Beginning the studies

1. Confirm or decline the study place offer and enrol as student through Studyinfo by 17 July 2020, 3 pm Finnish time (EEST).

Please note the change of deadline from 10 July to 17 July.

Accepting a study place is a binding choice, and you cannot cancel or change your choice later. When you confirm a study place bindingly, all the other higher education study programmes you have applied to in the joint or separate applications will automatically be cancelled.

Please also remember that if you don’t confirm the study place by the given deadline, you will lose the study place offer. You may also be required to confirm the study place sooner in order to qualify for the Early Bird scholarship at Xamk.

You may be admitted to more than one study programme you have applied to in Joint Application, spring 2020. Since the higher education institutions publish admission results gradually according to their own schedules, you may receive a notice of admission from different programmes at different times. You can confirm or decline the offered study place as soon as you have been notified of the admission.

Note however that you can only confirm one study place per academic term. This means that if you are accepted to several study programmes, you need to choose which place you wish to confirm. Please read more about the one place per term provision on Studyinfo.fi.

If you choose not to confirm the offered study place, you may still be admitted to other study programmes you have applied to if you have been placed on their waiting list and places become available later.

The email from Studyinfo.fi service that includes the link you need for confirming your study place, is sent automatically within 24 hours after the admission result has been published.

Help and instructions

Detailed instructions for confirming the study place electronically are available on Studyinfo.fi service.

If you cannot confirm the study place electronically, please contact the Admission Services at Xamk: admissions@xamk.fi.

2. Enrol as an attending or non-attending student when confirming the study place.

The link for enrolment appears on the screen after you have accepted the study place bindingly.

The deadline for the enrolment is 17 July 2020, 3 pm Finnish time, EEST (NB! Change of date from 10 July to 17 July). Please note however that if you are liable to pay tuition fees, your enrolment for attendance will be registered automatically after the fee has been paid (see instructions below).

You are granted a study right when you have been accepted as a student to Xamk and you have enrolled as an attending or non-attending student.

All students are required to enrol for attendance or non-attendance also during studies, it is done for all academic years during the enrolment periods given in the academic year timetable of Xamk. Academic year is the time between 1 August and 31 July.

Enrolment and tuition fees

• The admission is conditional if you are liable for paying the tuition fee: you first confirm your study place and pay the tuition fee by the given deadline. Your enrolment for attendance will be registered automatically after the payment has been received at Xamk.
• To qualify for the Early Bird scholarship at Xamk, you need to follow your personal deadlines given in the admission notice for
  • accepting the study place offer from Xamk within 7 days from the notice of admission, and
  • paying the tuition fee within 14 days from accepting the study place.
• The Admission Services notifies you by email when the payment has been checked and the enrolment registered.

Do you want to postpone the beginning of studies?

It is possible to postpone the beginning of studies by confirming the study place and enrolling for non-attendance. You can enroll for non-attendance for the first study year for the following reasons only:

1. You need to complete military service, civilian service or voluntary military service for women in Finland.
2. You are on maternity, paternity or parental leave.
3. You are unable to begin your studies due to illness or disability.

Instructions for non-attendance

Certificate copies in Bachelor’s programmes

Many applicants may not need to submit certificate copies either because information about the qualification completed in Finland is verified from the national database or the certificate copies have been submitted already during the application period.

You don’t have to submit any certificate copies, if you have:

• completed matriculation examination (yo-tutkinto) in Finland
• completed vocational basic degree (ammatillinen perustutkinto) in Finland in or after 2017
• completed vocational or specialised vocational degree (ammatti- tai erikoisammattitutkinto) in Finland in or after 2018
• completed an IB, EB or RP/DIA diploma, or an applicable qualification outside Finland and submitted the documents during the application period.

If you don’t have any of the qualifications listed above, please upload one of the following certificates to your application form:

• general upper secondary school syllabus (lukion päättötodistus) completed in Finland
• vocational basic degree (ammatillinen perustutkinto) completed in Finland before 2017
• vocational or specialised vocational degree (ammatti- tai erikoisammattitutkinto) completed in Finland before 2018
• post-secondary level vocational degree (opisto- tai ammatillisen korkea-asteen tutkinto) based on old educational system in Finland
• IB, EB or RP/DIA diploma completed during spring 2020 (final certificate by 15 July, IB: transcript of grades)
• applicable qualification completed outside Finland during spring 2020 (final certificate by 15 July or date agreed with Admission Services)
• If the certificate is not originally written in Finnish, Swedish or English, an official translation of it is also required. Official translation should be confirmed with the signature and stamp of an authorised translator.

Certificate copies in Master’s programmes

Higher education degrees are verified either from the national database or from the certificate copies submitted during application period. If you have applied with a degree completed outside Finland, your eligibility for the studies has already been confirmed and you don’t have to submit any certificate copies now.

If you applied with a degree completed in Finland, please upload your employment certificates on the application form:

• The employment certificates must cover at least two years of work experience in a relevant field after completing your higher education degree.
• As a relevant field is regarded both the field being applied to and the field of the previous higher education degree.
• The work experience can be accumulated as from the date of award of the final degree certificate and obtained no later than 31 July 2020.
• If you have plenty of relevant work experience, it is enough to submit certificates that cover the minimum requirement for work experience for Master’s degrees (2 years/24 months).
• If the certificate is not originally written in Finnish, Swedish or English, an official translation of it is also required.

The employment certificate must include the exact time for beginning and end of the employment, contact information for the employer, tasks and work hours in case the employment has been part-time. If the employment still continues, a temporary employment certificate needs to be provided.

Right to study

The University of Applied Sciences (UAS) studies are regulated by the University of Applied Sciences Act and Decree defining e.g. the right to study and the enrolment for attendance and non-attendance (Act 932/2014/§ 28-30).

You have a right to complete the studies leading to a UAS degree according to the guidelines stipulated in the degree programme and its curriculum, as well as in the degree regulations.

The regular study time is determined by the extent of the degree. The notified time of non-attendance that is in accordance with the regulations explained before will not be included in the maximum time of taking the studies.

Certificate on the study place

You can use the admission letter sent from Xamk by email as a certificate of your study place.

Losing the right to study

If you have not enrolled for attendance or non-attendance or do not deliver the required documents proving the legal grounds for your non-attendance by the set deadline, you lose your right to study.

A student who has failed to enrol, has a right to apply for restoration of study right from the Director of Education for the study programme. It is not possible to restore the study right if the student’s study time has ended. There is a handling fee in the amount of 50 euro collected for processing the application (Council of State Decree 1440/2014 § 3). The application is handled after the fee has been paid.

If you have not completed the studies in the given time, you lose the right to study, unless the UAS for a particular reason extends your time for completing the degree.

Accommodation

Degree students arrange housing themselves prior to their arrival in Finland, Xamk cannot offer accommodation for students.

• Student housing in Kouvola: www.kouvolanasunnot.fi/opiskelijat/students
• Student housing in Mikkeli:  www.moas.fi

Most of the student residences have the basic furniture including bed, desk, chair, and table and benches in the kitchen. Make use of all the second hand shops available for other things you will need: mattress, pillow, blanket, dishes etc!

See more info on student housing and travelling to the campus cities on the programme-specific info pages

• Kouvola, Bachelor’s programmes
• Mikkeli, Bachelor’s programmes

Tuition fees and scholarship scheme

Your liability for paying the tuition fee has been checked in the application process. The tuition fee is to be paid by the deadline for confirming the study place according to instructions given in the admission letter.

The scholarship scheme at Xamk is based on student’s progress in studies. You can find more information about the fee and scholarship policy from www.xamk.fi/tuition-fees.