Higher education spring round of joint applications will have two separate cycles. The Government issued a decree on the matter on Thursday, informed the Ministry of Education and Culture.
The first joint application round held in spring will only cover tuition given in foreign languages, programmes at the University of the Arts Helsinki, and the Theatre Work programme at the University of Tampere.
The purpose of this change is to enable higher education institutes to inform applicants outside Finland of their admissions results earlier than before.
A systematic timetable and process will make it easier for students to apply to Finnish institutions. It will also facilitate the institutions’ efforts to forge international links and promote Finland’s education-related exports. The first round of the joint application system will not use an order of preference, in other words, applicants will not have to indicate their preferred study programmes.
The second round of joint applications will cover tuition given in Finnish and Swedish, as in the current joint application system. This second spring round of the joint application system, as well as the autumn round, will take into account the applicant’s chosen study options in their order of preference. Applicants must therefore indicate their order of preference for the study programmes they have chosen. Applicants are then admitted to their most preferred study programme, provided that they meet the qualification criteria.
Some will apply on both rounds
Some applicants will apply on the both spring rounds, for example if they apply for programmes with tuition given in Finnish or in Swedish, and for programmes with tuition given in a foreign language. The joint application system timetable ensures that the applicants who are successful on both rounds can decide which study place they wish to accept.
Only one round of the joint application system will continue to be held in the autumn.
The joint application procedure under the new decree will be held for the first time in the spring of 2020. The joint application system's timetable has been drawn up by the higher education institutions and the Finnish National Agency for Education. The Ministry of Education and Culture will confirm the timetable in March 2019.
