Language requirements

Tampere University accepts the TOEFL iBT test as well as the TOEFL iBT online version (Home Edition) as evidence of your English language skills. The TOEFL scores are valid for two years after the test date. Please note, as the TOEFL PBT test is no longer offered, it will not be accepted.

TOEFL language tests must be reported to Tampere University with the institutional code 9871. Please make sure you use the correct institutional code. Tampere University will verify the TOEFL results through the online verification system provided by ETS. The scores can be accessed approximately 1-2 weeks after the delivery order has been made.

ETS website (ets.org)

Tampere University accepts the IELTS Academic as well as the online version of IELTS Academic test as evidence of your English language skills. The scores are valid for two years after the test date. Please provide your TRF number on the application form and upload the IELTS certificate to your application online.

IELTS website (ielts.org)

The PTE Academic scores are valid for two years after the test date. Please provide your Score Report Code (SRC) on the application form and upload the PTE certificate to your application online.

PTE Academic website (pearsonpte.com)

If you have taken C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency test after 2005, the results can be verified electronically. For verification purposes, you will need to provide your candidate's ID number (e.g. ABC123456) and reference number, and ask Cambridge to share the results with Tampere University. Please give these two codes on your application form and upload a copy of your language certificate to your application online. As older test results cannot be verified electronically, please contact the Tampere University Admissions Office (admissions.tau [at] tuni.fi) when applying with a C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency taken before 2005.

C1 Advanced (CAE) cambridgeenglish.org

C2 Proficiency (CPE) cambridgeenglish.org

The National Certificate of Language Proficiency (Finnish: Yleinen kielitutkinto, YKI-tutkinto) in the English language is a language proficiency test for adults in Finland. If you have taken this test, please upload a copy of your language certificate to your application online.

The results of separate sittings of the language test can be combined.

National certificates of language proficiency oph.fi

You can prove your language skills without a language test if you have completed an upper secondary degree or a university degree with English as the language of instruction in an EU/EEA country, Switzerland, the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, or New Zealand.

Please note that if you have received a university degree from a higher education institution located in one of the countries listed above but completed the studies entirely on a satellite campus that is not located in one of the mentioned countries, you will not be eligible for exemption from the English language requirement. 

If the programme leading to the degree was offered through the medium of multiple languages, at least 50% of the courses counted towards the degree must have been taught in English.

If the degree that would make you eligible for exemption from the English-language requirement is incomplete at the time you apply for admission to Tampere University, you will be eligible to apply for exemption only if that same degree is the one that provides your eligibility for admission to Tampere University (ie. it is the Bachelor's degree that you are applying with).   

If you request an exemption from submitting a language test based on previous studies, you must submit a certified copy of your degree certificate, official transcript of records, diploma supplement or other official document issued by the awarding institution confirming your language of instruction as English. Please note that if you apply for an exemption from submitting a language test score based on previous studies other than those that provide your eligibility for admission to the Master’s Programme, you must submit certified copies of your documents by any of the approved submission methods (and its translation unless issued in English, Finnish or Swedish). The country-specific requirements apply to these documents as well, if submitted by post, when applicable.  

You can prove your language skills with a degree completed at a Finnish university or university of applied sciences that includes compulsory studies in the English language, and it thereby demonstrates your language proficiency as set out in the Government Decree on University Degrees (Section 6; 794/2004) and the Government Decree on Universities of Applied Sciences (Section 7; 1129/2014). 

The studies you have completed in the English language must be listed on your degree certificate, official transcript of records, diploma supplement or other official document issued by the awarding institution.

If the degree that would make you eligible for exemption from the English-language requirement is incomplete at the time you apply for admission to Tampere University, you will be eligible to apply for exemption only if that same degree is the one that provides your eligibility for admission to Tampere University (i.e. it is the Bachelor's degree that you are applying with).   

Please submit the educational documents of the degree according to the country-specific requirements for Finland, i.e. submit the documentation on the application form online. 

A minimum of 25 credits earned by completing English-taught courses at Tampere University in the space of a single semester before the application deadline.

If you request an exemption from submitting a language test based on previous studies at Tampere University, you must submit a scanned copy of your transcript of records as documentation confirming your English language proficiency on the application form online.  Tampere University will verify your studies electronically.

A Finnish or international matriculation examination with

• minimum grade of magna cum laude approbatur (M) in English language (advanced syllabus) in the Finnish matriculation examination.  

For applicants who hold the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, one of the following:

• Successful completion of the International Baccalaureate Diploma in English; OR 
• Successful completion of A Level English (literature / language and literature / language and performance); OR 
• A minimum score of 5 (good) in B Level English 

For applicants who hold the European Baccalaureate (EB) Diploma, one of the following: 

• Successful completion of L1 in English; OR 
• A minimum score of 7 in L2 or L3

For applicants who hold the Reifeprüfung Diploma or the German International Abitur (DIA) Diploma completed in German School in Helsinki, one of the following: 

• successful completion of written A Level English; OR
• a minimum score of 8 in oral A Level English.  

If you request for an exemption from submitting a language test based on a Finnish or international matriculation examination, you must submit a certified copy of your diploma as documentation confirming your English language proficiency. If your Finnish matriculation examination was completed in 1990 or later, and you have a Finnish personal identification code, you do not need to submit an officially certified copy. Otherwise, you must submit the certified copy of the diploma by any of the approved submission methods,  according to general requirements for educational documents.