Reform of the degree structure at the University of Helsinki

Diplomas and diploma supplements

Degree certificates will be standardised at the University of Helsinki . The faculties will also provide all graduates with an English-language diploma supplement, which conforms to international and national recommendations.

Degree diploma

The University of Helsinki has decided that the starting points for developing the format of the degree diplomas are the University's visual identity and style. The faculties must be able to produce high-quality copies of their degree diplomas, while the University must ensure,that forging the diplomas is as difficult as possible.

Further provision on the content of the degree diplomas are given in the Government Decree on University Degrees. When standardising the content of the Bachelor's and Master's degree diplomas, the University has striven to design diplomas that have sections appropriate for all the faculties ( for example, the section on language skills ). However, the University has not aimed to design fully standardised degree diplomas, for it is important that the diplomas awarded in a given field in Finland are readily comparable. The faculties launched the new, visually uniform degree diplomas in autumn2005, and as of 1 January 2006. the University of Helsinki is to award only the new degree diplomas to students who graduate from the University under the recently issued Government Decree on University Degrees.

Diploma supplement

As set out in the Government Decree on University Degrees, as of 1 August 2005 the universities shall issue all persons who complete a degree or other studies with a supplement to their diploma, especially for international purposes. This supplement will contain sufficient information about the university, the courses and performance referred to in the diploma, and the standard and status of these within the Finnish educational system.

In conjuctionwith the development of the Oodi student information system, 13 Finnish universities wrote a report which has since enabled English-language diploma supplements to be printed directly from Oodi for students and graduates. The University also recommends that the diploma supplement be provided to those who complete a degree following the decrees on degrees that were previously in force.