Finland

• No tuition for EU/EEA citizens, including every English-taught bachelor's degree. If you hold an EU/EEA or Swiss passport, you pay nothing.
• Published IB points tables. You can look up exactly what a 6 in HL Maths is worth before you apply, instead of guessing.
• Finland counts as a Nordic country for Danish SU: if you can claim it and meet the ties-to-Denmark requirement, you get SU and loans exactly as if you studied in Denmark, not the four-year cap that applies outside the Nordics. If you cannot claim SU, check your own country's student finance first — several EU/EEA systems fund a full degree in another country.
• LUT runs non-competitive rolling admission from 1 September 2026 to 30 April 2027 — meet the published criteria and you are in, with no January scramble.
• If you are a Nordic citizen, you skip Migri entirely and just register your details with the population agency (dvv.fi).

• The joint application window for autumn 2027 is 7-21 January 2027 — you apply more than half a year before you start, on predicted grades. Aalto is not in it: it runs its own application on Studyinfo, 7-22 January.
• Helsinki is the exception: the IB route there is Admission Group 2, running 9-23 March 2027 and closing at 15.00 Finnish time, not January. Helsinki's January round, Group 1, is defined as being for applicants who do not hold an IB Diploma, so it is not an alternative for you.
• Several big universities have almost nothing in English at bachelor level: Helsinki has two programmes, Turku two, Vaasa one, and Åbo Akademi teaches every single bachelor's degree in Swedish.
• Finnish medicine is taught in Finnish and uses a national entrance exam. No English-taught Finnish medicine bachelor's is confirmed here, and the health sciences points table may not cover medicine at all.
• Institutional scholarships exist only for fee-paying non-EU students. If you pay no tuition there is nothing to waive, and Finland has no government scholarship scheme.
• Housing in Helsinki is the real bottleneck. HOAS says waiting times run from a few weeks to over a year — apply the day your offer lands.

Accepted

Yes

Minimum

No single national minimum. LUT publishes the clearest floor: 24 or more total points plus the award of the Diploma. Other institutions set thresholds per subject rather than per total.

Subjects and levels

Thresholds are set on individual subject grades, not on HL/SL status. For engineering via certificate-based selection you need at least grade 2 in advanced mathematics and in chemistry or physics, with at least one of those at grade 4. For business you need only grade 2 in mathematics, advanced or basic. LUT requires HL Maths 4 for technology programmes, and SL Maths 5 or HL Maths 4 plus one humanities or science subject at 5 for business. LUT's accepted maths list does not include Applications and Interpretation SL.

Score conversion

IB grades 7 down to 2 are given direct point values; there is no conversion to Finnish letter grades for scoring. Universities score five subjects with a field-specific maximum: Technology and Engineering 172.1, Economics/Liberal Arts/Natural Sciences 158.9, Health Sciences 155.6, Business 149.9. HL Maths at grade 7 is worth 39.7 in the engineering table against 28.2 for SL. Universities of applied sciences use a separate 198-point table over five subjects, where HL Maths 7 is worth 46 and SL Maths 7 is worth 40.

• The IB and the European Baccalaureate count for certificate-based selection wherever they were taken; German Reifeprüfung and DIA count only if completed in Finland. Oulu states in plain English that an IB Diploma earned abroad qualifies.
• The Diploma must come from an accredited IB school. A foreign school-leaving certificate that is not an IB Diploma does not count.
• If you did not take a subject that a table scores, you get zero for that slot but can still be admitted on the rest. You can only score each subject once — advanced or basic maths, not both.
• Tampere lets IB holders apply in both admission groups I and II in the same January application. Group I is ranked on the SAT or ACT, so the second shot only exists if you also have a test score.
• The university scoring tables quoted here are headed "Certificate-based admissions from 2026 on", so they are not one-year tables; the lists of programmes that use them are "updated every October-November" for the coming year. The UAS 198-point table is labelled as applying to the 2026 rounds only. Recheck both in late 2026.
• The Administrative and Social Sciences and Education tables are not covered here; check them on Studyinfo. The English-language Health Sciences table lists one programme, the University of Eastern Finland's Human and Planetary Health; medicine is not on it.

1. During autumn 2026, look up the certificate-based scoring table for your field at yliopistovalinnat.fi and work out what your predicted grades are actually worth. This is the step most applicants skip.

2. Check each shortlisted programme for which route it uses — certificate-based, SAT/ACT, the International UAS Exam, or a portfolio and interview. It varies programme by programme even inside one university.

3. Submit one Studyinfo form between 7 and 21 January 2027 with up to six choices in order of preference. Add Helsinki separately in March if you want it.

4. Upload your attachments and predicted grades by the stated deadline — 28 January 2027 at Jyväskylä, 1 April 2027 for predicted grades.

5. If any of your choices needs the International UAS Exam, register, do the pre-identification on 10-12 March and sit the exam remotely on 23 March 2027.

6. Accept your place when results arrive, then apply for student housing the same day.

7. After you arrive, register your personal details with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency at dvv.fi. If you are a Nordic citizen, that is all. Other EU/EEA citizens also apply for EU registration at Migri.

There is no single joint entrance exam for university bachelor's programmes in English. Universities run parallel admission groups: one ranked on SAT or ACT, one ranked on your certificate. Holding the IB usually exempts you from the SAT entirely — Oulu and Turku both say so directly. Universities of applied sciences use either the certificate route or the remote International UAS Exam, and a few also take the SAT. Aalto's Design and Media programme ignores academic grades altogether and decides on portfolio plus interview.

• 1 September 2026 to 30 April 2027
  2027 entry

  LUT rolling admission window

  Rolling

  Details

  Considered as they arrive, until places run out.

  Non-competitive. LUT states that if you meet all requirements you are admitted without competition while places last.

  Source

• 7 January to 21 January 2027, 15:00 UTC+2 (Finnish time)

  Joint application for English-taught bachelor's programmes

  Hard deadline Via Finland

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  The national window, on Studyinfo.fi, closing at 15:00 Finnish time on 21 January. Six months before IB results, so you apply on predicted grades. Aalto, the University of Helsinki and LUT are not in it: each runs its own application (Aalto closes on 22 January, Helsinki's IB group on 23 March, LUT's rolling admission on 30 April). Åbo Akademi's bachelor's programmes are in the second joint application, in March.

  One form, maximum six programme choices. Opens 7 January 2027 at 08:00 and closes 21 January 2027 at 15:00 Finnish time (UTC+2). Studyinfo's own record of the joint application ("Joint Application to Higher Education, Spring 2027", run by the Finnish National Agency for Education) gives exactly that, and Tampere, Metropolia, Jamk, Xamk, Study in Finland, Jyväskylä, Turku, Oulu and Arcada agree. Aalto is not part of it: its English-taught bachelor's programmes have their own application on Studyinfo, open 7 January 08:00 to 22 January 2027 15:00. Both dates are right; they are two different applications.

  Source 1 · Source 2

• 28 January 2027

  Attachments uploaded to Studyinfo (Jyväskylä's date)

  Hard deadline Via Finland

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  One university's published date. Check your own programme's.

  Jyväskylä's attachment deadline, and also the deadline for English-proficiency proof and individual arrangements for the International UAS Exam.

  Source

• 9 March to 23 March 2027, 15:00 UTC+2

  University of Helsinki, Admission group 2 — the IB route

  Hard deadline Via Finland

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Helsinki runs its own dates. IB Diploma holders are in group 2 and apply in March, not January.

  Published as "9–23 March 2027", closing "at 15.00 UTC+2". Helsinki's Admission group 2 is for applicants who have completed an International Baccalaureate diploma (or a Finnish matriculation examination, EB or Reifeprüfung/DIA); group 1, 5–19 January 2027, covers everyone else, so it is a window you are excluded from, not one you can miss. Åbo Akademi's bachelor round is also 9–23 March 2027, but every one of its bachelor's degrees is taught in Swedish.

  Source

• 10 March to 12 March 2027
  2027

  International UAS Exam — pre-identification window

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Published as "from 10 March 2027 at 8:00 Finnish time (UTC/GMT+2) to 12 March 2027 at 15:00 Finnish time (UTC/GMT+2)". You identify yourself in advance in the Candour ID app, using the same passport or biometric EU/EEA ID card whose number you gave on your Studyinfo application — a different document may get your pre-identification rejected. Miss this window and you cannot sit the exam, whatever else you have done.

  Source

• 22 March 2027
  2027

  International UAS Exam — invitation reaches you

  Details

  Published as "on 22 March 2027 at the latest, you will receive an invitation to the exam to the email address you provided in your Studyinfo application". It is here as a date to check rather than a date to act on: if nothing has arrived by the end of this day, the day before the exam, chase it.

  Source

• 23 March 2027, 12:00 Finnish time
  2027

  International UAS Exam

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Published as "on 23 March 2027 from 12:00 o'clock noon onwards (Finnish time, UTC/GMT+2)". Taken remotely on your own computer, proctored by SMOWL.

  Source

• 31 March 2027
  2027

  Results published — SAT-based rounds

  Details

  Aalto Round A (SAT/ACT). Aalto now dates it to the day: results are published "by 31 March 2027". Tampere's SAT-based admission group I comes later, by 15 April 2027.

  Source

• 1 April 2027

  Predicted IB grades entered on Studyinfo (Jyväskylä's date)

  Hard deadline Via Finland

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Published by Jyväskylä as "Deadline for submitting predicted grades on to your online application form on Studyinfo.fi: 1 April 2027", with the exact time still to be announced. Turku set 31 March in the 2026 cycle — that is a date from a cycle that has already passed, kept here only as a warning that Turku runs a day earlier than Jyväskylä, and its 2027 date had not been published by September 2026. If Turku is on your list, assume 31 March until Turku says otherwise.

  Source

• 14 April 2027
  2027

  International UAS Exam — results

  Details

  Published as "The results will be published on 14 April 2027 at the latest" — an outside date, so the result may come sooner.

  Source

• 28 May 2027
  2027

  Results published — certificate-based rounds

  Details

  Aalto Round B by 28 May 2027. Jyväskylä's certificate-based result for Business Innovation and Sustainability by 28 May 2027. Tampere's certificate-based admission group II by 31 May 2027.

  Source

• 6 July 2027

  IB results released

  Via Finland

• 13 July 2027

  Official final IB grades (Jyväskylä's date)

  Hard deadline Via Finland

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  How a January application meets July results: offers are made on predicted grades and confirmed by the final ones.

  Jyväskylä's published date, comfortably after IB results are released in early July.

  Source

English-taught bachelors

Studyinfinland advertises around 600 English-taught programmes, but that figure combines bachelor's and master's and is not broken down. The ten research universities together offer roughly 40-50 English-taught bachelor's degrees; the universities of applied sciences carry most of the volume. LUT alone teaches all 15 of its bachelor's degrees in English.

Proving your English

Sitting the IB in English generally counts as proof. LUT states this most clearly: complete the IB in English and no further evidence is needed, or use English A1 at grade 2, English A2 at grade 5, English A literature or language and performance at grade 2, or English B at grade 5. Jyväskylä requires everyone including native speakers to prove English skills but accepts IB English as proof. Applying through the SAT route at a university of applied sciences removes the language requirement altogether.

Local language needed?

Not for English-taught programmes

• Finnish and Swedish-taught degrees are free to everyone regardless of nationality, but they are not realistic unless you read Finnish or Swedish at university level.
• Åbo Akademi teaches every bachelor's degree in Swedish and requires documented Swedish. If you speak Danish or Norwegian, your Swedish may in practice be good enough — worth asking them directly.
• TAMK asks for IELTS Academic 6.0 or TOEFL iBT 3.5, on the new 1–6 TOEFL scale; a TOEFL taken before 21 January 2026 needs 60.
• Metropolia's scholarships are conditional on learning Finnish, rising from 1,000 euros in year one to 3,000 euros in year three for a B1 YKI certificate.

Tuition, EU/EEA

None. EU/EEA and Swiss citizens pay no tuition for a bachelor's degree in Finland, in any language of instruction. (2026/27)

Tuition, non-EU

Roughly 8,000-20,000 euros per year nationally, with a statutory minimum of 1,500 euros. Examples: Metropolia 11,500 euros (12,000 for game art, game design, XR design and sustainable fashion) explicitly for study rights starting after 31 July 2027; LUT 12,000, or 10,000 in year one with a 2,000-euro early-bird discount; Haaga-Helia 11,000; LAB 11,000 or 9,000 if paid within three weeks; Arcada 9,800 from autumn 2026; Laurea 9,500; Vaasa 10,000; TAMK 12,000 with no intake year stated. (mixed — see each figure)

Application fee

100 euros, but only for applicants who are not EU/EEA/Swiss citizens. An EU/EEA or Swiss citizen pays nothing.

Living costs

900-1,200 euros per month depending on the city. The statutory minimum for a non-EU student residence permit is 800 euros a month, or 9,600 euros in the bank at application. (2026)

• Student union membership costs about 50-70 euros per academic year.
• The student healthcare fee is 35.35 euros per term at the 2026 rate. Kela says you do not have to pay it if you have social security coverage in another EU/EEA country: as a student with an EHIC from another EU/EEA country you send Kela a copy of the card instead. Kela does not send a bill either way.
• A single room in a shared flat typically costs 200-380 euros per month nationally. HOAS studios in the Helsinki region were listed at 287-373 euros.
• You may read that Finland is moving to full cost recovery or raising fees from 2026. Treat that as unconfirmed until an official page says so, and go by the fee on your own programme's page. Fees are moving both ways: Metropolia has already priced the post-July-2027 cohort upward while Arcada cut its fee for autumn 2026.

Funding you could actually get

• Danish SU can follow you here if you can claim it (Danish citizens, or EU/EEA citizens with equal status under EU rules) and meet the ties-to-Denmark requirement. Because Finland is a Nordic country, it is paid as if you studied in Denmark — for anyone starting after 1 July 2025, for the programme's prescribed length only. The programme must be officially recognised in Finland. Apply in minSU Fast Track no later than the first month you want support for. If you cannot claim SU, look first at your own country's student finance: several EU/EEA systems fund a full degree in another country.
• Kela, the Finnish social insurance agency, is effectively closed to you. It treats an EU/EEA student's stay as temporary regardless of how long the degree is. The one way in is work: ten hours a week or more for at least four months opens access to Finnish student financial aid during the working period.
• Finland has no government scholarship scheme. Studyinfinland says so outright and warns that advertisements for 'fully funded Finland government scholarships' contain false information.
• Institutional scholarships are tuition waivers for fee-paying non-EU students only. Waivers run from about 15 percent (Laurea) to 50 percent of the second instalment in year one (TAMK). If you pay no tuition, none of them apply to you.

Residency

If you are a Nordic citizen (Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian or Swedish), you do not apply to Migri and you do not need a residence permit. You register your personal data with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency at dvv.fi. This is simpler than the EU registration everyone else does: other EU/EEA citizens register their EU right of residence with Migri. Non-EU students need a continuous type A residence permit for studies over 90 days, granted for the whole degree: 600 euros electronically, 750 on paper, or 400 and 430 for minors.

Working

EU/EEA citizens have full access to the Finnish labour market with no cap. Non-EU students on a study permit may work an average of 30 hours a week, which Migri expresses as 120 hours a month or 1,560 hours a year. Internships required by your degree do not count toward the limit.

Housing

Student housing is run by non-profit foundations, city by city: HOAS in the Helsinki region, TOAS in Tampere, and others elsewhere. You apply once you have been accepted. HOAS states plainly that waiting times run from a few weeks to over a year, which makes Helsinki the riskiest city to arrive in for an August start. Because certificate-based results can land as late as 28 May, you may have only three months to sort it out. Apply the day your offer arrives, and have a backup.

Healthcare

Bring your EHIC, the blue EU card. Degree students at universities and universities of applied sciences can use FSHS/YTHS, the Finnish Student Health Service, provided you are registered as attending for the current semester. Kela states that a student with social security coverage in another EU/EEA country does not pay the student healthcare fee, and shows the EHIC at FSHS instead.

Your IB is still a foreign qualification here, so the IB entry rules still apply to you.