Application documents for graduate studies

• Faculty-specific requirements
• Application form
• Certificate of language skills
• Degree certificate
• Transcript of records
• Translation of documents
• Officially certified copies
• Country-specific requirements

Your application must include several documents indicating your eligibility for university studies. Below you will find detailed descriptions on how to submit the application documents to University Admissions Finland. Please note that your application will continue to the faculty’s student selection procedure only if the enclosures meet the requirements mentioned below!

You may apply for as many as three degree programmes/ majors at the University of Helsinki. However, in this case you must submit three fully documented application files (including a signed application form for each). Only those applications that are fully documented can be considered for further processing.

Some programmes may require additional documents (e.g. CV, recommendation letter, GRE).

Faculty-specific requirements

In the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, however, the applicant can submit applications only to two degree programmes and within them only to one major subject. Application enclosures for the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry are accepted in English only.

Please note that applicants to the Faculty of Social Sciences must include with their application a 500-word summary of the applicant's Bachelor's thesis (about 1.5 standard A4 size pages) written in English.

Application form

Before the application process opens, you can create a FuniMa user account for University Admissions Finland (UAF). When the application period begins, you can log in to your user account and continue with the application process by selecting the degree programme you are interested in.

Certificate of language skills

Please check the acceptable language tests and other ways of indicating language skills level in English, Finnish, and Swedish at the language requirements page.

Degree certificate

A degree certificate is a document issued by an institution to a student who has successfully completed all studies included in the degree. In other words, the student has graduated. The degree certificate should include the name of the institution awarding the degree, the date of issue, the name of the person to whom the degree certificate has been issued, and which title or degree the person has been awarded.

Temporary degree certificate

A temporary (or provisional) degree certificate is a document issued by an institution to a student who has successfully completed all studies included in the degree. Also in this case, the student has graduated. The temporary degree certificate is issued as a replacement for the actual degree certificate, for example, if the actual degree certificate cannot be given to the student immediately after the studies have been completed due to technical or administrative reasons. The temporary degree certificate should include the name of the institution awarding the degree, the date of issue, the name of the person to whom the degree certificate has been issued and which title or degree the person has been awarded.

A temporary (provisional) degree certificate is accepted if it was awarded no more than five years earlier. The five-year validity period begins from the date on which the degree was conferred and must not expire prior to the application deadline. In other words, a temporary degree certificate is not accepted if it was awarded more than five years ago. In such cases, the applicant must present his or her final degree certificate.

Anticipated date of graduation

If you are graduating after the application period, you should indicate your anticipated date of graduation on the UAF application form (Educational background section). If you are accepted as a student, your acceptance is conditional until you present the final degree certificate. The degree certificate should be sent to the faculty by the deadline given in the letter of acceptance, usually by the end of July.

Transcript of records

A transcript of records is a document issued by the same institution that has issued the degree certificate or the temporary degree certificate. The transcript of records should include the course units that you have completed for the degree, their completion time and the grades and credits awarded. The transcript of records should also include information on the grading scale currently used at the institution. If the degree includes course units that you gave completed in another institution and the transferred credits are not indicated in detail in the transcript of records, a separate transcript of records regarding the transferred credits should be delivered.

Translation of documents

All documents should be submitted in English, Finnish, or Swedish. The translations of educational documents (or their copies) must satisfy one of the conditions listed below:

1. The translations are issued by the awarding institution.
2. The translations are officially certified copies of the translations issued by the awarding institution.
3. The translations are translated by an authorized translator.
4. The translations are officially certified copies of the translations made by an authorized translator.
   
   

Each page of an authorized translation must bear the translator’s stamp and/or signature. Authorized translations must be exact translations of the original documents. Translations done by the applicant are not accepted.

Please note that all officially certified or attested copies of translations must bear the authentic stamp of the institution that issued the document or a notary public.

Officially certified copies

All copies of original documents must be officially certified (attested) by the awarding institution or a notary public. Copies of copies will not be accepted. All copies must have the original stamp and signature on them. Please note that all pages of the copy must be stamped separately and clearly indicate:

• The signature of the certifying officer
• The stamp of the awarding institution or notary public
• A stamp stating only "Certified true copy" or a similar text will not be accepted
  
  

Country-specific requirements

Applicants, whose degrees have been awarded in certain countries, need to pay special attention to the documentation before submitting it. In addition to the standard document requirements, educational documents from certain countries must be submitted in a particular way. These country-specific requirements must always be followed first and foremost, prior to any regular requirements for attesting documents.

Please follow the country-specific requirements if your education degree has been awarded in one of the countries listed on the Country-specific requirements page.

Updated September 25, 2013