Admissions criteria - Degree Students at the University of Helsinki, Subject Teacher Education Programme in English, STEP
Description of admissions criteria
Information session on how to apply to STEP
The Faculty of Educational Sciences and the Admission Services arrange an information session on the studies and application process on Zoom platform in February 2025. Please come and join us if you have any question related the studies in the STEP Programme, application process, or eligibility of subject teachers in Finland.
The time and link to the session is later provided here on this page.
When: 24 February 2025, at 3.30 -5.00 pm (UTC+2)
Where: Invite Link
Please join us for questions about the Programme and the application procedure!
You may apply to the STEP Programme if you have
- a study right at the the University of Helsinki at the Faculties of Arts or Science in one of the degree programmes listed below
- sufficient proficiency in English. For further instructions on demonstrating your language proficiency, see the section “Language Skills”.
You may apply to the STEP Programme even if you are applying to a Pedagogical Studies Programme in Finnish or Swedish in the same application round.
Study Programmes at the Faculty of Arts
Bachelor level students who are enrolled in a suitable degree programme and who will be able to receive an Equivalency Statement (= opettettavan aineen vastaavuuslauseke in Finnish) in the degree certificate are eligible to apply to the Programme. The applicant may not have taken the Bachelor degree by the last day of the application round. The following school subjects are offered in the Programme:
- English
- French
- German
- Italian
- Spanish
- Swedish as the other National Language
An Equivalency Statement means that the Faculty approves the content and the extent of studies for the work of a subject teacher.
Study Programmes at the Faculty of Science
Bachelor level students in Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics Teacher Education Programme (in Finnish or Swedish) may apply to the Programme in order to change the language of tuition from Finnish or Swedish into English. Please notice that Master level students in the new programmes at the Faculty of Science may not apply to the STEP Programme. The students apply to the Programme by sending a message to siltavuori-student@helsinki.fi with a proof of sufficient language profiency by the end of the application period. If there are 4 or more applicants wishing to joint the Programme, all the applicants are interviewed in May 2025 and 3 are given the study right.
Minimum admission requirements
You may be admitted only if you
- demonstrate your eligibility to apply by 7 March 2025, 15:00 UTC+2
- Faculty of Arts: submit an electronic application through the Studyinfo.fi service within the application period; Faculty of Science: send a message to siltavuori-student@helsinki.fi with a proof of sufficient knowledge of English within the application period (20 February 2025, 8:00 UTC+2 - 7 March 2025, 15:00 UTC+2)
- submit all the required attachments by 21 March 2025, 15:00 UTC+2
- are invited to participate in the entrance examination (= aptitude interview) and receive at least the minimum score required for admission (for further information, see the section “Scoring of the interview”). In case of the Science student applicants of 3 or less, they are accepted to the Programme without a new interview.
Please note that fulfilling the minimum admission requirements does not automatically guarantee admission to the Programme. Only the previously defined amount of the applicants with the highest interview scores are admitted.
Language skills
Please read the possible ways of proving your English language skills.
Admission procedure
The maximum number of students accepted to the STEP Programme is 25.
The Programme has two selection quotas:
- 17 degree students in the suitable degree programmes at the Faculties of Arts and Science at the University of Helsinki
- 8 non-degree applicants who have already taken a Master’s degree and completed at least 60 credits of Basic and Intermediate Studies of a teaching subject taught in Basic or Upper Secondary Schools in Finland.
- In addition to the above figures, 3 students from the Faculty of Science may change the language of Pedaogical Studies from Finnish/Swedish into English.
If the degree or non-degree selection quota is not filled due to the lack of applicants who meet the set requirements, the other quota can be extended accordingly. There is no set number of students in the Faculties of Arts and Science to be selected into the Programme.
The selection of students into the STEP Programme is based on an entrance examination which is an individual interview . Please see the “Entrance examination” section for further details.
The maximum number of applicants to be invited to an interview is about 1.5 times the number of students to be admitted in both selection quotas.
Admission results
The results of the student selection are published by 6 June 2025 on My Studyinfo.fi service.
All the applicants who were invited to the entrance interview also receive information on the result by email. The email includes information on whether you need to submit officially certified copies of attachments before the admission decision becomes final, as well as information on starting the studies.
Study right
If admitted, you are granted the right to complete pedagogical studies in the STEP Programme at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Educational Sciences.
The study right for pedagogical studies is automatically added to the Sisu system as a minor subject, and hence you do not need to accept and confirm the study place.
The study right in the STEP Programme is valid as long as your study right to take the relevant Master’s degree at the University of Helsinki with the possibility to attain an Equivalency Certificate covering 120 credits in the chosen subject. If you change your Master's Programme or lose your study right you will also lose your study right in the STEP Programme.
Entrance examination
Description of entrance examinations for study programme
The selection of students into the STEP Programme is based on an entrance examination which is an aptitude interview. The interviews for the STEP Programme are arranged on Tuesday, 6 May 2025 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m on the premises of the University of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland.
Distance interviews (through Zoom or Teams) are not arranged for any reason.
Invitations to the interviews are sent by email on 1 April 2025 at the latest. All applicants receive an email indicating whether they are invited to an interview. Detailed information on the exact time and place of the interview are provided in the email.
The maximum number of applicants to be invited to an interview is about 1.5 times the number of students to be admitted to the Programme in both selection quotas, ie. quotas for degree students and non-degree students.
If the number of suitable non-degree applicants is more than this, the students to be interviewed are selected according to the following principles:
The students with the greastest amount of credits obtained in any autumn semester during their studies at the University of Helsinki. The credits must be registered in the Sisu registration system. The applicants must state in the application form which autumn semester will taken into consideration. The autumn semester is the period between 1 August - 31 December. Also credits taken elsewhere (for example, in partner universities) during the period are counted towards the total number but all the credits must to be registered in the Sisu system on 7 March 2025 at the latest.
The purpose of the interview is to evaluate the applicant’s suitability to work as a teacher, in other words, the interview is an aptitude test. The interviewers evaluate the educability, motivation, and commitment (= subcategories) of the applicant. Written material may be used, and they are handed out during the interview . There are two interviewers present. The interview takes about 20 minutes.
Scoring of the interviews
The maximum number of points to be given is 150 (25 points x 3 subcategories x 2 interviewers) . In order to be accepted to the Programme, an applicant must receive at least 10 points in each subcategory from each interviewer.
If two applicants receive even points, their standing is determined according to the same principles as inviting them to the interview.
It is important to understand that the points given by the interviewers are not absolute values but they only reflect the person's relative standing among all the applicants. In other words, even a low score does not mean that a person is unsuitable to become a teacher.
Language of the interviews
The interviews are held in English.
Individual arrangements
Individual arrangements are possible due to health related issues of an applicant. An applicant may submit a separate email message to request the right to individual arrangements for medical reasons. The message should indicate the types of individual arrangements being requested and the grounds for the request. The applicant should enclose copies of the medical statements to which he or she makes appeal.
Please send a message to admissions@helsinki.fi by the end of the application period, or, if the need for individual arrangements has arisen after that date, as soon as possible.
An applicant with individual arrangements is assessed with the same principles and guidelines as the other applicants.
Attachments
Certificates
Required attachements
All the required attachments must be received at the Admission Services by 21 March 2025, 15:00 UTC+2, and they must be dated on 7 March 2025 at the latest. Attachments that are not required and hence not listed here, are not taken into consideration, and should not be submitted.
You may send the required documents via the “My Studyinfo.fi” service as attachments with the electronic application form or by submitting paper copies to the Admission Services. If you send the attachments by mail or bring them personally to the Admission Services’ mailbox, please write “STEP application” on the envelope. Please read detailed instructions on submitting documents to Admission Services.
The required attachments do not have to be officially certified copies at this point as the Admission Services checks the original documents before the final registration of the awarded study right. The Admission Services must receive the documents by the set date and time, otherwise they are not taken into consideration.
You must submit the following documents:
- Background information form. Please save, fill in and enclose it with your application form. Please attach a mandatory photograph for helping the interviewers match the face and documents after the interview. The information provided in it is not part of the selection criteria. You can download the Background information form on the Admission Services webside. The purpose of the form is to act as supportive material during the interview.
- Certification of sufficient language skills in English if necessary. Please read the possible ways of proving your English language skills.
Please note that a study right in an English language Master’s programme itself is not a sufficient indication of the knowledge of English as the language requirements vary between the Faculties.
Attachment is uploaded on the application form
Must be submitted by
Mar. 21, 2025 at 03:00 PM UTC+2