Educational reforms in Finland are closely connected to other welfare reforms. Hence, the system and the individual students are treated as a whole. Reforms tend to be executed systematically and with a long-term perspective. Equality, equity and teacher professionalism are some of the key aspects in the educational reform work. This paper starts with a brief background to the educational system we have in Finland today since the foundation for the policies and reforms were laid about forty years ago. Policies in Finland tend to be long-term and not quick fixes to acute problems. Then I will move on to examine why the reforms have worked well. Finally I will look at what changes are happening and what kinds of challenges we are facing. First, it is well known that Finland has done very well in PISA. So we can ask how we got there from being a poor country with not a particularly good educational system still in the 1960s. Which policies and reforms took us to where we are today? First an overview of the Finnish school system.