5.4% of students drop out of education

Discontinuation of education leading to a qualification or degree grew slightly in the academic year 2017/2018 compared with the previous one.

In all, 5.4% of students discontinued their studies and did not resume them, Statistics Finland says.

In upper secondary general education aimed at young people the discontinuation percentage was 3.2%, in vocational education aimed at young people it was 8.7%, in university of applied sciences education (university of applied sciences qualifications) 7.1% and in university education (lower and higher university degrees) 5.9%.

According to the latest data, discontinuation increased in vocational education after having decreased or stayed unchanged for several years. The figure was 1.3 percentage points higher than in the previous academic year.

Discontinuation also increased slightly in upper secondary school education and decreased somewhat in university of applied sciences education. In university education, discontinuation was unchanged from the previous academic year.

Women change the sector

Men discontinued their education leading to a qualification or degree more often than women.

6.4% of men discontinued education completely and 4.4% of women in the academic year 2017/2018.

Women changed the sector of education slightly more than men. Men most often discontinued university of applied sciences education (9%), while women discontinued more often vocational education (9%).

Women and men studying in the sector of education of vocational education discontinued their studies leading to a qualification equally often (7.9%).