From early childhood education to university
The Kuopio region has many opportunities for education and studies for young people and adults. On a Finnish scale, the Savilahti campus with its three degrees of education is truly a unique learning environment. The University of Eastern Finland, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, and Savo Vocational College (Sakky) have created a mutually supportive community for their approximately 18,500 students. All in all, there are ca. 25,000 students in Kuopio.
Kuopio also has 20 upper secondary schools, a summer university, the Emergency Services College and Kuopio Conservatory, as well as Kuopio Sports academy that offers students an opportunity to combine studies with a career in sports. According to a study commissioned by Studentum in 2020, Kuopio is Finland’s 6th most popular city for studying.
Explore the education path
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The goal in Kuopio is to make it as easy as possible to combine work and family life. Dozens of day-care centres, schools, and clubs provide flexible education and care for every child from babies all the way to young people that are finishing their basic education. The values of early childhood education and care are service-orientedness, confidentiality, and inclusion of children and families. The friendliness and genuine nature of the people in Savo help to put these values into practice in everyday life. In addition to municipal day care, there are several private day-care centres and family day carers that are an important part of Kuopio day-care services. Family day carers provide domestic and peaceful care in their own homes for children needing early childhood education and care.
- Municipal day care (Link coming)
- Private day care (Link coming)
- Day care and pre-primary education (Link coming)
- Basic education (Link coming)
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Kuopio looks after children, which is reflected also in the variety of available places providing day care. There are 54 municipal day-care centres, 13 clubs, 25 private day-care centres, and 16 private family day carers. In addition, there is also a number of open day-care centres that are a part of municipal early childhood education and care. Open day care offers activities for children below school age that are in home care and peer support for their parents. Pre-primary education is organised in connection with day-care centres. In addition to traditional pre-primary education, there are two municipal forest school pre-primary groups. Many day-care centres also provide evening, shift, and temporary care.
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There are 22 primary schools, 8 comprehensive schools, 4 lower secondary schools, and 2 special schools in the Kuopio region. Basic education for adults is available at the Kuopio upper secondary school for adults. Basic education is also provided by private educational institutions Steiner school Virkkula and Christian comprehensive school of Kuopio. Flexible basic education can be organised for grades 7–9. Pupils for the group are selected through a applications and interviews. It is also possible to participate in extracurricular goal-oriented art education mainly intended for children and young people. The City of Kuopio and Kuopio Conservatory have the right to organise basic education in the arts.
- Basic Education – Kuopio
- Basic education in arts (Link coming)
When you are moving to Kuopio and you have school-aged children, check the map for schools in your area and contact the principal of the nearest school: Comprehensive schools in Kuopio (Link coming)
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There are nearly 20 upper secondary schools in Kuopio area, including an upper secondary school for adults. In addition to traditional instruction, upper secondary schools also offer a wide selection of specialised upper secondary instruction. Kuopion Taidelukio LUMIT is an upper secondary school specialising in music and dance, Kuopio classical upper secondary school has a sports specialisation, and Kuopion Lyseo upper secondary school has an international IB specialisation available in addition to traditional upper secondary instruction. All Kuopio upper secondary schools offer the same studies related to general upper secondary education and matriculation examination. The upper secondary schools also have many school-specific applied courses, which can be selected across school boundaries. Higher education studies and vocational studies can also be combined with upper secondary studies. It is also possible to complete an upper secondary school education leading to two qualifications.
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In Kuopio, an athlete can concentrate on building a dual career for themselves, beginning from lower secondary school and continuing until they transition from school to work. Two lower secondary schools, six secondary education institutions, and two higher education institutions are involved in the activities of the Kuopio Region Sports Academy. The academy operates as part of the national sports academy programme, offering sport-specific coaching in 11 sports. Institution-specific remote and online studies enable studying also during camps or competition trips, and student counsellor of the educational institution or the executive manager of the academy can provide assistance in study planning for example during season. Expert activities organised in cooperation with sport-specific coaching include health and medical services and corporate collaboration mentoring.
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Kuopio region offers a wide selection of cultural studies for all age groups from early childhood to old age. The largest and most versatile music and dance school in Finland, Kuopio Conservatory, provides music classes already for children below school age. An example of the famous alumni of the Conservatory is the queen of the slide guitar, Erja Lyytinen. More arts studies are available in the Kuopio Unit of Uniarts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy operating at the Kuopio Music Centre. The Kuopio Unit provides education for future music professionals who are pursuing a career in Finnish churches. Cultural studies are also offered by vocational college IngmanEDU, Taidelukio LUMIT upper secondary school, and multidisciplinary Savonia University of Applied Sciences.
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Annually approximately 18,000 students receive a student place at the Savo Vocational College (Sakky), which operates in Kuopio’s Savilahti and in Iisalmi, Siilinjärvi, and Varkaus. Sakky is a pioneer in environmentally-friendly school construction, and the campuses in Iisalmi and Kuopio have received the Nordic Swan Ecolabel certification for schools in Finland.
Our vocational education and training is complemented by the studies available at the Portaanpää Christian Institute – one of the largest folk high schools in Finland. Kuopion Palvelualan opisto (service industry institute) provides education and training in household services with over a century of experience. In addition, basic studies in sign language at the Northern Savonia Folk High School give a solid foundation for interpreter studies at Humak. Kuopio also has the only Emergency Services College in Finland.
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Savonia UAS is one of Finland’s biggest and most versatile Universities of Applied Sciences. The campuses are located in the cities of Kuopio, Iisalmi and Varkaus, with nearly 6,000 students in total. Savonia has 40 Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in six different fields. The most recent degree programme is a Bachelor’s in wellness business activities. The UAS profile can be compacted into four focus areas: applied wellbeing technology, responsible food production, water safety, and renewing machine and energy industry. The international Savonia has university partners in over 30 countries. Kuopio also hosts a Humak University of Applied Sciences unit, where one can, for example, study to be a community educator or sign language interpreter.
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The University of Eastern Finland (UEF) is the most multidisciplinary univerity in Finland with its 11 fields of study and 100 major subjects. The university has 16,000 degree students. 17,700 adult education students, and 2,700 employees. There are four faculties: the Philosophical Faculty, the Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies.
Kuopio also has the Snellman Summer University. Located on the clear shores of the Lake Kallavesi, the Kuopio University Hospital, the University of Eastern Finland, and the growing Savilahti cluster together create a strong basis for multidisciplinary cooperation as well as for research, development, and innovation.