Degree Programme in Information and Communication Technology

General Requirement

You are an eligible applicant for Bachelor-level studies if you have one of the following qualifications:

• the Finnish matriculation examination
• the International Baccalaureate (IB)
• the European Baccalaureate (EB)
• Reifeprüfung/Die Deutsche Internationale Abiturprüfung in Finland
• any other comparable upper secondary educational qualification which provides eligibility to University-level Bachelor’s studies in the country in question
• an applicant with a higher degree than the ones mentioned will also be considered eligible.

Please also note that in order to be admitted you will also need to fulfill programme specific requirements. For this programme an SAT test is required for all applicants applying with any other qualification except the Finnish matriculation examination, the International Baccalaureate (IB), the European Baccalaureate (EB) or Reifeprüfung/Die Deutsche Internationale Abiturprüfung in Finland. More details about the SAT requirements, please refer to the Programme Specific admission requirements.

Language Requirements

Applicants must have excellent English language skills and a certificate that proves those skills. All applicants must provide proof of language skills according to the requirements of the University.  You can indicate your language skills by taking one of the internationally recognized English language tests or in some cases with your previous degree.

If the applicant is selected on the basis of an SAT test, they do not have to provide a separate certificate of English language proficiency.

No exceptions will be made on the language requirements. Read more about the language requirements here.

Study right

It is not possible to have more than one Bachelor’s or Master’s study right at the same Faculty. Therefore, when accepting an offered study place, the student will lose any previous BSc. or MSc. study right at the Faculty of Technology at the University of Turku.

Before you start preparing your application, always read the full admission requirements on the application portal Studyinfo.fi

If you already have a Bachelor’s (or higher) Degree in the field of Information and Communication Technology or Computer Science from a Finnish University or University of Applied Sciences, you are not eligible to apply. 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.

These admission criteria are valid for student selections made in 2025.

You can apply for admission if you have previously completed or will complete one of the following qualifications in the spring when you apply:

• the Finnish matriculation examination
• the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma, the European Baccalaureate (EB) diploma, Reifeprüfung/Die Deutsche Internationale Abiturprüfung in Finland, or the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE)
• vocational upper secondary qualifications, a vocational degree or a specialised vocational degree as referred to in the Finnish Vocational Education and Training Act (531/2017)
• foreign qualifications which in the awarding country confer eligibility to pursue an equivalent university degree

You will also be eligible to apply if you meet one of the following requirements:

• you have been granted the right to study for a university degree in Finland
• you hold a degree conferred by a Finnish higher education institution or a degree conferred by a foreign institution that is at least equivalent to a bachelor’s degree

Applicants who are in the final semester of their upper secondary education are also eligible to apply. They must complete the previous degree before starting the studies in the programme. Applicants must follow special instructions concerning the educational documents.

Admission groups

Admission quota for the programme is 30.

There are two admission groups for gaining admission:

Admission group I (60 %): admission is based on the results of the SAT test. Required test sections: Evidence Based Reading and Writing and Mathematics.

Information about the SAT Tests can be found at https://www.collegeboard.org/

The SAT test cannot have been completed more than two years prior to the end of the application period. 

Applicants are ranked based on the total score of the SAT test's Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Mathematics sections. In the case of a tied score, the applicant with the higher section score from the test section of Mathematics will be admitted. If the applicant has several valid test scores, the highest Mathematics section score will be considered.

Admission group II (40 %): certificate-based admission - based on the admission score, which is calculated based on the grades achieved in the Finnish matriculation examination, International Baccalaureate, European Baccalaureate, or Reifeprüfung/Die Deutsche Internationale Abiturprüfung in Finland.

Points are calculated according to the following national scoring guidelines:

Scoring based on points obtained in the Finnish matriculation examination https://yliopistovalinnat.fi/en/scoring-in-certificate-based-admissions-in-2023-2025/technology-and-engineering

Scoring based on points obtained in the IB, EB or DIA/RP degree https://yliopistovalinnat.fi/en/scoring-in-certificate-based-admissions-in-2023-2025/technology-and-engineering

If you meet the minimum requirements for both admission groups you can be considered in both Admission Group I and Admission Group II. You are not required to choose which admission group you are applying in, since all applicants are automatically considered in both admission groups.

If there are not enough applicants who meet the minimum requirements in one of the admission groups, these unfilled study places can be transferred to the other admission group if there is excess of qualified applicants.

Minimum grade requirements

Admission group I: SAT total score 1150, Mathematics section score 600

Admission group II: Advanced mathematics C in the Finnish matriculation examination or the comparable grade in the other tests.

Note: As there are a limited number of study places available, achieving a minimum score does not automatically result in getting admitted.

English language requirements

Applicants of the international degree programmes of the University must have excellent English language

skills and a certificate that proves those skills. Language skills can be indicated by taking one of the

internationally recognized English language tests listed or with a previous degree if it fulfills the criteria

mentioned in the detailed requirements. If an applicant cannot prove their language skills according to the

ways accepted by the University, they will not be eligible to be admitted.

The University does not make any exceptions to the rules stated above and in the links provided. The University has to follow the rules in order to:

• treat all applicants equally
• be able to verify the authenticity of submitted language certificates
• ensure adequate language skills for successful studies of all students
• let our teachers concentrate in teaching the subject instead of language
• give high level education for all students (instead of the teacher concentrating in lingual problems of some students)
• ensure adequate language skills to integrate with the society in Finland.

If the degree you use to prove your language skills is different from the one used as a basis for eligibility for the programme, the degree must be earned by the time of application and documentation submitted by the deadline for all enclosures on 29 January at 15.00 (Finnish time). Online studies or studies completed on offshore campuses outside the accepted countries/area cannot be used to indicate language skills, even if the degree-awarding institution is located in one of the accepted countries. At least half of the degree must be completed in English and the language of instruction of the degree must be clearly indicated in the degree certificate and transcript of record or diploma supplement or an official statement from the university issuing the degree. If the language of instruction is not clearly stated, the applicant must provide alternative proof of language skills.

You must provide the language test results or other proof of language skills by the time specified, no late supplementations will be accepted. It is not possible to be admitted conditionally and prove language skills after admission. You must attach a scan of the test result to the application for verification purposes. The test result must be attached to the application form and be available for online verification at the latest by the end of the supplementation period.

You must reach the minimum required test results to be considered eligible to the University of Turku. No exceptions will be made.

Deadlines

The application period will be open 8 January - 22 January 2025.

All required attachments must be provided by 29 January 2025 15.00 (Finnish time). If any compulsory attachments have not been submitted according to our instructions or in time to meet the given deadline(s), your application will be deemed ineligible and not processed further.

SAT test results must be delivered directly by the test organiser to University of Turku by 29 Jan 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (GMT +2). You must also attach a copy of the official SAT test result report to the application form by 29 Jan 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (GMT +2). Test results delivered after the deadline or solely by the applicant or test organiser are not accepted.

Admission results published:

• Admission group I 2.4.2025
• Admission group II 26.5.2025

All admitted applicants are required to provide their original documents to the University of Turku by 31 May 2025 (if the applicant has not graduated by the time of the application, the deadline is 11 August 2025).

Accept the study offer 10.7.2025 (Note that the deadline for accepting a study place may be different from the general deadline if you have been offered a scholarship. In such cases the deadlines will be given in your scholarship offer.)

The possible tuition fee must be paid by 31.7.2025.

Providing graduation documents (conditionally accepted) 11 August 2025 at 15.00 (Finnish time)

Arrival and orientation August.

How to apply

The application period for the international degree programmes of the University of Turku is 8 January to 22 January 2025 (the first joint application period).

The application is done online in the Studyinfo portal (www.studyinfo.fi). A link to the application form will be available on the website of each programme both at utu.fi and at studyinfo.fi during the application period. In the joint application you may apply to maximum six (6) programmes, three (3) of which can be offered by the University of Turku. You may only apply with one application in the joint application. If you apply with several applications, only the one you have submitted last will be considered.

You may be admitted to several programmes you have applied to. However, you may only accept one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland during one academic term (1.8.-31.12. or 1.1.-31.7.)

Documentation about your language skills, educational background as well as other possible programme specific enclosures have to be uploaded on the online application form in specified slots as scans of the relevant documents. The deadline for all enclosures is 29 January at 15.00 (Finnish time).

The application period ends on 22 January 2025 at 15.00 (Finnish time) after which new applications cannot be made. Enclosures can be added to or removed from any application for one week after the application period, i.e. until 29.1.2025 at 15.00 (Finnish time). Make sure you submit your application in time so that you can be confident that the application has been submitted correctly. You will receive a confirmation message to the e-mail you gave on the application form. This is the only way to be sure that your application has been submitted and received by the university. You are responsible for ensuring that the application has been properly submitted and has arrived on time.

Required documents

Attach to the application form the following documents:

• Documents proving eligibility for higher education
• If applying on the basis of the SAT test results: the SAT test result report (in addition, the official test results must arrive directly to University of Turku from the test organiser).
• Proof of English language skills (The applicants applying on the basis of SAT test can prove their language skill with the SAT test)
• Passport or other ID
• Residence permit card (if applicable)

Any documents not listed above will not be considered in the evaluation process.

The attached documents must be scans of the original documents issued by the educational institute in question. Scans of copies or certified copies will not be accepted unless the copy is certified by a Finnish Notary Public, or the copy corresponds to one of the University’s country-specific requirements for degree document verification.

The University of Turku requires the original documents (in the original language) AND an English, Finnish or Swedish translation of the documents.

All documents must be attached in the original language in which they were issued. If the official documents have been issued originally in two languages (e.g. in English and in the national language) submitting only the English language version is acceptable. In case the documents are not in Finnish, Swedish or English they must be translated. The translations must be made by an official translator or by the awarding education institution.

The international Bachelor’s Degree in ICT (Technology) consists of common studies, major studies, language studies and studies in transferable working life skills and minor studies. The studies will equip the students with a solid background for basic skills needed in the working life and in lifelong learning. The Degree is module-based and every module has specific learning outcomes.

The preliminary structure of the Degree Programme (180 ECTS) is the following:

• Major subject studies in ICT (including Bachelor’s thesis)
• Minor subject studies (for example entrepreneurship)
• Polytechnic studies (mathematics, physics, information technology and business studies)
• Language studies

Does this page answer your questions about the programme's content and academic matters? If not, contact infoscitech@utu.fi.

Our research in the field of ICT is targeting the future technologies needed  to improve our digitalised society, to help solve today's major societal and environmental challenges, and to explore new and emerging horizons of the ICT field. The central themes in our research are digitalisation, software engineering, machine learning, autonomous and intelligent systems, cyber security, and health technology. The development of our ICT curriculum is driven by the output from research in these themes, and students benefit from gaining first-hand knowledge on the newest research results. Our mission is to create ICT solutions to global and future challenges, thus contributing to building a sustainable future with top research and education.

The Bachelor’s thesis is a personal dissertation project. The students prepare for the thesis project by practising source material use, scientific writing and presentation of  their results in written and oral form. The thesis is mainly based on scientific literature. Theses made in collaboration with companies or other organizations outside the university are also possible.

As a degree student you can complete part of your degree abroad. During your studies, you can go abroad as an exchange student or for an internship, which will give you valuable international experience.

After completing this programme, the graduate:

• Has good programming skills and basic skills in designing embedded systems
• Knows and is able to apply the implementation methods of a wide range of software engineering solutions and knows how to apply them to various execution platforms, knowing all aspects of the layer structure of software solutions
• Is able to participate in the design of software systems and in finding solutions to software problems
• Knows software production methods, tools and development processes, and understands the importance of the parts of agile development processes and knows how to apply them, working as part of a development team
• Understands how electronic systems and their components work and communicate
• Understands the structures and operating principles of microprocessors and the basics of operating systems
• Understands the most common network technologies and protocols used on the Internet
• Understands the basics of cyber security technology and knows the key tools
• Understands the basics of artificial intelligence systems

Students graduating from the programme, may work, for example, as:

• Software Engineer
• Software Architect
• Project Manager
• System Specialist
• Information Security Specialist
• ICT Consultant

After completing the Bachelor’s Degree programme studies the students have the right (without a separate admission process) to continue their studies in the international Master’s Degree Programme in ICT at the Department of Computing. The students will select their major among the existing tracks in the programme. Current tracks in the programme are: Cyber Security, Data Analytics, Robotics and Autonomous Systems and Software Engineering.

Students are also eligible for Master’s degree studies in other universities in Finland or abroad.