Changes in the student admis­sion process, but selec­tions made despite coronavirus

Changes in the student admis­sion process, but selec­tions made despite coronavirus

 

Univer­si­ties of applied sciences will replace the entrance exam­i­na­tions of this spring’s first joint appli­ca­tion process planned for April with admis­sions based on school perfor­mance and selec­tion assign­ments. This is done in response to Finland’s deci­sion to close its borders as part of the measures to combat the coro­n­avirus pandemic. This deci­sion was made in a rectors’ confer­ence held on Tuesday 17 March.

During this state of emer­gency, inter­na­tional students would be prevented from partic­i­pat­ing in entrance exam­i­na­tions in Finland. As travel restric­tions and quar­an­tines also apply to a number of other coun­tries, organ­is­ing the exam­i­na­tions is also no longer possi­ble outside Finland’s borders. Thank­fully, the FINNIPS network of Finland’s univer­si­ties of applied sciences has already previ­ously organ­ised exam­i­na­tions in ten differ­ent countries.

Instead of entrance exam­i­na­tions, univer­si­ties of applied sciences will rely on appli­cants’ school perfor­mance and selec­tion assign­ments in making selec­tions on candi­dates apply­ing for foreign-language education.

The selec­tion of students based on their school perfor­mance will take into account appli­cants seeking admis­sion based on their matric­u­la­tion exam­i­na­tions and voca­tional upper secondary qual­i­fi­ca­tions simi­larly as in the spring’s second joint application.

Prepa­ra­tions of the selec­tion assign­ment and an online inter­view possi­bly connected with this will continue in the network of managers of acad­e­mic affairs of univer­si­ties of applied sciences.

The second joint appli­ca­tion process to univer­si­ties of applied sciences will begin on Wednes­day 18 March. More than half of the intake places will be filled based on the appli­cants’ school perfor­mance. If the entrance exam­i­na­tion for univer­si­ties of applied sciences planned for the begin­ning of June cannot be organ­ised due to the coro­n­avirus epidemic, univer­si­ties of applied sciences will make some other arrange­ments for select­ing applicants.