General information on admission
On this page you will find information on the details of the application process including special cases such as refugee status and restrictions on student admission as well as information on issues that may arise after admission. Please make sure you also read all of the information on the How and when to apply, Scholarships and tuition fees and Information for admitted students -pages.
For applicants
The international Master's degree programmes fully taught by the University of Turku are part of the so-called joint application period in Finland. Joint application means that you can apply up to six (6) study programmes with one application form. These 6 options may include degree programmes from one or several different higher education institutions in Finland. The joint application to higher education includes study programmes conducted in English of most Finnish universities, and the University of the Arts study programmes.
You can apply up to three (3) programmes of the University of Turku in the joint application.
The joint application period is annually in January, and the application time is approximately two weeks. Please find more information on our How and When to Apply -page.
The University of Turku also collaborates with international partner universities to offer Joint Degree Programmes. The mode of study, including the city and country, and language of instruction, vary from one programme to another. The joint degree programmes might have separate application periods and admission procedures than the rest of the Bachelor's and Master's Degree Programmes offered by the University of Turku. Please find specific details for each joint degree programme on our Joint Degree Programmes -page.
The University of Turku also provides high quality doctoral training. The University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS) handles the applications and admissions to doctoral training in the University of Turku. Please find more information on the doctoral programmes of the University, and how to apply to them, on the University of Turku Graduate School -page.
The University of Turku naturally also provides Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral Degree Programmes taught completely in Finnish. Please note that in order to apply to degree programmes taught in Finnish, you need to be fluent in Finnish, and the University does not offer any language preparation year options. Please find information on how to apply to Finnish degree programmes on our Hakeminen Turun yliopistoon -page (information only available in Finnish).
It the applicant is a refugee, has status comparable to a refugee or is an asylum seeker, and he or she cannot thus verify his or her previous degree with relevant documentation, the higher education institution may invite the applicant to take an entrance exam or similar.
The applicant must have a decision by the authorities concerning his or her status (decision on asylum or residence permit on the basis of protection). The applicant must submit a copy of the relevant decision by the end of the application period to the admission services.
In order to promote patient and client safety as well as the safety of minors, certain restrictions are applied to student admission. Such restrictions will pertain to the following fields:
- art education
- dentistry
- logopaedics
- medicine
- pharmacy
- psychology
- social work
- teacher education
Admission to the above fields requires that the applicants’ state of health and ability to function allow them to complete practical tasks and training related to studies.
Studies in these fields have requirements concerning safety of underage children, patient and client safety, or traffic safety. Thus the student’s study right can be cancelled if
- the student has during the course of his/her studies repeatedly or seriously put at risk another person’s health or safety and thus proved to be unsuitable to work in study-related duties or practical training, or
- during the application process the student has failed to inform about a prior cancellation of study right on health, functioning ability or safety grounds.
Applicants have to provide information on the study right cancellation decision on the higher education institution’s request.
The data you give in the application form is added to the student admission register of the Finnish National Agency for Education and to the admission database of the University of Turku.
- The University of Turku stores all application enclosures and data in a secure manner.
- Enclosures sent over regular email are not transmitted in an encrypted format and may be compromised. University of Turku is not responsible for the encryption of the transmission of regular emails. Sending enclosures by regular email is done at your own risk and responsibility.
- The data can be used for organisation of student admission and the follow-up and evaluation of the educational system.
- If you are admitted and accept the study place your data is transferred also to the study register of the University of Turku.
- You have a right to check your data in the registers. Please contact the University of Turku or, if you have applied to more than one Finnish univeristy, the Finnish National Agency for Education.
When selecting students to pursue a degree, the applicants must prove their language skills in the manner described in the admission criteria. The University follows the manners of verifying language skills which are defined in the Rector’s decision. (The University of Turku Regulation on Studies 16 March 2018.)
New UK degree students who have arrived in Finland prior to 31st of December 2020 must register their right to residence (in accordance with the withdrawal agreement) between the 1st of October 2020 and the 31st of December 2020 to be exempt from tuition fees. Registration or application before the end of 2020 exempts the student from tuition fees even if they start their studies (in degree programmes taught in English) after the 1st of January 2021. Proof of registration (i.e a relevant residence permit card) or pending application (from Migri) is required.
Tuition fees will not be charged
- From British citizens or their family members who currently reside in Finland and have applied for the right of residence by 30.9.2021.
- From British citizens or their family members who have arrived to Finland 1.10.2020-31.12.2020 and have applied for the right of residence by 31.12.2020.
More information on the right of residence and how to apply for it https://migri.fi/en/brexit/en
Tuition fees will be charged
- From British citizens and their family members who arrive to Finland after 1.1.2021.
Tuition fees will be charged in the same way as from all non-EU citizens. British citizens may also apply for scholarships. More information on tuition fees and scholarships here.
Continuing UK degree students
- Continuing UK degree students are exempt from tuition fees even after the 1st of January 2021 as long as they change their EU registration in Finland to EU right-to-residence in accordance with the withdrawal agreement (with Migri). This change of status must be applied between the 1st of October 2020 and the 30th of September 2021.
- Proof of the EU right to residence (i.e. a relevant residence permit card), or proof that the student has applied for it (from Migri) is sufficient for exemption.
The information on application is provided on the How and When to Apply -page. For more detailed information, please open this PDF -file.
The University of Turku only works with verified educational agencies and other international representatives. No other companies than the ones listed have the right to claim that they represent the University of Turku. For more information, please turn to the list of International Representatives.
After admission decision
You will receive the admission letter by email. After that you have to accept the study place by the deadline given in the letter. The acceptance is done online at Studyinfo and cannot be altered later. If you do not accept the study place by the deadline you forfeit your right to enrol in the programme.
After confirming the study place and possible scholarship you have to register with the university and pay the possible tuition fee. Registration as attending student is done by paying the Student Union membership fee by 31 August. Attending Bachelor's and Master's degree students must pay the compulsory Student Health Care fee, except students who have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country or from Switzerland or the United Kingdom. For further information, please check this website.
According to the provision, a student may accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland in education that begins in the same academic term. This rule applies to all higher education.
You can only have one valid study right at a time for a lower (bachelor) or higher (master) university degree within the same major subject or degree programme.
- You can also only have one valid study right at a time for a scientific or professional postgraduate degree of the same level at the University of Turku.
- If your study right has expired or been moved to the passive register, you cannot apply for a new, similar study right. Instead, you must then apply for an extension to your study time or a reactivation of your study right.
- You will not be granted a new, similar study right to pursue a degree or course of study that you are already pursuing, or have already completed, within the same field or a corresponding subject, unless stated otherwise in the admission criteria of the faculty.
Tuition fees will be charged from citizens of a country outside the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland. Admitted students will get instructions on how to pay the tuition fee in their admission offer. The tuition fee can be paid in one or two instalments. If a student is liable to pay tuition fees, they cannot register as an attending student until they have paid the fee.
The tuition fee can be refunded if a student is unable to arrive to Turku and start their studies in their respective Master's Degree Programme due to reasons outside the control of the student. The possible refunding of the tuition fee is always decided on a case-by-case basis. The refunding process is initiated by the student.
If you have questions concerning the decision or you do not understand why you were not accepted please contact the programme coordinator first for detailed information. Contact information can be found in your Notification of result, or on the web page of the programme.
If you disagree with the admission decision please note that the admission criteria, including the language requirements, are final and the same criteria are used for all applicants. If you were not admitted e.g. because you did not provide documents in time or you attempted to prove your language skills in ways not accepted by the university (see Language requirements) the decision will not change even if you make a formal appeal. The formal rectifications can be done e.g. in cases where a mistake has been made in the admission process, documents provided were overlooked or accreditation of a university was not found in the databases and the applicant can show proof that the accreditation exists.
Scholarship decisions are not appealable and therefore it is not possible to ask for rectification.
Should you still disagree with the decision you may apply for a rectification of the decision within fourteen (14) days of the publication of the student admission results. You can apply for a rectification using an electronic form. The deadline for the rectification in the spring 2024 is 18 April 3 pm Finnish time.
Link to the rectification form (opens 4 April)
The appeal must contain the following information:
- your personal and contact details
- the degree programme concerned
- the reasons why you request rectification
- possible enclosures