The schools follow a national core curriculum, but recently the range of choice has been widened. Upper secondary school has traditionally constituted the main channel to university education. Both comprehensive school and general upper secondary school have a broadly based system of counselling that underpins the development of the pupil, and provides guidance in studying, career planning and choice of further studies. The task of counselling is to ensure that every young person leaving school is aware of what choices of further education are open to him or her and what working in the adult world entails, and has a clear plan for his or her own future. Finnish vocational education and training is institution-based to a very large extent.
Taught courses form the core of the programmes.
Upper secondary vocational education covers some 75 qualifications. The study programmes take from two to three years to complete. They are designed for comprehensive school leavers and lead to basic vocational qualifications. By the year 2001, all vocational education will be based on three-year programmes. Higher vocational education leads to post-secondary and higher vocational qualifications, which take from 2 to 4.5 years to attain.