“This is really encouraging as Finland is becoming an increasingly important destination for English medium degrees,” Nicola Johnson from Cambridge English Language Assessment said. “It’s now the top overseas study destination for Russian students and is increasingly popular with students from other parts of the world.”

Finland is becoming an increasingly important destination for English medium degrees

Cambridge English Language Assessment exams are recognised throughout the world with the Cambridge English: Advanced, also known as Certificate in Advanced English (CAE), the second highest level a student can acquire.

Of the 43 institutions across Finland included in the study, 36 said they accepted the Cambridge English Language Assessment for entrance – up from 21 last year. Johnson says the results show the “huge growth” of interest in the country for the exams.

The University of Applied Sciences, where international students make up 5.2% of student populations, has recently adopted the CAE. Pirkko Pollari of the university said: “So far a small number of our staff have taken the test and we’ll soon be opening up this opportunity more widely in the university.

“The test is recognised throughout the world so we want to encourage Finnish and International students to sit the CAE to give them a real head start when they graduate.”

Interest to study in Finland has steadily risen over the past decade with more than 20,000 international students studying in the country in 2009. Students from China, Russia, Germany, France and Spain are leading enrolments. However, policy makers are considering charging overseas students tuition fees for the first time, which some fear could affect uptake.