From Basic Education to the Matriculation Examination – A Longitudinal Evaluation

Pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education General upper secondary education
Lukiolaisia luokkahuoneessa
Image: Hanna Tarkiainen

The longitudinal evaluation From basic education to the matriculation examination examines how the competencies of ninth-grade students predict their choices of matriculation examinations and their performance in those examinations. The evaluation primarily produces information for the needs of general upper secondary education, but it also provides new comparative data on the competencies of students who continue to other forms of education at the end of basic education.

This evaluation is exceptional among FINEEC’s learning outcomes evaluations, as it spans the transition phase between basic education and upper secondary education and generates extensive longitudinal data on learning outcomes. The evaluation follows students who participated in FINEEC’s learning outcomes evaluations in mathematics, mother tongue and literature (Finnish and Swedish), English (A syllabus), Swedish (A and B syllabi), and Finnish (A syllabus and mother-tongue-level syllabus) during the years 2019–2022.

The evaluation is conducted using data from FINEEC and the KOSKI data service. It produces information relevant to the strategic objective of raising the level of teaching and education in the Education Evaluation Plan 2024–2027. The evaluation project began at the end of 2025, and the results will be published at the turn of 2026–2027.

Objectives of the evaluation

The assessment aims to answer, among others, the following questions:

  1. How are the results of learning outcomes evaluations and final grades distributed among students proceeding to different forms of further education?
  2. To what extent do ninth-grade students’ final grades and performance in learning outcomes evaluations predict their choices of matriculation examinations (both different subjects and different levels of examinations)?
  3. To what extent do ninth-grade students’ final grades and performance in learning outcomes evaluations predict success in the matriculation examinations?
  4. Do changes occur in students’ results between the end of ninth grade and the matriculation examination?
  5. Can changes from the end of ninth grade to the matriculation examination be explained by certain background variables?

More information about the evaluation:

Jan Hellgren

Jan Hellgren

Lead Adviser for Evaluation
Contact person for Swedish-speaking education, General education, Mother tongue and literature (Swedish)
+358 29 533 1182 Helsinki

Reeta Neittaanmäki

Lead Adviser for Evaluation
Development Services, Methodology
+358 29 533 1946 Helsinki