The majority of entrance examinations will be held in May–June. Changes to the manner of administering the examinations are made only if required by regulations issued by the authorities.
Finnish universities have jointly agreed (news article, 27 January 2021) that the spring and summer entrance examinations in 2021 will be held as physical events on campuses and other supervised premises. The plan has been drawn up taking into account the prevailing pandemic situation and the necessary safety arrangements.
– Carrying out the entrance exams has a great societal significance. In the student selection, ensuring equal treatment is essential and this can be best guaranteed by organising physical events on campus. We want to make sure that the entrance exams are as safe as possible for both the applicants and the personnel participating in the exam arrangements, says Piia Björn, the Vice Rector responsible for education.
If the authorities issue regulations related to the coronavirus situation during the spring that affect the organisation of entrance examinations, the applicants will be informed directly.
– We have estimated that conducting physical entrance examinations is the best way to ensure the fairness of student admissions in these circumstances. We have prepared carefully for the process and are confident that the entrance examinations can be carried out with thoroughly considered safety arrangements. However, this requires everyone to act responsibly and attend the examinations only in good health and in accordance with the safety instructions, says Petri Suomala, who chairs the Universities Finland Unifi’s meetings for vice-presidents for education.
Safety Instructions for Applicants
When participating in entrance examinations, applicants must comply with current regulations issued by the authorities as well as safety instructions jointly prepared by the universities for all applicants. The instructions include advice on travel to the examinations and practices at the examination sites. The instructions are published on the universities’ websites and the joint application procedure websites. Universities will also provide applicants with more specific guidelines for individual examinations. It is therefore important for applicants to check the inbox of the e-mail address they provided in the Studyinfo service and check the universities’ and joint application procedure websites.
– By carefully reviewing both the entrance examination instructions and the general coronavirus guidelines by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in advance, applicants will ensure that the examination situation goes smoothly and the risk of infection can be minimised, says Suomala.
The universities recommend that applicants avoid close contact for two weeks before and during their participation in the entrance examinations. Safety distances of two meters must be observed on arrival at the examination sites and during the examination. Universities require participants to wear masks during the entrance examinations.
Applicants who have been placed in official quarantine or isolation by the health authorities cannot participate in entrance examinations. The position of the universities is that those in self-imposed quarantine should not take part in entrance examinations either. According to the Communicable Diseases Act (1227/2016), there may be consequences for violating quarantine or isolation rules. There will be no further entrance examinations in spring 2021 for those in self-imposed or official quarantine or isolation.
Careful safety arrangements aim to ensure that all applicants can take their entrance examinations as safely as possible. Therefore, individual arrangements for protection against coronavirus cannot be offered separately to those in at-risk groups.
Application Round Starts on Wednesday, 17 March
The second application round of the spring to Finnish- and Swedish-language degree programmes of the higher education institutions starts on 17 March and ends 31 March.
Last spring, a record number of applicants, nearly 31,000, applied to the University of Turku, which was third best out of the Finnish universities.
– We believe that the University's versatile education selections will attract many applicants again this year. Last spring, the applicants were most interested in the degree programmes that have become the exceedingly popular in the recent years: economics, medicine, law, and psychology. Applicants have also found the University’s new degree programmes in engineering. Now, all the degree programmes in engineering and technology are under the new Faculty of Technology that began its operations this January, says Head of Admission Services Mari Kähkönen.
This year, a new degree programme in Chinese language is open for application at the University of Turku. In addition to language studies, the programme highlights professional life skills, interaction, and culture studies.
Answers to Applicants' Questions Are Available
The universities are compiling answers to the most common questions about entrance examinations. The article is published on the Unifi website, as well as on the universities’ and joint application procedure websites and will be updated during the spring.
For additional questions, applicants are instructed to contact the universities’ admission services.
The joint safety instructions for entrance examinations compiled by Finnish universities are published on the Unifi website, as well as on the universities’ and joint application procedure websites.
> More infromation on the entrance examinations (in Finnish)
More information:
Media inquiries about entrance exam arrangements and degree programmes at the University of Turku:
Piia Björn
Vice Rector responsible for education
tel. +358 29 450 3301, piia.bjorn@utu.fi
Mari Kähkönen
Head of Admission Services
tel. +358 40 142 7452, mari.kahkonen@utu.fi
Media inquiries on national entarnce examination coordination:
Petri Suomala
Chair of the meetings for vice-presidents for education
Universities Finland UNIFI
tel. +358 40 591 8044
