Homeschooling in Finland:

Homeschooling in Finland is growing

Across Europe, more and more families are choosing to educate their children from home — for the flexibility, for travel, for wellbeing, or simply because it fits their child better than a traditional classroom.

In Finland, educating your child from home — known locally as Kotiopetus — comes with its own rules, which we walk through below. Increasingly, families meet them by enrolling in an accredited online school, so their child still gets live teaching, structure, and real friendships.

If you’re exploring your options, here’s what you need to know — and how bina can help if you’d rather not figure it all out on your own.

Is schooling from home legal in Finland?

Yes. Finland has compulsory education (oppivelvollisuus), not compulsory schooling. The Basic Education Act (628/1998) lets a child meet this duty either by attending school or by being educated in another way, including at home (kotiopetus). You do not need permission and there is no application that can be refused — the guardian simply notifies the home municipality (often via the child's school or the Wilma system) that the child will be home-educated.

The guardian then takes full responsibility for the child meeting the objectives of the Finnish national core curriculum in every subject, with no subject exemptions allowed. The municipality appoints a supervising or "inspecting" teacher who monitors progress against the curriculum — typically meeting the family for an annual assessment and writing a yearly progress report. Home-educated pupils are not given number grades; progress is shown through discussion, work and demonstrations, and a separate examination is taken if a formal basic-education certificate is needed.

Two honest caveats: there are no detailed national rules for how monitoring is carried out, so practice varies by municipality; and a home-educated child is no longer formally a school pupil, so some school-only supports and statutory flexibilities don't apply. Home education centres on the basic-education years (roughly ages 7-16); since the August 2021 reform, compulsory education continues to age 18, normally in upper-secondary or vocational study.

What are the steps to school from home in Finland?

1. Confirm your child's stage and your duty — Compulsory education in Finland runs from age 7 (with pre-primary at 6) to 18. Home education (kotiopetus) applies to the basic-education years, roughly ages 7-16; as guardian, you become responsible for your child meeting the national core curriculum objectives.
2. Notify your municipality in writing — Tell your home municipality — usually through your child's current school or the Wilma system — that your child will be educated at home. This is an informational notification, not an application, so it cannot be denied.
3. Meet the supervising teacher and plan progress — The municipality appoints a supervising or "inspecting" teacher who checks that learning follows the national core curriculum in every subject. Agree how and when progress will be shown — typically an annual assessment meeting plus written work or demonstrations.
4. Enrol in a recognised online school to carry the curriculum — Many families pair home education with an accredited distance or online school so the child follows a full, structured programme with live teachers. This gives you a clear curriculum to cover and ready evidence of progress to share with the supervising teacher.
5. Keep records and demonstrate progress yearly — Keep samples of work, reports and assessments. The supervising teacher writes a yearly progress report; if you later need a formal basic-education certificate, your child sits a separate examination assessed against the curriculum objectives.

An accredited online school like bina makes much of this simpler: we provide the curriculum, the live teaching, and the progress records your authority may ask to see — so you can focus on being the parent.