Admissions
The City of Oulu Comprehensive School Admissions Principles Starting From 1 January 2020
The City of Oulu Educational and Cultural Services has confirmed the following principles concerning comprehensive school admissions (19.12.2019 §189).
Local school
Local school means the school that is located in the pupil's educational region, close to the pupil's home address. The regional manager of the educational region assigns a pupil their local school. A local school is not always the geographically closest school.
Local school is assigned by the pupil's official address registered in The Finnish Population Information System. The admissions of pupils who live on the borders of the regions are annually re-evaluated. A pupil can be admitted to a different region school as well.
Home municipality
The City of Oulu comprehensive schools admit pupils whose home municipality is Oulu. Complementary Sami language teaching and Oulu International School can admit pupils from other cities by an agreement between the cities. Classes can also admit pupils from other cities due to special reasons related to student welfare or severe disability. Special subject emphasis classes admit pupils whose home municipality is Oulu.
Admissions
Regional principals place pupils to schools with the leadership of regional managers following the principles confirmed by the Educational and Cultural Services.
Admissions are made to grades 1-6 and 7-9. The principals of Oulu University Teacher Training School participate in assigning schools for central and northern region pupils.
Oulu University Teacher Training School implements in its admissions the transition provision in the Basic Education Act (POL 54 §) concerning training schools and schools that correspond comprehensive school.
The regional manager makes the local school admission decision. The decision must include a reasoning and appeal instructions based on the Basic Education Act 42 §.
Assigning a local school
A pupil is assigned a local school. The child's local school is one of the comprehensive schools close to their home address in their region. The school principal decides whether the pupil is located to the main school or to a separate school unit.
Students are assigned a local school according to the following principles and in the following order:
1. Health condition or other notable reason
The guardian must provide an expert opinion on the child's health condition or other notable reason before the decision on the child's local school has been made.
2. The sibling principle
- The pupil is assigned the same local school where their siblings living in the same home address study in.
- The sibling principle concerns siblings studying in comprehensive school grades 1-6.
- The sibling principle is not enforced if the sibling studies in Oulu International School, in a special subject emphasis class, in an out-of-catchment school or has been relocated to another school by a special support decision.
3. The way to school
- A local school is first assigned to those pupils who only have one suitable school in a short and safe distance from their home.
- A local school is then assigned to the rest of the pupils in such a manner that the way to school is short and safe and so the pupils are evenly distributed to the regions' schools and groups. When assigning a local school to a child, case-by-case circumstances (for example school renovations and resources, group sizes etc.) that might impact school capacity to admit pupils are taken into account. The education provider can break these principles due to a justified reason.
4. A level language
Pupils continue to study their chosen A level language (A1, A2) in grade 7. The pupil is assigned a local school where studying the selected language is possible. Studying can continue in the pupil's local school, some other school in the region or in another region's school. Principals are in charge of organizing A level language studies in their schools.
Applying for an out-of-catchment school
A guardian can also apply for a place in a school other than the child's local school. If a pupil is admitted to an out-of-catchment school, the guardian is responsible for covering the expenses of possible school transportation.
If pupils are admitted to an out-of-catchment school, secondary admissions must not increase the pupil amount in the classroom to more than 22 pupils.
Pupils are selected by the following criteria in the following order:
- Health condition or other notable reason
The guardian must provide an expert opinion on the child's health condition or other notable reason before the decision on the child's local school has been made. - A level language
Pupils continue to study their chosen A level language (A1, A2) in grade 7. The pupil is assigned a local school where studying the selected language is possible. Studying can continue in the pupil's local school, some other school in the region or in another region's school. Principals are in charge of organizing A level language studies in their schools. - The way to school
A local school is then assigned to the rest of the pupils in such a manner that the way to school is short and safe and so the pupils are evenly distributed to the regions' schools and groups. When assigning a local school to a child, case-by-case circumstances (for example school renovations and resources, group sizes etc.) that might impact school capacity to admit pupils are taken into account. - Other reasons
If there are more applicants than there are places in a group or a classroom, admissions are decided by a draw.
If applicants can still be admitted after following the aforementioned principles, applicants who are applying due to other reasons are decided by a draw. If a pupil cannot be admitted a place in an out-of-catchment school, a local school will be assigned for them in their own city region.
Special subject emphasis classes
Pupils are admitted to special subject emphasis classes (art, music, sports) based on their applications and an entrance exam. The pupils' home municipality must be Oulu. Admissions are made by regional managers accordingly to the principals confirmed by the Educational and Cultural Services. Admissions to special subject emphasis classes are executed accordingly to the principals confirmed by the Educational and Cultural Services. The guardian is responsible for covering the expenses of possible student transportation.
Oulu International School
Oulu International School operates grades 1-9. International school is aimed for children who have sufficient language skills to study in English. Pupils are admitted based on their application and an entrance exam. Admitting pupils from other cities requires an agreement between the cities.
Admission to special schools
The city special schools admit pupils from all city regions.
Admission to preparatory education
A pupil with immigrant background, who does not have sufficient Finnish skills to study in general teaching, starts their basic education journey by participating in preparatory education. Preparatory education for immigrants admits pupils from all city regions. Otherwise the regular local school policy is implemented. When assigning pupils with immigrant background to schools, language and cultural background, age, previous education, learning results and preconditions are taken into account.
Moving inside the city midyear
If a child moves to another address inside the city in the middle of the school year, they may continue to study in their old school until they have finished sixth or ninth grade. The guardian is responsible for covering the expenses of school transportation. If the child has been taken into custody and relocated to another municipality, they may continue to study in their old school until they have finished comprehensive school.
Moving to another city midyear
If a child moves to another city in the middle of the school year, they may continue to study in the City of Oulu comprehensive school till the end of the school year. The guardian is responsible for covering the expenses of school transportation.