Skip to content

Eligibility: Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Social Services

You can apply to a bachelor’s degree programme if you have completed one of the following:

  • the Finnish general upper secondary school syllabus and/or the matriculation examination
  • an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma
  • a European Baccalaureate (EB) Diploma
  • a Reifeprüfung (RP) Diploma or Deutsches Internationales Abitur Diploma (DIA)
  • a Finnish vocational upper secondary qualification with a scope of 120 credit units or 180 credit points, or a comparable previous Finnish vocational qualification with a minimum scope of 80 credit units
  • a Finnish post-secondary or higher vocational level diploma
  • a Finnish vocational upper secondary qualification or a further or specialist vocational qualification as a competence-based qualification, or a comparable previous education
  • a foreign qualification that provides eligibility for comparable higher education studies in the country in question.
  • a university or university of applied sciences degree.

Diak does not use discretionary admission.

Required documents

Applicants who are required to submit supporting documents upload their certificate copies to the online application form at Studyinfo.fi.

You can either

  • upload the documents when filling the application form or
  • submit your application without any attachments and come back to submit them by 24 January 2024 before 3:00pm Finnish time, by using the link you received in your email after submitting your application.

If you cannot upload your documents, you can submit them by post, email or visiting the admission services. If you send your document copies via email, please take into account IT security matters.

If you wish to visit the admission services, note that you must be ready to submit copies. We do not take copies from applicants’ documents.

Certificate copies arriving late will not be accepted.

Finnish qualifications

If you are applying with a Finnish matriculation examination certificate (ylioppilastutkinto) issued in or after 1990, or vocational degrees, such as a “ammatillinen perustutkinto” in or after 2017 you do not need to submit copies of your certificates when applying. We will verify your degree from the national database.

However, if you have taken the Finnish Matriculation Examination (ylioppilastutkinto) prior to year 1990 or a vocational degree prior to 2017, you need to upload a copy of your degree certificate to your online application form. The deadline is 24 January 2024 3:00pm Finnish time.

Applicants with other than Finnish qualifications

Please read this section carefully if you have one of the following:

  • an international matriculation examination (International Baccalaureate, European Baccalaureate, Reifeprüfung, Deutsches Internationales Abitur)
  • a qualification completed outside of Finland.

If you are applying with an international matriculation examination diploma completed in Finland or another country, upload a copy of your diploma to your online application form by 24 January 2024 before 3:00pm Finnish time.

If you are an IB, EB or DIA candidate and are graduating during the application period, you must submit a Predicted Grades or equivalent by 3 April 2024 before 3:00pm Finnish time. You also have to submit a copy of your IB Diploma Programme Results (transcript of grades), European Baccalaureate Diploma or Reifeprüfung/DIA diploma by 11 July 2024 before 3:00pm Finnish time.

If you have completed some other qualification outside Finland or are graduating during the application period, you must upload a copy of your degree certificate or a provisional certificate issued by the educational institution on your graduation to your online application form by 24 January 2024 before 3:00 pm Finnish time, and a copy of your final degree certificate (or a provisional certificate issued by the educational institution on your graduation) by 11 July 2024 before 3:00 pm Finnish time.

Official translations of certificates

Each applicant must also submit a copy of their qualification certificate translated into Finnish, Swedish or English by an official (authorised) translator, if the original document is in none of these languages. Translations must be signed and stamped by the translator.

The translations must be uploaded to the online application form by 24 January 2024 before 3:00pm Finnish time.

Applicants with refugee status

A person with refugee status or an asylum seeker may apply and be accepted to study in education just as any other eligible citizen of Finland or any other country.

If the applicant is a refugee, has status comparable to a refugee or is an asylum seeker, and cannot thus verify their previous degree with relevant documentation, the higher education institution may invite the applicant to take an entrance exam or, if necessary, submit the application for academic assessment.

Applicant needs to fill and submit this Verification of Educational Background form and submit it to the Admission Services. No attachments including sensitive data should be attached to the application form.

The higher education institution of the degree programme will use the report requested from the applicant as basis for making the decision on whether the documentation on the previous degree is sufficient.

The applicant must have a decision by the authorities concerning their status (decision on asylum or residence permit on the basis of protection).

The applicant must submit a copy of the relevant decision by 24 January 2024 before 3:00pm Finnish time to the admission services of all the higher education institutions that s/he is applying to. Please note that this attachment cannot be uploaded to the online application form.

In order to declare their status, an asylum seeker who has not yet been granted a decision may verify their status by presenting an identity card with a photograph granted by Migri.

In addition, when required by the degree programme, they must present a fee-based (€20) pending application by Migri that states that the applicant is permitted to legally reside in Finland during the time when their case is being processed, i.e. until a lawful decision has been made on the case.

A person with refugee status i.e. asylum = Residence outside of one’s country of origin or country of former habitual residence owing to a justified fear of being persecuted in the country concerned. The reason for persecution must be the person’s origin, religion, nationality, membership in a certain social group, or political opinions. It is also assumed that because of the person’s fear, they are unwilling to turn to the country concerned for protection.

A person whose status is comparable to a refugee is a person provided with subsidiary protection = the person faces a risk of being subjected to the death penalty, execution, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in their home country or country of former habitual residence. A permit may also be issued if the person is unable to return to their home country or country of former habitual residence without being exposed to serious and individual threat as a result of an armed conflict in the country concerned.

Document forgery and misuse may lead to criminal responsibility and belongs to police authority.

Language certificates

Applicants to the Bachelor’s degree programme in Social Services need to have proof of their English language skills when applying. List of accepted English proficiency certificates are listed on the International UAS Exam website. No exceptions are made to these requirements.

Selection method

We use the International UAS Exam as a selection method. We do not use certificate- or SAT-based selection.

Health requirements

Applicants who apply for studies in the field of Social Services and Health must consider whether their health condition enables their successful practical studies and work placement.

For more information, please visit the Eligibility front page.

Tuition fees

For more information, please visit our Tuition fees and scholarships webpage.

Admitted applicants who are required to pay the tuition fee must submit a receipt of the paid fee to the Admission Services by 11 July 2024.

Original qualification certificates

Diak will check the original certificates from all accepted applicants at the beginning of studies.

Admission is conditional until the original certificates have been checked and compared to the information the applicant has given when applying.

Failure to present original documents may lead to cancellation of admission.