Apply for vocational education and training

The Federation of Education in Central Ostrobothnia (Keski-Pohjanmaan ammattiopisto, Kpedu) provides vocational upper secondary education, further vocational education, preparatory education for programmes leading to an upper secondary qualification (TUVA) and apprenticeship training all in Finnish. You can apply either through joint application (next Joint application period is held Febryary-March 2026) or rolling admission. The required Finnish language skills are presented below.

Application through joint application

Joint application is primarily for youth applicants who apply directly after completing comprehensive education or preparatory education for vocational training. You can apply through joint application if you have not completed vocational upper secondary, general upper secondary or higher education degrees in Finland or abroad. Joint application takes place from February to March on the Studyinfo website. The admission results of the joint application are published in June.

If you have completed your lower secondary education outside Finland, you automatically apply via discretionary admission (through Joint application). If you apply to study through discretionary admission your application will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

For discretionary admission you must send the following documents:

a certificate of basic education (translated in Finnish if possible) if studies have been completed abroad.
a detailed account of why you are applying for this specific education. Fill out the following form (selvityslomake)
a certificate of Finnish language skills, if your native language is not Finnish. For example, level 3 in the YKI test (National Certificate of Language Proficiency) is adequate.

You can submit the documents via secure mail: https://www.turvaposti.fi/viesti/hakijapalvelut@kpedu.fi

If you do not have a certificate validating the required language skills needed for your studies, you will receive an invitation to a language test. The test will be held in Kokkola, and cannot be taken online. See the language requirements for the different fields of education: Language requirements for Vocational Qualifications (pdf).

The situation at the Russian border varies. You can find up-to-date information about the changes here.

Application through rolling admission

You can apply through rolling admission whether you have previously completed any qualification or higher education degree or not. Admission takes place through application periods or year-around.

If you apply directly after completing basic education or preparatory education and training, you will primarily apply through joint application.

Admission criteria in rolling admission:

If your native language isn’t Finnish, you will receive an invitation to a language test. The test will be held in Kokkola and cannot be taken online. Language requirements for different fields of education:

Language requirements for Vocational Qualifications (pdf)

Language requirements for Further and Specialist Vocational Qualifications (pdf)

Applicants who meet the required level of Finnish will be invited to a compulsory interview.

Applicants will be graded during the interview for:

- Necessity for education	0–10 points
- Motivation for industry	0–10 points
- Orientation for industry	0–10 points

Aptitude tests are required with initial vocational upper secondary qualification in the following fields: Education and Guidance, Social and Healthcare and Safety and Security.

For more information about our studies please visit our website www.kpedu.fi/koulutustarjonta or contact us.

During application periods you can submit your application through our website. If the admission is open, you´ll find a Hae/Ilmoittaudu -link on the information page of every field of study.

General information about studying in Finland (in English) can be found here: Studyinfo

Contact information:

Admissions / Hakijapalvelut

Mondays through Fridays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Phone: +358 40 808 5010

Email: hakijapalvelut@kpedu.fi

Postal address:

Hakijapalvelut

Keski-Pohjanmaan ammattiopisto

Närvilänkatu 8

67100 Kokkola

Finland