Before applying for RPL
You can apply for the recognition of formal education completed in Finland or abroad, or for the recognition of learning acquired through work experience, roles held in associations or societies, positions of trust etc. Prior learning can be used to replace compulsory studies included in your degree programme curriculum, or you can include previously completed studies in your degree as minors or elective studies.
By submitting an RPL application, you are requesting the recognition of a specific academic attainment and assessment. Once a credit transfer has been approved and recorded, it cannot be cancelled by request. Similarly, it is not possible to retake a course for which a credit transfer has been recorded.
Logging into the study data management system Peppi
At the University of Turku, RPL applications are submitted through the Peppi study data management system. In order to log into Peppi, you need to have valid username provided by the University IT Services (UTU credentials).
For new students, UTU credentials are activated at the beginning of the academic year in August, after the student has registered as an attending (present) or non-attending (absent) student for the current semester.
NB! Doctoral and licentiate students should apply for the recognition of prior learning using a UTUForms application form.
Faculty-specific instructions
Before you start filling in an RPL application, have a look at the instructions for your faculty on the University intranet (UTU login required):
- Faculty of Education (see the Recognition of prior learning and credit transfer page for your degree programme)
- Faculty of Humanities
- Faculty of Law
- Faculty of Medicine
- Faculty of Science
- Faculty of Social Sciences
- Faculty of Technology
- Turku School of Economics
If you have any questions about RPL applications, please contact your faculty's office for student and academic affairs or the Centre for Language and Communication Studies (kievi@utu.fi).
Regulations on the expiry of prior learning
Please note that for some studies, there are maximum time limits on how long ago your prior learning was acquired for it to be eligible for credit transfer. Prior learning that was acquired too long ago may therefore be considered expired. For more information, please see the RPL instructions for your faculty on the university intranet (see the links above).
Expiry of prior learning for language and communication studies
Which type of credit transfer are you applying for?
Determine which type of credit transfer you would like to apply for: Substitution (sometimes called 'replacement') or inclusion (sometimes called 'incorporation'). Ask your PSP counsellor or your faculty's office for academic and student affairs for advice if needed.
- Substitution is a form of credit transfer that refers to replacing studies with studies of the same field and corresponding content completed elsewhere.
- Inclusion is a form of credit transfer that refers to integrating studies completed elsewhere as part of a degree (e.g. study modules as minor subjects or separate study attainments as optional studies).
If you are applying for substitution, make sure that the course(s) you would like to substitute with your prior learning can be found in your Personal Study Plan in Peppi. Ensure that the courses in your PSP are in keeping with the current programme curriculum.
If you are applying for inclusion, identify which module or heading within your PSP you would like your previously completed studies to be included under (e.g. Other Studies).
Application attachments
Make sure that you have all documentary evidence of your prior learning to hand in an electronic format. The documents will be added to your RPL application as attachments.
Acceptable file formats are pdf, docx, jpg and png. The maximum file size is 5 MB. Make sure that the attachments, in particular any images, are of sufficiently high quality and fully legible. If requested, be prepared to present original hard copies of the documents.
Required attachments
- Transcript of records or course certificate: an official transcript of records or course certificate/diploma for any studies completed in Finland or abroad. The transcript may also take the form of a link to the electronic transcript of records available through the My Studyinfo service. You can copy-paste the link to a Word document and attach the document to your application. Please note that a screenshot of the relevant My Studyinfo page is not sufficient.
- Degree certificate if your previous studies form part of a completed degree.
- Course descriptions for your previous studies that indicate the course content and intended learning outcomes, as well as the level of studies if relevant. For studies completed abroad, if the original course descriptions are not in English, you must provide English translations. The course descriptions should ideally take the form of a link to the university's study guide or similar (you can copy-paste the link to a Word document and attach the document to your application). If this is not possible, you can attach a screenshot of e.g. the course syllabus or other course documents.
- Evidence on the ECTS credit equivalence of your previous studies if the studies were completed abroad and their scope is measured in units other than ECTS credits. The evidence can take the form of a document or a link to the university's website or similar.
- For work experience, you must attach at least a signed certificate of employment that includes the start and end dates of your employment. A similar certificate is required for roles held in associations or societies, volunteering and for positions of trust or similar.
- Documentary evidence that can be used to evaluate your prior learning (e.g. a portfolio, a learning diary or publications). You can contact, for example, the teacher responsible for the course you are applying to replace to find out what documentary evidence is required.