Welcome to basic education in Hämeenlinna! The City of Hämeenlinna constitutes a single pupil admission area.
A local school is assigned to the pupil in accordance with the pupil admission principles approved by the Board of Education and Wellbeing. Please review these principles before submitting your application! When determining the local school, factors such as the child’s home address, possible special needs, and school group sizes are taken into account.
Enrolling a pupil in a local school
When you move to Hämeenlinna or within the city, you must apply for a place in your local school. Before applying, please ensure that you have the necessary attachments in a compatible file format (e.g., pdf, jpg). Important attachments include, for example, various documents related to needed support for learning.
If the student does not have a Finnish personal identity code or it is unknown, use the entry AXXXX at the end of the personal identity code field in the application.
Applications are processed within 14 days of receipt.
Submit your application no earlier than approximately one month before the planned school transfer. We will begin processing each received application within one week of submission. The actual processing of the application usually takes 1–2 weeks.
Electronic school place applications are saved directly into the City of Hämeenlinna’s pupil administration system. If you complete a paper application, please send it by post to the Education Services Planner or return it to the city’s Kastelli service point.
Processing times may be longer during holiday periods.
Delays may occur during holiday periods, and applications submitted in June and July will be processed starting from the beginning of August.
If your child has received support for learning, the application will be directed to a Senior Specialist.
If your child has received pupil-specific or group-specific support, your application will be directed to the Education Services Senior Specialist. The Senior Specialist will determine in which school the support required by your child can be arranged and a school place will be assigned accordingly. The Principal makes the final pupil admission decision.
When your child starts at a new school, we will initiate an assessment of pupil-specific support and prepare the necessary plans. Based on these, we will make a decision on pupil-specific support if necessary. If you change schools within Hämeenlinna, the necessary documents will be transferred between schools automatically. If you are applying for a school place from another municipality to Hämeenlinna, please include the necessary documents or request the previous school to deliver them to the Hämeenlinna Education Services administration.
If your child has received a decision on special support made before 1 August 2025 during pre-primary education, it remains valid throughout the pre-primary education period. In basic education, we will review decisions on intensified and special support during the 2025–2026 school year and autumn 2026 to ensure they comply with the new legislation.
Apply for a school place no earlier than one month before the planned school transfer.
Applications submitted more than a month in advance will be processed at a time closer to the school transfer.
Determining the local school
The City of Hämeenlinna constitutes a single pupil admission area. The local school is determined in accordance with the pupil admission principles defined by the Board of Education and Wellbeing.
For those applying for a school place due to a move, the following criteria are applied in order of priority:
- compelling reasons always require an expert statement, such as a statement from a doctor, student welfare personnel, or a psychologist
- the technical structure and accessibility of the local school in accordance with the pupil’s special needs
- the need for pupil-specific support
- the pupil’s residential area and the average group size of the schools in the area for the relevant age group
- if there are several schools located near the pupil’s home address, preference in pupil placement is given to the unit with the smallest average group size, not necessarily the school located closest to the home address
- public transport connections in the residential area are taken into account if school transport is essential for reaching the school
- any other compelling reason
Applying for a secondary school place
You may apply for a secondary school place for a pupil, if a school other than the assigned local school is desired. You can also apply for a secondary school place from another municipality to Hämeenlinna. The secondary application can only be made on paper, as it requires the signatures of both guardians.
School transport organized by the city is not available for a secondary school; instead, the child’s guardian is responsible for transport arrangements.
Selection for a secondary school
If the pupil already attends a local school in Hämeenlinna, but you wish for them to have a place in another school from their current home address, a second-choice school place must be applied for.
The criteria for secondary pupil admission are, in order of priority:
- the pupil resides in Hämeenlinna
- compelling student welfare or health-related grounds
- a medical certificate, psychologist’s statement, or student welfare statement must always be attached to the secondary application
- siblings attending the same school simultaneously
- mention in the application which sibling attends the school in question
Regarding applications for a secondary school, the maximum group size for basic education year levels 1–2 and 7–9 is 18 students, and for year levels 3–6, the maximum size is 22 students.
For combined classes (several year levels), the following applies regarding applications for a secondary school:
If a combined class is formed with a different division than 1–2 or 3–6, the maximum size of the teaching group is determined by which year level has the most pupils in the group.
In combined classes for year levels 1 and 2, the maximum size of the teaching group is 16 pupils.
For year levels 3–6, the maximum size of a composite teaching group is 20 pupils, regardless of the combination.
Contact information
Latest news
Latest news
{{ errorMessage }}