Finland · Helsinki
Ressu is a City of Helsinki upper secondary school with a Finnish programme on Kalevankatu and an English-medium IB programme on Ruoholahdenkatu. The main 2026 application closed on 17 March. Families should distinguish the admissions route for Finnish comprehensive-school certificates from discretionary admission, and confirm whether the tuition rules introduced in August 2026 apply.
Ressun lukio is a co-educational City of Helsinki upper secondary school. Its Finnish-language general programme follows the national curriculum and leads to the Finnish matriculation examination, ylioppilastutkinto. Its English-language route leads to the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, normally after a preparatory year.
The programmes use different sites:
| Programme | Address |
|---|---|
| Finnish general programme (yleislinja) | Kalevankatu 8–10, 00100 Helsinki |
| IB programme | Ruoholahdenkatu 23, 00180 Helsinki |
The contact pages list building opening hours of Monday–Thursday 7.30am–5.30pm and Friday 7.30am–5.00pm. These are not an individual student’s timetable. Use the school’s official pages to contact the correct programme.
Ressu does not provide boarding. The IB guidance for applicants from abroad says students live with their families and must have a guardian in Finland. The school cannot arrange accommodation or visas, does not accept students moving to Finland alone and does not offer exchange-year places.
The Finnish programme suits a student seeking academic upper secondary education in Finnish with the national matriculation examination as the goal. The Finnish school page describes a science emphasis, about 900 students, and activities including scientific visits, special courses, competitions, international cooperation and arts.
The IB route suits a student ready for English-medium upper secondary study whose family can meet the local living requirements. Ressu offers upper secondary education only. Compare International School of Helsinki if the family needs an IB school covering younger ages as well.
For another upper secondary IB option, compare SYK, a privately run school with a city agreement that states it charges no pupil fees. Compare the subjects, admissions and journey for each programme. The English School offers Finnish-English bilingual schooling leading to the national matriculation examination.
A crucial admissions distinction is the certificate and school system, not simply whether the applicant lives in Finland. Ressu names International School of Helsinki and the European School as examples whose pupils do not hold Finnish comprehensive-school leaving certificates. These pupils use the IB discretionary category alongside applicants from foreign school systems.
The published intake is 200 places on the Finnish general programme and 120 in the IB preparatory year. Within the IB total, at least 95 places are for Finnish comprehensive-school applicants and up to 25 for applicants from other countries or education systems.
For spring 2026, the IB application page reported 536 applicants for 120 preparatory places. Of these, 135 sought the maximum 25 discretionary places. The separate from-abroad page describes more than 100 applicants as typical for that category. These figures describe competition in a dated intake, not current vacancies or an individual probability of admission.
The IB building on Ruoholahdenkatu is described as modernised, with laboratories. Visit the relevant site and test its journey from the proposed home. The programme choice determines the daily destination.
Applications use Opintopolku (Studyinfo), Finland’s national application service. The dates below relate to the completed 2026 intake. They explain how the process worked; ask the school for future dates or any remaining vacancy route.
The Finnish-line instructions gave these dates:
Students were expected to attend the first school day in August. If acceptance or first-day attendance was impossible, they had to contact the responsible school leader; absence without contact could lead to loss of the place.
The city’s table, drawing on Vipunen, Finland’s education statistics service, lists last-admitted averages of 9.54 for Ressu’s general programme and 9.08 for IB in 2026. The Finnish application page also retained 9.62 for the general programme in 2025. These are historical results on the Finnish grading scale, not fixed requirements or forecasts for 2027.
Applicants to the Finnish programme with a foreign certificate use discretionary admission during the same joint-application window. The principal decides. Required documents include certificate copies and an official Finnish translation, with any additional evidence the applicant wishes considered. The city organises a centralised Finnish-language assessment for these applicants; ask what the assessment requires.
The IB application window was 17 February–17 March 2026, closing at 3.00pm. There was no entrance examination.
Applicants holding a Finnish comprehensive-school leaving certificate were selected by their average in academic subjects. Those without that certificate selected the non-Finnish educational background option in Studyinfo and submitted previous grades plus the school’s additional forms.
For the discretionary category, the school considers the need for an English-language place in Greater Helsinki and pays particular attention to mathematics, English and the mother tongue or first language. The documents are the Studyinfo application, the school’s application form, its appraisal form and the latest report, uploaded or sent by post.
Results were due on the website on the morning of 11 June 2026, with an email as well. Acceptance instructions differed:
Contact the IB leadership if first-day attendance presents a problem. Passing the preparatory-year courses with acceptable grades allows progression to the two-year Diploma Programme. The preparatory year introduces the available subjects before pupils make their Diploma choices.
DP1 is the first year of the Diploma Programme itself. Entry without the preparatory year is possible only when a place is available. The first deadline in the reviewed cycle was 17 March 2026, and applications remained valid until August if further places opened.
The school describes one to five places in a typical spring; it received over 70 DP1 applications in spring 2025. Applicants submit two forms, the latest report and a proposed selection of six IB subjects offered by Ressu. Ask the coordinator about suitability and current vacancies.
The IB open events for the 2026 intake were held in the ground-floor cafeteria at Ruoholahdenkatu 23: 8 January at 2.00pm, 15 January at 3.30pm, 20 January at 2.00pm and 2 February at 3.00pm. Finnish-line visits used the Kalevankatu assembly hall.
The school published Wednesday 12 August 2026 as the first day and 24 June–4 August as the office closure period. These dates are past; request current visit and office arrangements.
For students entitled to free upper secondary education, the city describes tuition, school meals, textbooks, supplies and initial leaving-examination costs as included. The right normally continues until the end of the calendar year in which the student turns 20, or earlier graduation, rather than ending on the twentieth birthday. Kela’s guidance explains that boundary.
Kela school-transport support requires, among other conditions, a one-way journey of at least seven kilometres, entitlement to free education, living and studying in Finland and at least ten school-travel days in the month. A long journey alone does not establish eligibility.
The city’s fee information describes charges for qualifying students arriving from outside the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, starting studies on or after 1 August 2026. Its wording covers arrivals in Finland and holders of study-based residence permits. Ask the city to assess the student’s actual residence status rather than deciding from the passport alone.
| Programme | Per academic year, VAT 0% |
|---|---|
| National general upper secondary education | €10,600 |
| IB Diploma Programme | €14,000 |
The city says the fee includes instruction and guidance, a meal on required attendance days, learning materials and the first five matriculation or IB examination fees. Student welfare, learning support and special-needs education remain available.
Published exemptions include third-country citizens permanently living in the European Economic Area (EEA), recipients of temporary protection, and qualifying exchange students who do not complete a Finnish qualification or syllabus. The exchange exemption is not an offer of a Ressu exchange place: Ressu does not accept exchange-year applicants. The city also lists an apprenticeship/employment-permit exception for vocational education; that is not a Ressu programme.
Obtain written confirmation of fee status and what charge applies to the IB preparatory year before budgeting. The table labels the IB Diploma Programme but does not separately price that preparatory year. The school cannot provide visas; residence-permit guidance comes from the Finnish Immigration Service.
The Finnish programme leads to the Finnish matriculation examination, whose examinations are taken in Finnish or Swedish according to the city’s guidance. Ressu’s IB route leads to the IB Diploma. These are separate programmes with different teaching languages and subject choices.
Choose Ressu if the student is ready for selective upper secondary study, the chosen language and qualification fit their plans, and the family can arrange a guardian and housing in Finland. For an IB applicant, the most important early question is whether the Finnish-certificate route or the discretionary category applies.
Before making commitments, confirm the correct campus, application category, available subjects and fee status. For a student arriving from another system, discuss language preparation and transfer timing. Previous grade averages and the 2026 deadlines are useful context, but they do not guarantee a future place.
Use the current IB admissions instructions and city fee page for the next decision.
Official pages and documents we read. If a figure matters to your budget or your application, open the link and confirm it is still current.
Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.
Deutsche Schule Helsinki combines Finnish schooling with the German international-school system. Its German and Finnish routes converge before the Deutsches Internationales Abitur. The decisive questions are which language route fits your child and whether they meet its entry standard.
HelsinkiHRSK is a Finnish state school in Munkkivuori offering education in Finnish and French from pre-primary to upper secondary. It follows the Finnish curriculum and leads to the Finnish matriculation examination. Tuition is free, but families pay for travel and preschool afternoon care. Admission depends on the entry stage and, in most cases, language tests.
HelsinkiSYK is a privately run Finnish school in Etelä-Haaga that charges no pupil fees. It begins at grade 3 and offers both the Finnish matriculation route and an English-medium IB programme at upper secondary level. The admissions routes have different language requirements and timetables: the published basic-school dates below concern 2027, while the IB information concerns the completed 2026 intake.
HelsinkiISH offers English-medium education for ages 4–19 in Ruoholahti, with IB programmes from the early years to the Diploma. Annual tuition for 2026–27 ranges from €12,432 to €16,608 when paid in one sum. Families should check the child’s language placement, any non-residency surcharge and the support available before applying.
Compare English-medium IB, bilingual Finnish schools and German education in Helsinki. Check the actual campus, admissions route and residence-based fees before choosing.
7 minStart with the qualification your child would actually receive. Then check its subjects, language demands, and recognition in the countries where they may study next.
7 minStart with your child and the family's likely plans. Define the non-negotiables, verify the school's claims, compare three realistic options and visit with specific questions.
7 minTuition is only one line of the budget. Separate charges from advance payments, record what each figure includes, and ask the school to confirm your calculation in writing.