News 26.05.2026

From surveys to data-driven management: Ten years of comparable data for Finland’s education sector

How is the quality and impact of education measured in Finland? Feedback from students, graduates, and working life is a key element in developing education. For ten years, CSC’s Arvo service has produced nationally comparable data that is used to support data-driven leadership and education funding.

Decisions related to education are increasingly based on data. CSC’s Arvo service is a survey data collection system specifically designed for the needs of the Finnish education administration. It is used to carry out regular nationwide surveys across almost all levels of education, from basic education to higher education. Through Arvo, data is collected from sources such as the Move! measurements in comprehensive schools and student feedback from vocational education and higher education. In 2025 alone, more than 400,000 people in Finland responded to surveys in Arvo.

Data collected through Arvo service is used in multiple ways. For education providers, it offers valuable material to support the development of their own education activities. At the national level, the data serves as a foundation for education steering and funding. Through the Education administration’s reporting portal Vipunen, the data is publicly available also for other actors, for example researchers.

“CSC develops digital solutions to benefit the society as a whole. A tailored, nationwide data collection system for the entire education sector is an essential part of this work. Arvo service is part of a data chain that enables data-driven management in education,” says Laura von der Hagen, Development Manager at CSC.

Feedback data contibutes to improving the quality of education and steering funding

The Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland collects feedback data both to monitor and improve the quality of education and to allocate funding. For example, student feedback and responses from graduate career monitoring surveys influence the funding of universities of applied sciences and universities. In vocational education and training, funding takes into account feedback from both students and working life.

A total of two percent of vocational education funding is allocated based on student and working life feedback. It is important that funding also reflects education quality.
Johannes Peltola, Ministry of Education and Culture

“Feedback plays a very concrete role: a total of two percent of vocational education funding is allocated based on student and working life feedback. When the total funding for vocational education exceeds two billion euros, this means that more than 40 million euros is allocated this year alone based on feedback data. It is important that funding also reflects education quality, and feedback data is one part of this,” says Johannes Peltola, Specialist at the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Funding is calculated directly on the basis of data produced by the Arvo service using reports from the Vipunen service. This means the process does not involve discretionary decision-making by the Ministry.

“It is extremely important for us that data collection and reporting are reliable and that set timeframes are met. In this respect, cooperation with CSC has worked very well,” Peltola says.

Comparable data supports data-driven management

In higher education institutions, the importance of the Arvo service is particularly visible in everyday data-driven leadership. Satu Helmi, Senior Advisor in Operations Management at Turku University of Applied Sciences, has used Arvo in various roles for several years.

“Nationally comparable student feedback and career monitoring data is extremely valuable to us. We can review results, for example by field of education, compare our performance with other universities of applied sciences, and learn from those that perform particularly well in certain areas,” Helmi says.

Nationally comparable student feedback and career monitoring data is extremely valuable to us.
Satu Helmi, Turku University of Applied Sciences

Turku University of Applied Sciences also uses the Arvo API interface, which enables the organization to monitor its own results in real time. National-level data, in turn, is openly available to everyone through the Vipunen service.

“Data-driven management is well established in our organization, and in recent years the emphasis has increasingly been on actively using the produced data to support development,” Helmi explains.

“It is also important that the data does not remain for internal use only. We guide, for example, prospective applicants, alumni, and other stakeholders to open data sources in Vipunen.”

Looking ahead: Enhancing analysis with AI

Both Peltola and Helmi see the future of survey-based data collection as being strongly focused on developing quantitative and qualitative analysis through AI. CSC has piloted this by analyzing nationwide open-ended responses from the 2024 career monitoring survey conducted by universities of applied sciences.

In the pilot, open-source machine learning tools and language models were used to identify recurring themes in the responses. These can be utilized to detect weak signals and support foresight activities. The pilot, presented this spring, opens up new possibilities for broader use of nationwide open-response data in the future.

“I was extremely pleased with the pilot. It would be fantastic if Arvo could in the future provide AI-analyzed nationwide data. We are planning next steps for the pilot,” says Helmi, who also serves as Chair of the Universities of Applied Sciences Career Montoring Network.

Other topical themes highlighted by the interviewees include survey fatigue, user-friendliness, and trustworthiness. Respondents cannot be overburdened, and participation must be as easy as possible.

“When the survey is delivered through a system used across the entire education sector, it increases recognition and trust, and lowers the threshold for responding,” Helmi says.

A secure and reliable environment for surveys

CSC has extensive experience in delivering high-quality and secure digital services. As the Arvo service processes personal data, data security and data protection are in the core.

“We ensure responsible processing of personal data and store the data in a secure environment maintained by CSC in Finland. This supports the service’s data sovereignty,” says Mari Aronen, Service Manager responsible for the Arvo service at CSC.

In addition to system maintenance and development, work with Arvo includes close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish National Agency for Education, higher education institutions, and other stakeholders. CSC facilitates collaboration among education providers and other actors, and supports Arvo users through guidance and support clinics.

“Arvo service is a flexible system that adapts to the different needs of all education levels. Interoperability with other education administration systems enables the transfer of background data directly into Arvo, making responding easier and data more reliable. Arvo includes versatile reporting tools, and data is also transferred via interfaces for further use, for example in Vipunen. Repeated decisions have been made to implement new data collections using Arvo, and the service has expanded to cover around ten nationwide data collections, reflecting trust in the service and CSC,” Aronen says.

Image: Adobe Stock

Arvo – Education Management Information Service

A survey-based data collection system provided by CSC and tailored to the needs of the education administration sector
Approximately ten regular nationwide surveys covering education from basic education to higher education
Over 400,000 respondents in 2025
Nationwide data collected through Arvo is published openly in the Vipunen service
One of the best-known data collections is Move!, a national physical functional capacity monitoring and feedback system for Finnish 5th and 8th grade pupils. Measurement results are entered into Arvo and used to produce reports for wellbeing services counties, municipalities, schools, and the Vipunen service.