Guide for applicants

Studyinfo.fi is an official website maintained by the Finnish National Agency for Education. At Studyinfo you can find information on different degrees and qualifications. The service can be used to find study options and apply for the studies.

• FAQ about applying to higher education (studyinfo.fi)

• How to fill in the application form in joint application to higher education (studyinfo.fi)
  
• At My Studyinfo service you can view your applications and make modifications to them during application period, follow your admission process, see the results of student admissions and accept an offer of admission.
  • You can access these services in My Studyinfo only by logging in via Suomi.fi e-Identification with Finnish online banking credentials (e-Identification must be enabled), a Finnish electronic ID-card or mobile certificate. Users who have none of these identification methods cannot access this service.
  • However, if you are applying to an educational institution in Finland via Studyinfo and have not typed in a Finnish Personal Identity Code on your application form, you can edit your applications and accept an offer of admission and enroll to educational institutions using a personal link sent automatically by Studyinfo in relevant phases of application and admission process.

If you plan to apply for a study programme leading to a degree in the fields of social services and health care, you have to assess your own suitability to the field already at the application stage, on the basis of your health and functional capacity. 

Why? The so-called SORA legislation applies to education leading to a UAS degree in the fields of social services and health care. These fields have requirements concerning the safety of minors, patient and client safety or traffic safety which restrict student admission. In these fields, it is required that health and functional capacity of approved applicants are such that they are able to take part in the practical assignments or training relating to studies.

What if I have restrictions related to health or functional capacity?

• Based on the notification you have submitted at the application stage, the university of applied sciences may require more detailed health information in order to assess your study performance and reasonable support measures. Student admission is conditional until the university of applied sciences has reviewed the degree certificate and, if necessary, the statements of a health care professional.

When you are filling in your application form in Studyinfo.fi, the following questions will be asked:

• Has your right to study been revoked before, due to your health or endangering other persons’ health or safety?
• Are there any factors in your health or functional capacity that might hinder your studies in the study programme/programmes you applied for?
• If you answer ’yes’ to one or both of these questions and you are accepted to the study programme, your study place is conditional. The university of applied sciences processes and assesses the information related to health and functional capacity of the applicant required for the assessment of admission. You may be accepted to the programme, if the health restriction may be eliminated by reasonable measures.

Familiarize yourself with the field-specific requirements on health and functional capacity before submitting your application  (uasinfo.fi)

If the applicant is a refugee, in a position comparable to a refugee or an asylum seeker and does not have documents in proof of his/her prior qualification, the higher education institution may consider the applicant for admission. Based on information requested from the applicant, the higher education institution offering the programme in question will decide if the information on the prior qualification is sufficient.

The applicant must have an official decision attesting to his or her refugee status (a decision to grant asylum or a residence permit issued on the basis of need for protection). The applicant must submit a copy of this decision to the admission services of each higher education institution to which he or she is applying by the deadline specified in advance (see the deadlines for required documents above).

In order to clarify their status, an asylum seeker to whom a decision has not yet been issued may present a photo ID issued by the Finnish Immigration Service, for example at an entrance examination, and should the higher education institution so require, also a certificate issued by the Finnish Immigration Service for a fee (EUR 20) stating that the applicant is legally resident in Finland while their case is being processed, or until a legally valid decision has been made.

All joint application applicants are notified of the admission results by email. The results are sent to the email address given by the applicant in their application form in Studyinfo. Any requests for additional information will also be sent to the e-mail address provided on the application form. Please also check your junk email for admission results.

The offer of admission must be accepted by the given deadline or the offered study place will be cancelled.

Admission is conditional until the UAS has checked the required certificates. The admission will be cancelled if an applicant fails to submit certificates by the specified deadline, or if an applicant has provided false information.

For further information on Studyinfo:

• admission results in joint application
• how to accept an offer of admission in joint application to higher education

If you are accepted to Turku UAS and want to accept the offer of admission, please read the instructions for students accepted in joint application.

Registering as non-attending student (postponing your studies)

If you have been accepted as a degree student, you can postpone the start of your studies by registering as a non-attending/absent student. A first-year student may register as non-attending/absent for the academic year only for the following reasons:

• service under the Finnish Conscription Act (1438/2007), Non-Military Service Act (1446/2007), or Act on Women’s Voluntary Military Service (194/1995)
  • Required document: Call-up order
• the student needs time off his/her studies to take care of a child in regard to the child’s birth or adoption (14.1.2022/52)
  • Required document: Kela’s decision regarding pregnancy or parental allowance period or, if the decision has not yet been received, a medical certificate regarding the pregnancy (or corresponding certificate from the authority of other countries regarding statutory parental leave). Note: The father is always required to submit the Kela’s decision regarding parental allowance period in 2 weeks from receiving the decision at the latest.
• the student cannot begin studies due to being incapacitated by personal illness or injury.
  • Required document: Sickness allowance decision or, if no decision exists, a medical certificate. The medical certificate must state which illness or injury the student suffers from, and that this condition prevents the student from beginning their studies.

The right to register as non-attending student is based on the Universities of Applied Sciences Act, § 29.

Submit documents that prove the legal grounds for your non-attendance through an online form before the original starting date of the studies.

If you register as non-attending/absent in the first academic year due to illness or injury, the absence will consume your periods of absence, which may be taken during your studies for a maximum of two terms. If you are absent due to illness or injury for the entire first academic year, you will no longer have any periods of absence left after that and you will have to enrol as as present from the second academic year onwards.

If you are absent at any stage of your studies due to military service, civilian service, women’s voluntary military service, maternity, paternity or parental leave, it will not consume your time to study.

If the legal reason for absence in the first academic year covers only the second term, you can register as absent for the entire academic year. You may also change the status of your registration for the spring term from present to absent during the spring term registration period from 1 December to 31 January by notifying the Student Office. If you start in the autumn term, you will have legal grounds to be absent for both the autumn term and spring term, even if your legal grounds apply only to the second term. If you start in the spring term and legal reason for absence apply to spring term, you can only be absent during the spring term.

Student loan compensation (Kela)

According to the qualifying criteria for the student loan compensation from Kela (the Finnish national social security institution), the period of study also includes terms in which you register as non-attending or interrupt your studies.

• For more on the qualifying criteria for the student loan compensation (Kela.fi)