Eligibility and admission criteria

On this website you find information on the required qualifications and principles for student selection:

Eligibility

Bachelor’s degree programmes

You can apply for the bachelor’s studies with upper secondary school level qualification that provides eligibility for higher education studies in the country in question or with a prior bachelor’s or master’s degree. If you are graduating during the application process, you can apply with a temporary certificate.

Read more on the eligibility requirements on UASinfo website.

 

If you graduate after the application period

You can apply to Bachelor’s programmes with a temporary certificate if you are able to upload your final graduation certificate (and an official translation into English, Finnish or Swedish if applicable) to your application form or information about your graduation in KOSKI service is available by:

High school / Upper secondary school qualification

  • autumn application round: by 27 December 2023, 3 pm
  • spring application round: by 14 July 2023, 3 pm

Higher education degree

  • autumn application round: by 27 December 2023, 3 pm
  • spring application round: by 28 July 2023, 3 pm

 

English language proficiency for all programmes

Because the instruction in the degree programmes is provided in English, a good command of the English language is required.

In autumn application 2023, applicants are not required to provide proof of English language skills when applying to Xamk. The requirements for spring 2024 application will be updated by the end of September 2023.

Master’s degree programmes

You can apply to a Master’s degree programme if you have completed

  • an appropriate UAS Bachelor’s degree or another appropriate higher education degree and
  • at least two years of work experience in a relevant field after completing the higher education degree. As a relevant field is regarded both the field being applied to and the field of the previous higher education degree.

Work experience

Only work experience obtained after completing the higher education degree can be considered: the work experience can be accumulated from the date of award of the higher education degree and obtained no later than 31 July (spring application) / 31 December (autumn application) in the year of applying.

You must provide a work certificate written by the employer and confirmed by the empoloyer’s signature/stamp as proof of employment. The work certificate must include the date of issue/signature, date when the employment has started and ended, contact information for the employer, tasks and work hours in case of part-time employment. If the employment is continuing, a temporary work certificate (including a date of issue/signature) must be provided.

If the original work certificate has been written in any other language than Finnish, Swedish or English, you must in addition upload a copy of an authorized translation of the work certificate in one of the before-mentioned languages to your application form.

In addition, please note that

  • Work contracts, offer letters or pay slips are not acceptable work certificates.
  • Entrepreneurship is accepted as work experience if you can produce a certificate attesting that you have been covered under the statutory YEL or MYEL pension scheme in Finland. Enterprising activities abroad should be substantiated with comparable official documents.
  • Work experience is counted in full months. Part-time work is converted into its full-time equivalent: 150 hours or 20 working days lasting at least 7 hours per day correspond to one month of work.
  • Work experience does not have to be continuous or obtained working for the same employer. The amount of work experience considered for simultaneous employments may not exceed the amount considered for full-time employment.
  • Military or non-military national service, women’s voluntary military service or child-care leave will not be counted towards work experience.

Discretionary admission

At Xamk, discretionary admission is used only in the field of culture, for Degree Programme in Game Design. Other degree programmes in English at Xamk do not use discretionary admission.

Discretionary admission means that the Game Design programme may invite applicants who do not meet the eligibility requirement, to the entrance exam, if their skills and knowledge are considered sufficient.

Discretion only concerns the eligibility to apply. Discretionary applicants are included in the student selection process in the same way as other applicants and follow the regular procedure for applying.

The instructions here only concern applicants applying to the Game Design programme at Xamk. If you are applying also to other UAS, you should check their criteria and instructions on the UAS website. Please also note that many UAS do not consider discretionary applicants at all.

Discretionary admission at Xamk

If your qualification does not meet the eligibility requirement and you wish to apply to the Game Design programme as a discretionary applicant, please follow these instructions:

  1. If you are unsure about your eligibility, contact Xamk Admission Services (admissions(a)xamk.fi) for advice before or during the application period.
  2. Submit your application form on Studyinfo.fi during the application period.
  3. Attach the following documents to your application on Studyinfo.fi:
    • copies of the certificates you wish to invoke to
    • a cover letter shortly explaining why your application should be considered in discretionary admission.

How students are selected

Admission criteria

The Admission criteria are decided on a yearly basis for each degree programme separately. The criteria may include an entrance examination and/or pre-tasks. The criteria are described on Studyinfo.fi (Select programme > Offered study programmes > Study programmes available for application > Joint Application, Read admission criteria):

You can also read about the different student selection methods on our website.

The student admission is conditional until all information and original (final) certificates used for applying have been checked.

Your study place can be withdrawn if you have given false information about your qualifications. Accept the offer of admission by the given deadline and enrol as student/pay the required tuition fee to make sure you don’t lose the offered place.

Admission results

Higher education institutions publish admission results gradually according to their own schedules. All results in the joint application are published:

  • Joint Application, Autumn 2023: by 24 November 2023
  • Joint Application, Spring 2023: by 2 June 2023

You will receive a notice by email both from the Studyinfo.fi service and Xamk Admission Services when you have been admitted to study at Xamk.

You can see your admission results in real-time through My Studyinfo -service if you have access to it (Finnish personal ID number and online banking credentials, mobile certificate or an electronic ID-card needed).

If you don’t have access to My Studyinfo -service, you will receive a notice of result by email when all results in Joint Application have been published.

Further information about the admission results in joint application is available on Studyinfo.fi.

Appeal procedure in student selection

If you are not selected

If you did not receive a study place in the joint application, you will be notified of the admission result by email. The UAS will publish information on vacant study places and supplementary application rounds for them on Studyinfo.fi service.

Open Path studies are a possibility to join the studies if you were not admitted in the joint application. See further information here!

Equal admission scores

The grounds used in cases of equal admission scores may be different depending on the selection methods used in the degree programme.

In cases of equal admission scores at Xamk, the applicants are ranked on the grounds of points for an entrance examination and the applicant’s first-choice programme on the application form. The order of priority of the study programmes on the application form only concerns the autumn application round.

If these criteria fail to produce a difference between tied applicants, the applicants are automatically selected by lots drawn by a computer system.

Admission Services

Contact information

Tel. +358 50 345 8602 (Kouvola) or
+358 50 312 5031 (Mikkeli)
admissions@xamk.fi

Office hours: Mon-Fri 9 am – 3 pm

Postal and visiting addresses

 

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