YKI (Finnish: Yleinen Kielitutkinto Swedish: Allmän språkexamen English: National Certificate of Language Proficiency) is a certification in the

Finnish language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countr ...

and Saami language issued by the University of Jyväskylä and sanctioned by the

Finnish Ministry of Education Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

, following a standardized exam comprising oral and written parts that match the

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated in English as CEFR or CEF or CEFRL, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasing ...

(CEFR) requirements and proficiency levels. The YKI certification divides

linguistic proficiency Language proficiency is the ability of an individual to use language with a level of accuracy that transfers meaning in production and comprehension. There is no singular definition of language proficiency: while certain groups limit its scope to ...

into three broad levels: upper, middle, and lower. These can be further divided into six levels that match the CEFR classification system. Foreigners must pass the middle level certification in Finnish or Swedish (levels 3 or 4) to qualify for Finnish citizenship.

References

{{reflist Finnish language tests