Adult education allowance
Applying
Test if you are eligible to receive adult education allowance

The Act abolishing adult education benefits has entered into force on 1 June 2024. According to the Act, adult education allowance cannot be obtained under any circumstances for studies starting after 31 July 2024. Read about its effects on applying for adult education allowance on the page News.

Test if you are eligible to receive adult education allowance

With the helper, you can conveniently test whether you can receive adult education allowance. The helper will also guide you through what kind of allowance you may be able to get and direct you to more information.

Helper is an indicative tool to help you find out if you can apply for adult education allowance. You will receive a formal decision on your right to adult education allowance once we process your application.

Do you live in Finland and are covered by Finnish social security?

Based on your answer, you may not be able to receive adult education allowance, as only persons permanently residing in Finland and covered by Finnish social security are eligible to receive it. However, the conditions for receiving allowance will be examined in more detail during the processing of the application for adult education allowance.

More detailed information on being covered by Finnish social security can be found on the Kela website.

Do you have eight years of employment history or equivalent? Please note: Employment history is not automatically calculated in working years. You can find more information about the calculation on This is how to make sure you receive adult education allowance page.

Yes
No
Further information

Based on your answer, you may not be eligible to receive adult education allowance. If you still want to find out if your employment history is long enough, please see the terms and conditions on the This is how to make sure you receive adult education allowance page.

Eight years of employment history includes paid employment under pension insurance in Finland, EU and EEA countries and Switzerland. In addition, YEL or MYEL insured business activities are included. You can find information about the work you have done in Finland in your earnings-related pension statement in the Finnish Centre for Pensions' online service. In addition, the following periods equivalent to work can be included in your work history for up to 2 years:

- Time during which you have received maternity, special maternity, paternity or parental allowance or special care allowance

- Child care leave during an employment or public service relationship

- Military service or civilian service

- Periods for which you were paid a disability pension, rehabilitation allowance or an occupational injury pension

On the other hand, acting as a caregiver or managing director of a limited company or cooperative is not counted as part of the employment history.

Do you receive a benefit that prevents adult education allowance, such as a study grant, sickness allowance, parental allowance, special care allowance, unemployment allowance or labor market support, alternation allowance, full invalidity pension, unemployment pension or old-age pension?

Based on your answer, you may not be eligible to receive adult education allowance because you responded to receiving a non-adult education benefit at the same time as your adult education support.

However, the above-mentioned aid and daily allowances may not prevent the granting of the aid altogether. For example, if you are applying for adult education allowance for the period from 1 October 2021 to 31 October 2021 and Kela has granted you daily sickness benefit for the period from 5 to 14 October 2021, the adult education allowance will only be refused for this period. However, the conditions for receiving allowance will be examined in more detail during the processing of the application for adult education allowance.

For more information on the impact of benefits, please see the This is how to make sure you receive adult education allowance page.

Do you have a valid full-time employment or employment relationship that has lasted at least one year before your planned start of adult education allowance?

Based on your answer, you may not be able to receive adult education allowance, as based on your answer, you do not have a valid full-time employment or employment relationship. Please note: If you are an entrepreneur, you can still receive adult education allowance. Explore the different options on the This is how to make sure you receive adult education allowance page. 

You will receive the final information after you have submitted an application and it has been processed.

Do you have a study right at a Finnish publicly supervised educational institution, such as a university, polytechnic, open university or vocational school, and does your education lead to the completion of a degree or part of a degree, or does it provide you with supplementary or refresher vocational education?

Based on your answer, you may not be eligible to receive adult education allowance. If you have a place to study but are not sure if you can apply for adult education allowance for the education, please check the terms and conditions on the This is how to make sure you receive adult education allowance page.

You will receive the final information after you have submitted an application and it has been processed.

Have you received adult education allowance before August 2020 for the same studies for which you are now planning to apply for allowance?

Has your employer granted or is granting you a study leave that lasts for at least two consecutive months?

You can apply for full allowance for your studies!

You can submit an application for the adult education allowance on the e-service. After logging in to the e-service, select the following: “Apply for additional allowance for studies for which you have received a decision before 1 August 2020”. 

You can find more information on full adult education allowance on the Application instructions for those who started their studies on 1 August 2020 or earlier page.

Are you on a periodic, less than two-month or part-time study leave, or do you have more than EUR 250 in income per month during your study leave?

Based on your answer, you can probably get adjusted adult education allowance! Read more about the agreed allowance on the page Application instructions for those who started their studies on 1 August 2020 or earlier.

Apply for adjusted allowance for your studies and submit an application on the e-service. After logging in to the transaction service, select the section “Apply for more allowance for studies for which you have received a decision before 1 August 2020”. You can apply for adjusted allowance, if:

- You have not applied for the allowance for the same studies before 1 August 2020

- You have a valid right to study in the programme for which you are applying for the allowance

- You have agreed with your employer on a study leave of less than two months

- You are on part-time study leave or receive more than 250 euros of additional income per month from your job

Based on your answer, you may not be eligible to receive adult education allowance. Find out more about the conditions for eligibility and applying for adult education allowance on the page Application instructions for those who started their studies on 1 August 2020 or earlier.

The conditions for receiving the allowance are always examined in more detail in the processing of the allowance application.

Are you going on completely unpaid or part-time study leave?

Based on your answers, you can apply for adult education allowance!

Start applying by filling in your application on the e-service to find out your allowance entitlement for the period you are applying for. Once you have received a positive decision, you can apply for the allowance retroactively each for the payment per calendar month.

Before applying, please refer to the application instructions on the This is hoow to apply for adult education allowance website. This way you can move forward smoothly!

Based on your answer, you may not be eligible to receive adult education allowance. In order to receive allowance, you should take full or part-time unpaid study leave. Learn more about the terms and conditions of adult education allowance on the This is how to make sure you receive adult education allowance page.

You will receive the final information after you have submitted an application and it has been processed.

Page updated: 16/2/2024