Important dates for the academic year

Published 23.5.2022 | Updated 22.1.2026

Uniarts Helsinki’s academic year

The university’s academic year begins on 1 August and ends on 31 July.

In the 2025-2026 academic year, instruction is given between 4 August 2025 and 12 June 2026. 

What’s happening	2025-2026
Joint studies or summer studies	4 – 24 August 2025
Teaching period 1	25 August – 10 October 2025
Uniarts Helsinki’s opening ceremony of the academic year	11 September 2025
No contact teaching	13 – 19 October 2025
Teaching period 2	20 October – 19 December 2025
No contact teaching	22 December 2025 – 6 January 2026
Teaching period 3	7 January – 13 February 2026
No contact teaching	16 – 22 February 2026
Teaching period 4	23 February – 30 April 2026
No contact teaching	2 – 8 April 2026
Teaching period 5, joint studies or summer studies	4 May – 12 June 2026
Uniarts’ joint orientation for the new students	19 August 2025 and 6 October 2025

Registration for the academic year

The registration period for the academic year 2025-2026 is between 2 May and 11 August 2025. The registration period for the Spring term 2026 is between 1 December 2025 and 7 January 2026. New students have separate deadlines.

Registration for courses

You can find the course selection in the Study Guide. Registration for the courses takes place in the study system Peppi or the mobile application Tuudo. Here you will find more detailed registration dates:

Sibelius Academy’s courses and individual teaching

• 10 – 29 April 2026: registration for the courses and individual teaching of academic year 2026-2027. 

Academy of Fine Arts courses

• 15 May – 5 September 2025: registration for the courses of autumn term 2025 (registration times may have course-specific exceptions)
• 14 November 2025 – 16 January 2026: registration for the courses of spring term 2026 (registration times may have course-specific exceptions)

Theatre Academy’s courses

• 15 May – 1 September 2025: registration for the courses of autumn term 2025 (registration ends two weeks before the course in question starts; please note this concerns also the courses of the Centre of General Studies in August)
• 3 – 28 November 2025: registration for the courses of spring term 2026
• Registration for Aalto Arts mobility studies: more information will be sent out at TeaK after the dates are confirmed

Language and communication studies and working life skills’ studies

• 7 April – 27 August 2025: registration for the courses beginning in autumn term 2025. Registration for courses starting later in the autumn ends no later than 30 September 2025.
• 7 April – 1 December 2025: registration for the courses of spring term 2026. For courses starting later in the spring and summer, registration ends no later than 12 January 2026.

Mobility studies

• The mobility studies opened by the academies are registered according to the registration times of the Academy organizing the teaching.

Open University

• 2 – 22 April 2025: registration for the courses of summer 2025
• 17 June – 18 August 2025: registration for the courses of autumn term 2025 (courses integrated in Uniarts Helsinki’s degree-oriented instruction)
• 17 June – 21 August 2025: registration for the courses of autumn term 2025 (courses organized by the Open University)
• 18 November – 9 December 2025: registration for the courses of spring term 2026
• 31 March –21 April 2026: registration for the courses of summer 2026

General exam dates

Some course examinations can be completed on the general exam dates. You can read about the available course completion methods in the course descriptions in the Study Guide.  

Literature examinations for the Sibelius Academy’s church music and pedagogical studies can also sometimes be substituted with literature essays. You can request the essay assignments by emailing siba.tentit@uniarts.fi.

Spring term 2026 general exam dates in Helsinki

• Sat 10 January 2026 (registration by 31 December 2025)
• Sat 7 February 2026 (registration by 28 January 2026)
• Sat 7 March 2026 (registration by 25 February 2026)
• Sat 11 April 2026 (registration by 1 April 2026)
• Sat 2 May 2026 (registration by 22 April 2026)

Summer exam dates 2026 in Helsinki

• Sat 6 June 2026 (registration by 15 May 2026)
• Sat 8 August 2026 (registration by 15 May 2026)

How to register for an examination 

Students must register for an examination no later than 10 days before the examination. Registrations done after the deadline will not be processed. If you miss the deadline, contact the person in charge of the examination and ask them if you can still participate in the examination.   

Once the registration period has ended, staff from the academic affairs will contact you and provide you with instructions for participating in the examination.   

On the day of examination (Helsinki) 

Examinations are held in the Auditorium of the Helsinki Music Centre (H1112), the visiting address is Töölönlahdenkatu 16 C. (Exceptions: Exam on 4 October will be held in room R-510, R building, Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9 and the exam on 6 June will be held in the room N-510, N building, Nervanderinkatu 13.)

The doors will open at 9:00. Examinations start at 9:15 and end at 13:15. Students are not allowed to leave the auditorium earlier than 30 minutes after the start of the examination. Students must show their student card or ID card in the examination as proof of identity and attendance. A student who has registered as a non-attending student cannot participate in an examination.  

The doors to the Helsinki Music Centre Auditorium are locked, which is why students who do not study at the Sibelius Academy are picked up from the lobby on the Töölönlahdenkatu side of the building at 09:05 and then escorted to the Auditorium.  

Remote maturity tests (Helsinki) 

Some maturity tests can be completed remotely. When you complete a maturity test remotely, you will be sent the maturity test assignment by email on the day of the examination. You have 4 hours to complete the maturity test on your own computer, and when you are done, you return the assignment as an email attachment.   

How to register for a remote maturity test 

You can request the remote maturity by emailing siba.tentit@uniarts.fi. Please write your teacher’s or supervisor’s name in your email.

General exam dates and remote maturity tests (Kuopio) 

Some course examinations can be completed on the general exam dates. You can read about the available course completion methods in the course descriptions in the Study Guide.  

Literature examinations for theological studies consist of independent studies and essay assignments. The assignments are sent on the day of the examination by email, and students are also informed of the essay deadline at the same time. You can find the set literature for theological courses in the course descriptions provided in the Study Guide.  

Maturity tests are completed remotely. When you complete a maturity test remotely, you will be sent the maturity test assignment by email. You have 4 hours to complete the maturity test on your own computer, and when you are done, you return the assignment as an email attachment. 

Spring term 2026

• Fri 23 January 2026 (registration by 13 January 2026)
• Fri 27 February 2026 (registration by 17 February 2026)
• Fri 27 March 2026 (registration by 17 March 2026)
• Fri 17 April 2026 (registration by 7 April 2026)
• Fri 8 May 2026 (registration by 29 April 2026)

How to register for an examination and a remote maturity test (Kuopio)   

Students must register for an examination no later than 10 days before the examination.

Graduation ceremonies’ dates

• Academy of Fine Arts ceremony Spring 2026: 5 June 2026
• Academy of Fine Arts ceremony Autumn 2026: not yet announced
• Sibelius Academy ceremony Spring 2026: 12 June 2026
• Sibelius Academy ceremony Autumn 2026: not yet announced
• Theatre Academy ceremony Spring 2026: 12. June 2026
• Theatre Academy ceremony Autumn 2026: not yet announced

All graduation ceremonies prioritise space for graduates and their families.

Academy of Fine Arts’ deadlines for applying for degree certificates.

Sibelius Academy’s deadlines for applying for degree certificates.

Theatre Academy’s graduation schedule.

Additional academy-specific schedule

Genral information concerning Sibelius Academy’s teaching schedules

The teaching times will be published in the Study Guide. In principle, instruction is provided from Monday to Friday between 9am and 8pm. The instruction of the Junior Academy will be provided also on weekends. The teaching hour is 45 minutes and the room booking for tuition starts on the hour. The teaching times of the individual tuition will be agreed between teacher and student.

Instruction is provided between 25 August 2025 and 30 April 2026 (in Junior Academy until 31 May 2026).

The fixed class room reservations for tuition will not be valid during the break weeks 42, 8 or during the Christmas and Easter holidays. The times of the Christmas and Easter holidays are mentioned in the rector’s decision on Teaching periods 2025-2026. Other than regular contact teaching can be provided during the break weeks.

The joint studies of the University of the Arts will be provided in August and May. Regular group tuition should not be organised during the joint studies’ weeks. Orchestra periods, intensive courses, project studies and individual tuition can be organised also during the joint studies’ weeks.

Theatre Academy’s additional datesterm 2026

17.-21.2. No contact teaching

2.3. at 13-17 Theatre Academy’s community day
2.-8.4. No teaching on Easter
Week 18 Teaching in all programs ends
May Application for Theatre Academy’s students for international exchange or internship: Norteas network application for short exchange for the following semester

4.-8.5. Intensive courses in general studies (languages, art, work and sustainability)
15.5. Study guides are published and registration for the autumn courses in Peppi begins
15.5.-12.6. Students’ PSP round cover students participation in realised artistic productions
11.5.-12.6. Joint studies, in exceptional cases programme teaching and intensive courses of general studies (languages, art, work and sustainability)

Additional practices for the academic year

Uniarts Helsinki’s period for joint studies

The weeks are reserved primarily for the Uniarts Helsinki’s joint studies and mobility studies offered by the academies. The period is dedicated to joint studies and productions that are intended for all students of the Uniarts Helsinki’s academies, as well as – in special cases – for academy-specific courses such as orientation studies. There may also be special intensive courses in theory and languages during these weeks.

Joint studies of the Uniarts Helsinki can also be organised during other times, but the period for joint studies is specifically reserved for these studies so that students have an equal opportunity to participate in them.

Breaks in contact teaching

During the break weeks, students can study and practise independently, for example get ready for performances, exhibitions or exams, or complete written assignments and write their theses.

There is a break in contact teaching at Easter, which begins on Thursday before Easter and ends on Wednesday after Easter.

No teaching is arranged on national holidays.

The dean of the academy and the director of the Open Campus can make exceptions to the above-mentioned teaching hours, which are necessarily required by the curricula, for a justified reason.