30.4.2020
Universities decided on changes to spring student admissions
It is important that applicants keep preparing for the admissions and take care of their wellbeing. Their long-term preparations have not gone to waste.
The universities have decided on the implementation of student admissions in the current emergency conditions. All the units responsible for the study options available for application will publish their changed policies no later than today, 30 April.
The traditional entrance examinations have been replaced by remote examinations, oral examinations, assignments for submission and a more extensive use of certificate-based admissions. Most entrance examinations will be organised as two-stage examinations where only the most successful applicants of the first stage continue to the second stage. Students will be ranked primarily with the help of an online platform. The second stage can be organised either remotely or in the form of a small-scale examination held on campus.
“The universities made their decision with due consideration to the applicants’ status and attempted to keep the changes minimal. Under these exceptional circumstances, we have managed to find solutions that guarantee that persons from all applicant groups have a chance to be admitted”, says Petri Suomala, Chair of the Unifi meetings for vice presidents for education.
Each field has adopted the solution best meeting its needs. The universities will keep a close eye on the progress of student admissions and the effects of the changes made. The solutions have been devised by a versatile group of experts, including academic experts as well as experts in student admissions, law, health, security and information technology. Suomala continues:
In student admissions, we are selecting the newest members of the academic community, which is why we want to ensure that the procedures run as smoothly as possible. The solutions reflect the characteristics of each university: different disciplines have traditionally organised their admissions in different ways, and the same continues to be true under the current circumstances, too. Student admissions also vary greatly in size: some programmes have a few dozen applicants, while others have thousands.
The universities consider it crucial that the identity and competence level of each applicant can be verified, and technical means to do so have now been found. The pandemic situation permitting, also small-scale entrance examinations held in the university premises are possible.
“The changes made to the admissions criteria, such as reducing the number of those invited for the entrance examinations and introducing two-stage admissions procedures, have allowed universities to reduce the number of people invited to entrance examinations on campus to a fraction of the usual number. Universities prepare for the on-site examinations with strict security arrangements in collaboration with a host of experts, such as the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)”, Suomala clarifies.
The universities and organisers of joint admissions will notify their applicants of the changes by email and on the Studyinfo portal. Additional information for applicants is available on the websites of the universities and organisers of joint admissons, on the studyinfo.fi portal and from the admission services of the universities. The applicants should familiarise themselves with the changes very carefully and, in the case of any questions, contact the admissions services of their prospective university.
“It is important that applicants keep preparing for the admissions and take care of their wellbeing. Their long-term preparations have not gone to waste. Although the practicalities of student admissions have changed, the content knowledge required of the applicants will remain unchanged”, assures Suomala.