Right to study

Published 9.6.2022 | Updated 13.6.2024

In the University of the Arts Helsinki, the right to study for a Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree can only be acquired on the basis of student admissions. The right to study is granted for a specific degree or degrees in a study programme, a Master’s degree programme or in a main subject.

The University of the Arts Helsinki has a two-cycle degree system. First, the students complete an undergraduate degree, the Bachelor’s degree, and after that continue/apply for the right to complete a graduate degree, the Master’s degree. New students are selected for both degree programmes. If a student has earned the right to study for both the Bachelor’s and the Master’s degree, he/she has to complete the Bachelor’s degree before he/she can begin the Master’s-level studies.

A student is, at any given time, entitled to only one right to pursue a degree at the University of the Arts. When a student accepts a new right to pursue a degree at the University of the Arts Helsinki, he/she forfeits any prior right to study at the University. For a special reason, the rector may grant an exception to the rule of one study right. 

Degrees in the University of the Arts Helsinki

The University of the Arts Helsinki offers two basic level degrees: the Bachelor’s degree and the Master’s degree. The University of the Arts Helsinki post-graduate degrees are the licentiate’s degree and the Doctor’s degree.

One study right provision at Uniarts Helsinki

According to the degree regulations at Uniarts Helsinki (§ 17), a degree student at Uniarts Helsinki is, at any given time, entitled to only one right to pursue a degree. Students who change their right to study will lose their old study right at Uniarts Helsinki after accepting the new study right. On specific grounds, the rector may grant an exception to the rule of one study right.

Changing the right to study

Students can apply for a change in their right to study within the academy or between different academies. Changing the subject area internally within the Academy of Fine Arts is a simpler process and has its own guidelines.

If the student is already completing master-level studies in the degree programme, it is no longer possible to apply for a change of their right to study for bachelor-level studies. In other words, change of their right to study must occur before the student graduates as a bachelor, or as a master’s student if the student changes to a different master’s degree programme.

The new right to study will be valid from the beginning of the academic term that follows the decision.

Change of degree programme

If the student’s target degree stays the same, the term used is change of degree programme.

Internal transfer

If the student applies to pursue a different target degree at a different academy or within a different field of study at the same academy, the term used is internal transfer.

A student’s acceptance of a new study right will be recorded in the national Studyinfo portal. Students who accept a study right through a transfer will lose their potential first-time applicant status in accordance with section 36B(1) in the Universities Act.

Change of study right within the same degree programme (from bachelor to master-level)

In addition, students may apply for a change of study right within their degree programme (from bachelor to master-level studies in the 5-year or 5.5-year programme). The academies provide more detailed instructions on how students apply for a change in their right to study.

Losing the old study right

If a student changes their right to study from the bachelor’s stage of a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree to a three-year bachelor’s degree programme, they also lose the right to study leading to a master’s degree included in the old right to study.

If a student completing bachelor-level studies has completed a university degree or a sufficient amount of studies outside Uniarts Helsinki that qualify the student to pursue master’s studies according to the academy’s admission criteria, it is possible to apply for a change of study right to pursue master’s studies directly. Subsequently, the student will lose the previous right to study towards a bachelor’s degree.

Admission criteria

The academies define the requirements for who is eligible to apply in the admission criteria for their bachelor’s and master’s programmes. The same eligibility criteria apply to those seeking to change their right to study, but the applicants will be reviewed as their own separate groups. The heads of admissions can, if they so choose, exempt the groups from participation in some parts of the entrance examination. The academies make the decisions on students’ new study rights.

If the bachelor’s degree of a student applying for a change of the right to study is unfinished at Uniarts Helsinki and the change of the right to study is accepted conditionally, the fixed term for completing the degree in question is on the last day before the new right to study, contrary to the selection criteria for bachelor’s and master’s education.

The number of transfer students is not included in the intake quota defined by the board.

Change of study right follows the normal appeal procedure for admissions.

Applying for a change of study right

Students can apply for a change of degree programme by filling in Uniarts Helsinki’s own online form within the application period for bachelor’s and master’s programmes.

Applicants must submit any advance assignments and certificates required for admissions when applying. If required by the academy, they should also submit a motivational letter, preliminary individual study plan for the new degree programme and a statement of the head of the current degree programme concerning the application. These documents must be submitted by the required deadline. 

Absence during the first study year

Students who have changed their right to study may register as non-attending during their first year of studies only if the academy has granted them the right to postpone the start of their studies. The right to absence must be applied for in writing on or before the date announced annually by the academy.

Duration of the study time

The start date of studies does not change when students change their study right. Instead, the time that the student has already used is counted in the maximum duration of studies. When granting possible tuition fee waivers, the target graduation time is considered the date connected to the original right to study.

Students who change their study right will be credited for all their applicable prior studies as extensively as possible.

If the student is admitted to pursue master-level studies based on a bachelor’s degree completed at another university, the master’s degree must be completed in a period of time equal to the normative duration of a master’s degree but not longer.

Loss of study right

If a student fails to enrol at the University during the enrolment period, he/she forfeits the right to study. If the student wishes to continue his/her studies later, the student must submit a written application to the Academy for the right to be re-admitted as a student. The student who is re-admitted will be charged a re-enrolment fee of 35 euros. Read more about the re-enrolment.

A student’s right to study ends at the end of the term during which the student has completed his/her degree.

The student loses his/her right to study after the expiry of the study period enacted by Section 41 of the Universities Act, if the student does not apply for or is not granted an extension (Universities Act, Section 43). The decisions concerning a limited study period are made by the Dean of the Academy (University of the Arts Helsinki Rules and Regulations, Section 19).

Duration of the degrees

The target duration for degree studies concerns students who received their right to complete a degree on or after 1 August 2005.

• Target duration of the degree (target study time) = The time within which it is recommended that you complete your degree
• Statutory completion time of the degree (statutory study time) = The time specified in the Universities Act as the maximum period of completion of the degree

Personal study plans are compiled for the target duration of studies, and the degree programmes ensure that teaching has been planned and organised in a way that makes it possible for students to complete their degree in the target time. In principle, tuition fee waivers are awarded only during the target duration of studies. If you do not graduate within the target time, you have the right to complete your degree within the statutory study time. When the statutory study time ends, you are only allowed to study if you are granted an extension for the study time.

Please note that Peppi’s study right information shows the statutory study time of the degree, not the target study time of the degree.

Target study times and statutory study times for the degrees (years of attendance)

Bachelor of Arts (Dance) and Bachelor of Arts (Art and Design) degree: Target study time 3 years. Statutory study time 4 years.
Bachelor + Master of Arts (Art and Design) or Arts (Theatre and Drama) degree: Target study time 5 years. Statutory study time 7 years.
Bachelor + Master of Fine Arts or Music degree: Target study time 5.5 years.Statutory study time 7.5 years.
Master of Fine Arts, Arts (Art and Design), Arts (Dance) or Arts (Theatre and Drama) degree: Target study time 2 years. Statutory study time 4 years.
Master of Music degree: Target study time 2.5 years. Statutory study time 4.5 years.

In addition to the above-listed years of attendance, students can register as non-attending for a maximum of 1 years (= 2 academic terms, which do not have to be consecutive) without shortening their statutory study time. For students completing bachelor’s + master’s degrees, the rule applies to the total statutory study time of the two degrees. The maximum time period of non-attendance for those who have begun their studies before 1 August 2015 is 2 years. After this, registrations for non-attendance use up students’ statutory study time, unless the absence is due to a so-called statutory reason:

The duration of studies does not include absence due to a service under the Conscription Act, the Non-Military Service Act or the Women’s Voluntary Military Service Act, or due to a leave taken in connection with the birth or adoption of one’s child. As of 1 August 2016, these statutory grounds extend the student’s right to study only for the time the student registers as non-attending. 

If you fail to register, please note that the time during which you have not registered as attending or non-attending is taken into account when counting your study time.

Applying extension for the study time

The Academies’ academic affairs departments monitor the statutory study times and send letters to students whose statutory study time is coming to an end at the end of the term (31 July or 31 December).The letters are sent well before the end of the term in order for the students to either prepare or, if necessary, apply for an extension and seek student counselling before the end of their statutory study time.

How to apply

A student applying for extension must present a target-oriented and feasible plan for the completion of studies, and the application must also include grounds for the delay of the studies and, if necessary, accounts and certificates pertaining to the reasons of the delay (e.g., a medical certificate). The feasibility of the plan will be assessed while considering the student’s current situation and with regard to his/her study programme. More information on how to devise an individual study plan is available at the academic affairs services of the Academies. It is also advisable for the student to discuss his/her progress in his/her current study programme/main subject before handing in the application. At the same time, the student can make sure that his/her study attainment information and credit transfers in the record of credits are correct and also make sure that none of the credits (e.g., thesis plan) are outdated.

Minimum and maximum extension

The study period can be extended by a minimum of one term and by a maximum of two academic years. The duration of studies shall be extended if, on the basis of the submitted plan, the Professor and Dean consider it possible for the student to complete his/her studies in a reasonable time. Special reasons in favour of granting an extension may be illness during the course of the studies or other difficult life situations beyond the student’s control. A second extension can be granted to the student if he/she has shown progress in his/her studies during the first extension. If the student has not been able to complete his/her studies during two periods of extension, the argument for granting a third extension must be very strong (illness, difficult life situation, etc.).

Apply for extension only for the time period when you can actively complete studies. If a student is granted extension, it cannot be postponed for a later time period, and registering as a non-attending student during the extension does not lengthen an already-granted extension.

Losing your right to study

A student who has not completed his/her studies within the extensions granted, or who has not been granted an extension for completing his/her studies, loses his/her right to study. If the student wishes to continue his/her studies later, the student must submit a written application to the Academy for the right to be re-admitted as a student. The student who is re-admitted will be charged a re-enrolment fee of 35 euros.

Renouncement of right to study

The student has a right to renounce his/her right to study. The reason for renouncement of right to study can be, for instance, the need to change the field of study to suit the student better, or that, for some reason or another, the student’s life situation has changed in such a way that completion of a degree is no longer his/her goal. Notice of renouncement is to be given to the University in writing and to be delivered to the academic affairs services of the relevant Academy. Notice of renouncement of right to study is binding and cannot be altered after it has been submitted.If the student wishes to resume his/her studies later, he/she must reapply to the University for admission and participate in the normal entrance examination.

Continued right to study

The continued right to study allows our alumni to supplement their studies free of charge at the Open University, through joint studies or through courses organised by their own academy.

If you have completed a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree at Uniarts Helsinki, you can be granted a continued right to study. The continued right to study is a separate right to study, which can be granted for two years after graduation. It does not entitle students to complete a degree, but rather enables them to complete individual courses. It does not entitle to same kind of student benefits as when completing a degree.