Years 4-6 students receive a grade (4 -10) in their report cards and working skills are a part of the report card grades. Year 3 students also receive a report card, but their grading is written on a scale of 1-4. Years 1-2 students have assessment discussions after the fall semester and report card by the end of the spring term. Years 1-3 assessment in the report card is on a scale of 1-4.

The grade for the report card is defined by using grade boundaries (arvosanakuvaukset) which are based on the Finnish curriculum.  The grades are a “pedagogical average” which corresponds to the descriptions of the Finnish grade boundaries.  

The points or grades the students get from different assessed tasks/tests do not directly indicate the grade in the report card but give feedback on where the student is doing well and where they need to improve. Criteria for different objectives and their grade boundaries will also always be discussed and given before each assessed task/test considering the age of the students.   

Year 7-9 students receive a grade (4 -10) in their report cards and working skills are a part of the report card grades.  

The grade for the report card is defined by using grade boundaries (arvosanakuvaukset) which are based on the Finnish curriculum.  The grades are a “pedagogical average” which corresponds to the descriptions of the Finnish grade boundaries.  

The points or grades the students get from different assessed tasks/tests do not directly indicate the grade in the report card but give feedback on where the student is doing well and where they need to improve. Criteria for different objectives and their grade boundaries will also always be discussed and given before each assessed task/test considering the age of the students.   

Final assessment of each subject describes how well and to what extent the student has reached the targeted learning objectives of the Finnish core curriculum in the subject at the end of studying that subject. Some subjects end already before Year 9, for example, the final grade for history will be given at the end of Year 8 because history won’t be studied in the Year 9. 

Behaviour assessment is targeted at how a student takes into consideration other people and the environment, how they value their own and other’s work and how they obey the school rules as well as good manners. Guidance of behaviour as well as teaching knowledge and skills connected to behaviour are a part of a school’s education. The context of a student’s age is taken into consideration in behaviour assessment. 

Students are assessed according to the following behaviour criteria given by Oulu City:   

*common affairs refer to: following school rules, supporting other students (e.g., in their studies, being a good friend) and/or having an active role, e.g., in the student body. 

Assessment in the Transition Class (TC)

In the Transition Class (TC) students practice how to communicate in various situations in English. Learning of English in the TC consists of listening, speaking, reading, and writing practice paired with the learning of grammatical structures and language knowledge. The assessment of the TC students, therefore, emphasizes the assessment of English.

Each student’s language skills in English are assessed at the beginning of the Transition Education program, and individual English language learning objectives are set accordingly. These objectives are re-examined and re-adjusted at regular intervals as determined by the yearly assessment cycle in the City of Oulu. When assessing English skills, the focus is on the individual language learning objectives of each student. The assessment of English is continuous and based on a variety of assessed tasks, such as class discussions on varied topics, spelling and writing tasks, reading and listening exercises, presentations, and project work. 

Other subjects are assessed according to the students’ grade level goals as defined in the national, local and school curricula. 

TC students will be provided with either an assessment discussion or a report card at the end of each term, depending on their grade level. Both the assessment discussion and the report card include assessment of the student’s progress in the subject goals – language skills permitting–, and/or list the subject contents studied during the term. This is to ensure that even with limited language skills the TC students receive assessment that is instructive and encouraging and such that it fosters their self-assessment skills. While the assessment in the TC is mostly written, when applicable, a TC student may also be given numerical grades in their report card, if the teacher assessing the subject sees that the student’s language skills do not affect or hinder the student’s fair assessment.