Registration for the academic year

Published 23.5.2022 | Updated 14.2.2023

You must register as a university student each academic year if you are a degree student at Uniarts Helsinki or if you are completing non-degree pedagogical studies for teachers.  

You can complete studies only as an attending student. You must register as an attending or a non-attending student also for the academic term when you are graduating. You may register for non-attendance and still graduate only if you have completed all the studies required for your degree and submitted your thesis project for examination during the previous academic term. 

If you are planning to complete exchange studies or a traineeship abroad, you must register as an attending student. 
 
If you are an Open University student, contact your study coordinator directly to take care of the registration. 

If you are liable to pay the annual tuition fee, contact Hanna Björksten directly to take care of the registration. 

First-year students have their separate registration instructions. 

How to register

The registration period for the academic year 2023-2024 is 2 May – 10 August 2023. The registration is made in Oili. You need uniarts IT credentials to login to Oili.  The registration period for the Spring term 2024 is 1 December 2023 – 8 January 2024.

If you are a bachelor’s or a master’s student, you must pay the student union membership fee in connection with the registration. Doctoral students are free to choose whether they want to pay the fee and gain membership in the student union. 

Payment of the fee is an easy process in the OILI service. You can use your online banking service (if you have a Finnish bank account) or a credit card.

You can check the amount of the membership fee on the Student Union website. 

In case you cannot register in OILI, you can use this registration form and deliver it with the student union fee payment receipts to your own academy by encrypted email.

Questions about registration

If you have questions about registering for the academic year, you can contact our staff by email: 

• Academy of Fine Arts: kuva.opintotoimisto@uniarts.fi 
• Sibelius Academy: siba.opintopalvelut@uniarts.fi 
• Theatre Academy: teak.opintoneuvonta@uniarts.fi 

Special circumstances or change of status

If your study study right ends on 31 December, you can register as present only for the autumn term. If you are granted additional time to finish your studies, the registration for the spring term takes place after the granting decision. Read more about applying for extension for the study time here. 

You can change your status from a non-attending student to an attending student at any time during the academic year. If you want to change your status for the spring term, you can do so easily in the OILI service between 1 December 2023 and 8 January 2024. Prepare to pay the spring term’s portion of the student union membership fee. 

At other times, contact the academic affairs staff of your academy. Please note that those who register for attendance in the middle of the academic year may have limitations in the selection of available teaching. 

Changing one’s status from an attending student to a non-attending student is only possible during the registration period. As for attendance for the spring term, a student’s attending status can be changed to non-attending until 7 January (or until the following working day). More detailed instructions are available from the academic affairs team of your home academy.  

You can get in touch with the academic affairs staff also if you have questions about other special circumstances concerning your registration. 

Annual healthcare fee for students in higher education

Pay the FSHS healthcare fee directly to Kela. You will not be sent a separate invoice, and instead, you need to pay the fee on your own initiative. You can check the due dates and details for payment on the Kela website. 

What happens if you fail to register

Only attending students can use the university’s facilities for practice and rehearsals, for example. 

By registering as a non-attending student, you make sure that you retain your right to use the Uniarts Helsinki user account and email address. 

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 the duration of your studies.

If you have not registered for attendance or non-attendance within the registration period, you will lose your right to study. You can apply for the reinstatement of your right to study in writing through the academic affairs office of your academy, and you must pay the re-enrolment fee (35 euros).  

If you had registered for attendance or non-attendance for the previous academic term, no separate application is needed, and your right to study will be reinstated after you pay the re-enrolment fee (permitted that you have a valid personal study plan and have not used up the maximum time allocated for the normative duration of studies) and submit the receipt by the end of the current academic term to the academic affairs office of your academy.  

Payment details for the re-enrolment fee:

Recipient: Taideyliopisto 
Recipient’s bank details: OP Yrityspankki Oyj (P.O. Box 308, 00013 OP) 
Bank account number (IBAN): FI40 5000 0120 2882 37 
SWIFT/BIC: OKOYFIHH 
Academy-specific reference numbers: 700 00632 (Academy of Fine Arts), 700 00658 (Sibelius Academy), 700 00645 (Theatre Academy) 

Reinstatement of the right to study

If you were not enrolled during the previous academic term, you will need to submit a written application to the academic affairs office of your academy in order to have your right to study reinstated. You can submit the application here: 

Duration of studies and absence because of statutory reasons

Students must complete their degree within a certain normative time that has been set for their specific degree. In principle, personal study plans are compiled for the normative 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 normative time. In principle, tuition fee waivers are awarded only during the normative duration of studies. Statutory additional time can be used if a student does not otherwise manage to graduate within the normative duration of studies. 

• Bachelor of Arts (Dance) and Bachelor of Arts (Art and Design) degree: Target duration 3 years + 1 additional year 
• Bachelor + Master of Arts (Art and Design) or Arts (Theatre and Drama) degree: Target duration 5 years + 2 additional years 
• Bachelor + Master of Fine Arts or Music degree: Target duration 5.5 years + 2 additional years 
• Master of Fine Arts, Arts (Art and Design), Arts (Dance) or Arts (Theatre and Drama) degree: Target duration 2 years + 2 additional years 
• Master of Music degree: Target duration 2.5 years + 2 additional 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 maximum duration of studies. After this, registrations for non-attendance use up students’ maximum duration of studies, unless the absence is due to a so-called statutory reason. The maximum time period of non-attendance for those who have begun their studies before 1 August 2015 is 2 years. 

The duration of studies does not include absence due to voluntary military service or conscription or to maternity, paternity or parental leave. As of 1 August 2016, statutory grounds (voluntary military service or conscription or maternity, paternity or parental leave) extend the student’s right to study only if the student registers as non-attending. 

If you register yourself as non-attending because of statutory reasons, please deliver a certificate proving the duration of the statutory reason to the study services of your own academy.  

Please note that the time during which you have not registered as attending or non-attending is taken into account when counting the duration of your studies.