Other paths to studying

Further guidelines on Tampere Universities’ studies for alumni are available on the Studies for Alumni page.

For more information on the right to study to complete alumni studies at Tampere University, please visit the Right to study reserved for alumni page.

Read more about Tampere University of Applied Science’s alumni studies on TAMK’s alumni studies page.

Eligibility and qualification studies are for people who have earned their degree at a foreign university and need further studies to qualify for a job that requires a higher education degree in Finland or for entering a regulated profession.

Further information on the recognition and international correspondence of qualifications is available on the Finnish National Agency for Education’s website. 

To be admitted to eligibility and qualification studies, the applicant must have the Finnish National Agency for Education’s decision on the correspondence of the degree earned abroad that must be complemented with further studies. Students in eligibility and qualification studies participate in the University's regular teaching, such as daytime lectures, unless equivalent training is available as academic continuing education (Faculty of Education and Culture). The right to study is granted for a limited period.

You can apply for qualification studies in the following fields:

• class teacher training
• early childhood education teacher training
• special education teacher trainining
• pedagogical studies for subject teachers
• studies in the subject you teach. Some Open University courses in the taught subjects are also available.

In addition, you learn about the possibilities for eligibility and qualification studies in the following fields from the relevant faculty:

• social work and psychology (Faculty of Social Sciences)
• librarianship (Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences).

The courses to be taken will be determined based on the Finnish National Board of Education's decision on the correspondence of qualifications.

Admission to eligibility and qualification studies is discretionary and based on applications.

Applications for eligibility and qualification studies are made on a specific form

The application must be accompanied by copies of your foreign diploma, a transcript of academic records and the Finnish National Agency for Education’s decision on the correspondence of the degrees. Translations of your diploma and the transcript of records done by an authorised translator must be provided unless the original language of the documents is English.

The application period for studies starting in the autumn semester is by 30 April and for studies that begin in the spring semester by 30 October. Please note that the final starting date of your studies depends on the courses you have been allocated and will be specified in the decision granting you the right to study.

Completing eligibility and qualification studies usually requires good Finnish language skills.

The application and its attachments must be submitted to the office of the faculty from which the right to study is requested or sent to the following address: The faculty in question, FI-33014 Tampere University. If you are applying for studies in more than one field (eg in the subject you teach and pedagogical studies), please submit a separate application for each field.

• Complementary studies in the subject taught: the faculty depends on the subject you teach. Please see the faculties’ education provision on their curriculum and course pages.

Faculty of Education and Culture

• Applicant must have a teacher's degree completed outside of Finland and the applicant must have the Finnish National Agency for Education’s decision on the correspondence of the degree earned abroad that must be complemented with further studies.
• The maximum number of credits to be completed is 30.
• The studies are conducted in Finnish. Finnish language skills must be at least at the level 4 (B2) of National Certificates of Language Proficiency (YKI) in all areas of the test. Find out ways to indicate your Finnish language skills (only in Finnish). Supplementary studies in early childhood education can be completed in English too.

Application period is only in the spring by 30 April. Studies will start in the autumn.

• Supplementary studies in pedagogy for subject teachers:
  • The applicant must have a degree that corresponds to a higher university degree.
  • The applicant must also have a decision on the correspondence of the subject to be taught or the subject must have been completed in Finland. The certificate must be included to the application.
• Supplementary studies for special education teachers:
  • The applicant must have a degree that corresponds to a higher university degree.
• Supplementary studies for class teachers:
  • The applicant must have a degree that corresponds to a higher university degree.
• Supplementary studies in early childhood education teachers:
  • The applicant must have a degree that corresponds to a Bachelor's degree in Education or a Master's degree in Education.

Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences

In our faculty it is possible to study the following teaching subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry and information technology. If you have the Finnish National Agency for Education’s decision on the correspondence of the degree earned abroad that must be complemented with further studies in these subjects, please contact: teluko.opiskelu.tau [at] tuni.fi (teluko[dot]opiskelu[dot]tau[at]tuni[dot]fi).

The fee is the same as in Tampere University’s Open University studies:

• the tuition fee charged for basic and intermediate studies as well as other studies will be €20 per credit
• the tuition fee charged for advanced studies will be €30 per credit, unless a similar course is offered as academic continuing education (Faculty of Education and Culture). The fee is paid at the start of the studies.

Applicants will be sent a personal notification of the admission decision. If the decision is positive, further information on enrolment will be provided.

As an enrolled degree or exchange student at Tampere Universities community or the Police University College of Finland, you can also get additional education from another university. Through cross-institutional study, you may participate in courses, joint projects, or build your individual competencies. The idea of cross-institutional study is to help students build flexible and personalized study paths.

Via the Cross-institutional study service you may see education offerings that are valid for one semester at a time. More information on starting cross-institutional studies is available in the Student’s Guide.