot is drawn).