The wide variety of educational opportunities provided by the educational establishments cooperating with OSUA embraces Finland's second educational level up to university. It is possible for the athlete to find a place to be educated in these establishments, which accords with her/his aspirations. Those educational establishments engaging in cooperation have committed themselves to developing personalised and flexible curricula suited to the athletes that study there.

Studying in those educational establishments engaged in cooperation
with the Oulu Region Academy of Sport.

Sports Upper Secondary Schools,  Oulu Vocational College,  Oulu Polytechnic,  University of Oulu

At OSUA, the programme for the student year which takes into consideration personal educational and sports training requirements is called the personal education and sports training programme (HOVS). It is a student athlete's most important device for combining education and sport. HOVS is a plan of activity, wherein a personal currriculum for one term (HOPS) and a programme of training in one's own branch of sport are combined. The purpose is for the athlete to participate in all daily training sessions that accord with the training programme. Which studies and sporting targets are set and how they can be attained should be determined in the planning stage of the HOVS. A well-functioning HOVS adds smoothness to daily studies and sports training, because it helps to make the use of time efficient, anticipating both problem situations and overlapping. The realistic and regularly re-evaluated objective of a HOVS is for an athlete to have the possibilities for success in education as well as in a sporting career. In the HOVS the athlete receives the assistance of a liaison person from the educational institution and a trainer from OSUA.

Through the HOVS the athlete can anticipate and control the following:
o the combining of daily training and studies during the training period - even during "demanding"    periods of training
o the school term, which occurs during the sports season, when travelling to events takes place during    the week and at weekends
o progress in studies, even when there are camps, longer distances to travel to events and    representative occasions
o studies that occur concurrently with OSUA daily morning training sessions
o tests and exams that must be performed in a certain way and those with a restricted timetable
o lesson attendance, tests and exams at an alternative time or in an alternative way

Where there is an overlap between studies and training, the matter should be resolved through cooperation between the liaison personnel of the educational establishment and the sports trainer.
The HOVS arrangement is a splendid opportunity for a developing athlete. Reciprocally, it demands commitment by the athlete to those regulations and procedures that have been agreed to by OSUA and the educational establishment. Of special importance is an active approach on the part of the athlete, when he/she notices that studies are not progressing in accordance with the HOVS.

The personal education and sports training programme

The EDU services of the Oulu Region Academy of Sport (OSUA) are being developed in cooperation with those educational institutions in Oulu that belong to the Academy of Sport. The aim is to create for the athlete an environment that is planned and yet flexible. The personal education and sports training programme (HOVS) makes it possible for an athlete to progress at a pace fitting for upper secondary school, vocational training, polytechnic or university education and at the same time participate in sports training activities, camps, and also in national and international competitions. In this way education and a career in sport advance in equilibrium. At the end of a career in sport the athlete is not left to feel abandoned with neither an education nor a profession.