How Finnish Teachers Actually Spend Their Working Hours
The idea that Finnish teachers simply work less has become a popular talking point, but the real picture is more specific: shorter required teaching loads, dedicated collaboration time, and comparatively little time lost to administration.
- OECD comparative data show Finnish primary teachers with around 677 required annual teaching hours, against an OECD average of roughly 783; lower secondary teachers show a similar gap, about 592 hours versus an OECD average near 709.
- In the OECD's TALIS 2018 survey, Finnish lower secondary teachers reported a total working week of around 31 to 32 hours, below the OECD average, which sits in the high thirties to low forties depending on how it is measured.
- Finnish teachers reported spending noticeably less time on lesson planning and preparation than teachers in some other countries, for example around 4.8 hours a week compared with 7.2 hours reported by teachers in the United States.
- Finnish teaching contracts build in dedicated time for collaborative planning with colleagues, so working with other teachers is a formal, scheduled part of the week rather than something squeezed around a full timetable.
- Fewer required hours does not mean proportionally less instructional time: Finnish teachers report spending a relatively high share of their working time actually teaching, rather than on administration or discipline.
The claim, and what it leaves out
It is often repeated that Finnish teachers work fewer hours than teachers elsewhere, usually as shorthand for why Finland's school system performs well without long school days. The claim is not baseless, but it collapses several different things into one number: hours actually teaching a class, hours contracted to be at school, and total working time including marking, planning and meetings done outside the timetable.
OECD comparisons separate these categories, and the pattern that emerges for Finland is specific rather than uniformly low: required classroom teaching hours are comparatively short, while time for planning and collaboration is built in rather than added on top.
Contracted teaching hours versus total working time
Finnish class teachers in primary school and subject teachers in lower secondary school work under nationally agreed contracts that set a required number of lessons per week, not a fixed number of hours to be present in the building. According to OECD comparative figures, Finnish primary teachers have around 677 required annual teaching hours, compared with an OECD average of about 783; the gap is similar at lower secondary level.
This lower teaching-hour requirement is one reason total working time also comes out lower in surveys such as TALIS: with fewer lessons to prepare and deliver each week, the working week overall tends to be shorter, even though Finnish teachers, like teachers everywhere, also do paid and unpaid work outside contracted hours.
Where the rest of the working week goes
The OECD's TALIS 2018 survey asked teachers to break a typical working week into teaching, planning, marking, collaboration, administration and other duties. Finnish teachers reported spending less time on planning and preparation than teachers in several other countries, for example around 4.8 hours a week compared with 7.2 hours reported in the United States, and a total working week of roughly 31 to 32 hours against an OECD average running from the high thirties into the low forties depending on how the question was asked.
A distinctive feature of the Finnish figures is that teaching itself is not the part that shrinks: hours spent on administration, discipline and paperwork are comparatively low, so a larger share of a shorter week still goes on actual classroom teaching. This links closely to the professional trust described in Finnish teachers' curriculum autonomy, where less oversight and paperwork leaves more of the week for the core work of teaching.
Collaboration time is scheduled, not just implied
One structural feature often missed in the fewer-hours headline is that Finnish schools build collaborative planning into the working day itself. Teachers are typically expected to spend part of their contracted week working with colleagues on curriculum planning, assessment and shared pupil support, rather than arranging collaboration informally around a full teaching timetable.
This scheduled collaboration time is part of why comparisons based on classroom hours alone can be misleading: a teacher with fewer weekly lessons but dedicated planning and team time may spend a similar share of the working week on professional responsibilities as a teacher with a longer timetable and less formal collaboration built in.
Shorter contracted teaching hours and dedicated planning time are two different features of the Finnish system, not one.
Frequently asked questions
Do Finnish teachers really work fewer hours than teachers in other countries?
On measures such as required annual teaching hours and total weekly working time reported in the OECD's TALIS survey, Finnish teachers generally report fewer hours than the OECD average. The gap is real but should not be read as Finnish teachers doing less work overall, it mainly reflects fewer required lessons and less time lost to administration, not a shorter working life.
How many lessons does a Finnish primary school teacher teach each week?
Exact weekly lesson counts vary by contract and grade level, but OECD data on annual teaching hours, around 677 hours a year for Finnish primary teachers against an OECD average near 783, point to a comparatively light required teaching load spread across a school year similar in length to other Nordic countries.
Why do Finnish teachers spend less time on planning if they teach fewer lessons?
TALIS 2018 data shows Finnish teachers reporting fewer planning hours, around 4.8 a week, than teachers in some other countries, such as the United States at around 7.2 a week, even though fewer lessons might suggest more planning time per lesson. This likely reflects scheduled collaborative planning time built into contracts, plus a curriculum and assessment culture with less individual paperwork.
Does this mean Finnish teachers are paid less because they work fewer hours?
Not directly. Pay and working hours are set separately in collective agreements, and Finnish teacher pay sits close to the OECD average once cost of living is considered. See Finnish teacher salary and status for how compensation compares.
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