Perceptions of Upper Secondary Education: Lower Secondary School Guidance Counsellors 2022

The survey charted the perceptions and opinions of lower secondary school guidance counsellors regarding upper secondary education in Finland. Main themes included, among others, the future plans of the ninth-graders the councellors had guided during the past year, the councellors' perceptions of how general and vocational upper secondary education are appreciated, and factors that affected the educational guidance given by the councellors to the ninth-graders. The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Culture and Skills Finland. First, factors affecting how the counsellors guided the ninth-graders were examined (e.g. the student's academic success, their ambition and will to succeed, their parents' opinions). The counsellors were also asked whether the ninth-graders thought various educational choices were interesting for them personally (e.g. general or vocational upper secondary education or tenth grade). Finally, the councellors were asked whether they thought they had enough information on upper secondary education considering their work in guiding ninth-graders. Background information included the respondent's gender, how long they had worked as a lower secondary school guidance councellor, municipality of residence and region of residence (NUTS3).