How to apply

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

• the studies required for graduating from the Finnish upper secondary school or a Matriculation Examination;
• an International Baccalaureate (IB) degree and/or graduated from IB high school
• a European Baccalaureate (EB) Diploma;
• a Reifeprüfung (RP) or Deutsches Internationales Abitur (DIA) degree;
• a Finnish vocational upper secondary qualification covering 120 credits or 180 competence points or a corresponding
• earlier Finnish vocational degree covering at least 80 credits;
• 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 qualification;
• a foreign qualification that provides eligibility for higher education studies in the country in question;
• Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, postgraduate licentiate and doctoral degrees.

Diak does not use discretionary admission.

The applicant must submit the attachments proving their eligibility by the deadline in order to be considered in the admission process.

If you are not sure about your eligibility to applu, please contact us:

You can find detailed admission criteria in the programme descriptions of each Diak degree programme on the Studyinfo service.

If you applied with a qualification completed outside Finland and are offered admission to Diak, your admission is conditional until we have verified the qualification you applied with. You can see at Studyinfo whether your admission to Diak is conditional.

Please see information on the verification process in this page by scrolling down.

Applicants who are required to submit supporting documents attach their document copies to the application form at Studyinfo.fi.

You can either

• attach the documents when filling the application form or
• submit your application without any attachments and revisit your application form to submit your attachments by 28 January 2026, 3pm Finnish time, by using the link you received in your email after submitting your application, or by logging in to My Studyinfo

Please see the admissions criteria for our bachelor’s degree programmes for more information on required attachments and deadlines for submitting them.

Admissions criteria – Bachelor of Health Care, Nursing

Admissions criteria – Bachelor of Social Services

Diak may only use discretionary selection for a person who is a refugee or has status comparable to a refugee and who, due to their situation, cannot submit certificates proving their eligibility by the deadline. Such an applicant may participate in the entrance examination and be selected as a student if they are assessed as eligible based on the information in theVerification of Educational Background form. The filled form and potential attachments are used as basis for making the decision on whether the documentation on the previous degree/educational background is sufficient.

If you wish to be considered for discretionary eligibility, please fill in the form and submit it along with a copy of the decision on asylum or a residence permit granted on the basis of a need for protection to Diak’s admission services by 28 January 2026, 3pm.

We recommend that you use SecMail Secure email for sending the documents. Contact details for Admission Services and the Secmail link are on this page (scroll up).

Please note that 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.

Nursing

Applicants to the Bachelor’s degree programme in Health Care, Nursing are required to have skills in Finnish. The minimum requirement is level B1 on the Common European framework for languages. Your Finnish and English skills are assessed in the entrance exam. You do not need to have a Finnish or an English language proficiency certificate.

Social Services

International UAS Exam

In order to be invited to the International UAS Exam and to be selected based on the International UAS Exam selection method, the applicants have to prove their English language skills either by an internationally recognized language test or previous studies. More information on the accepted ways of proving your English language skills can be found at UASinfo.fi.

Entrance examination organised by Diak

If you are planning to apply through Diak’s own entrance examination organised in Finland, you do not need a separate English language proficiency certificate.

We do not currently use certificate-based selection (todistusvalinta) or SAT-based selection in our English-taught bachelor’s degree programmes.

Nursing

The only selection method is an entrance examination organised by Diak. Both parts of the exam are organised at Diak’s Helsinki campus.

Social Services

There are two selection methods: the International University of Applied Sciences (UAS) Exam and an entrance examination organised by Diak. Read more at Entrance Examinations page.

Applicants do not need to choose on the application form which selection method they would like to participate in. Applicants can participate in both the International UAS Exam and Diak’s own entrance examination and be offered admission through any of these selection methods.

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

Admitted applicants who are required to pay the tuition fee must pay the full tuition fee for the first academic year by 9 July 2026. If you accepted from the waiting list, you are required to pay your tuition fee in seven days after being accepted from the waiting list.

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 UASinfo.fi website.

These instructions are for applicants who are offered admission to Diak in the Joint application to higher education spring 2026.

If you applied with a qualification completed outside Finland and are offered admission to Diak, your admission is conditional until we have verified the qualification you applied with. If your admission is conditional, you will be notified of the condition via email and you will also see the condition at Studyinfo.

If you wish to accept our offer of admission, you are required to submit your original degree certificate/diploma to Diak’s admission services for verification.

If your original degree certificate/diploma is not issued in Finnish, Swedish or English, you are also required to submit an official translation of the document into Finnish, Swedish or English. The translation must be made either by an authorised translator or by the awarding institution. The translation needs to bear the translator’s signature and/or stamp.

Please note that the required documents need to reach Diak by the deadlines below. We recommend that you submit your original documents to us as soon as possible after making the decision to accept our offer.

• If you are offered admission on or before 1 June 2026, the deadline for submitting the original documents (with official translations, if required) is 15 June 2026.
• If you are offered admission on or after 2 June 2026, the deadline is 14 days after you received the Offer of admission email from Studyinfo.
• If you applied with a qualification that you finish in spring/summer 2026, you are required to submit your original degree certificate/diploma (with official translations, if required) to the admission services by 11 August 2026.

If your documents and translations do not reach Diak by the deadline, your conditional admission will be cancelled.

Please check the list of qualifications below to see which documents we need.

When submitting your documents, you can either

1. Send electronically signed or electronically verified documents by email to Diak’s Admission Services. Please note that we must be able to verify the entire document using an electronic verification service on the awarding institution’s website or in a third-party service, if the institution provides a link to the service on their website. We must be able to access the verification service free-of-charge and without registration or downloading software. OR
2. Ask the awarding institution to send copies of your original documents as PDF files by email to Diak’s Admission Services. Only PDF files sent directly from the awarding institution are accepted. Please note that the email must be sent from an official institutional email account of the awarding institution and we must be able to verify the email address from the institution’s public website. The sending email address must belong to the official office or designated staff responsible for the issuance of educational documents.Documents sent from other email addresses or in other formats are not accepted. OR
3. Send your original documents to us by using postal or courier services. Because the documents need to reach Diak by the deadline, we recommend that you use courier services. Please note that if you send your documents to us by using postal or courier services, we will return them to you when you arrive on campus to start your studies.

Please state your full name and application number in all correspondence.

See above on this page.

Please submit

• your higher secondary school certificate (e.g. high school diploma), or
• a certified copy of the original issued by the awarding institution or Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

If your original degree certificate/diploma is not issued in Finnish, Swedish or English, you are also required to submit an official translation of the document into Finnish, Swedish or English. The translation must be made either by an authorised translator or by the awarding institution. The translation needs to bear the translator’s signature and/or stamp.

Please submit

• your degree certificate/diploma and a transcript of records, or
• certified copies of the originals issued by the awarding institution or Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

If your original degree certificate/diploma and transcript are not issued in Finnish, Swedish or English, you are also required to submit official translations of the documents into Finnish, Swedish or English. The translations must be made either by an authorised translator or by the awarding institution. The translations need to bear the translator’s signature and/or stamp.

Please submit:

• your original Diploma of the International Baccalaureate or,
• if you were not awarded the diploma: the final official certificate of results, or
• a certified copy of the original issued by the awarding institution or Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency

Alternatively, you can request your transcript to be sent to Diak, in which case we will be able to verify your transcript using the electronic service and you do not have to submit your original document to us. You can find us with the name “Diakonia-ammattikorkeakoulu Oy (Diak)”.

Please submit:

• your original European Baccalaureate Certificate, or
• a certified copy of the original issued by the awarding institution or Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency

Please submit

• your Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife diploma (four pages), or
• a certified copy of the original issued by the awarding institution or Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency

If your original degree certificate/diploma is not issued in Finnish, Swedish or English, you are also required to submit an official translation of the document into Finnish, Swedish or English. The translation must be made either by an authorised translator or by the awarding institution. The translation needs to bear the translator’s signature and/or stamp.

A transfer student is a student admitted to a Finnish UAS who transfers their study right to another Finnish UAS or to another study programme in their original school of admission provided there is a change to their degree title. The definition of a transfer student is given in the Universities of Applied Sciences Act.

Transfer students must, in principle, be able to complete their remaining studies within the study right period. Transfer students’ right to study began when they accepted a study place at their initial UAS. Semesters of study and absence at the initial UAS will follow the transfer student to Diak.

Transfer can be accepted if the following selection criteria are met:

• the applicant has a valid study right at a Finnish UAS that leads to the same degree and degree title as the one the applicant is applying for in the transfer application
• the applicant has been registered as present at their initial UAS for at least one academic year and gained at least 55 credits per academic year
• there is a free spot in the degree programme
• it is possible to create a personal study plan that enables the applicant applicant to complete their remaining studies within the remaining right to study
• if required, the applicant’s learning skills, working skills and social skills are assessed by Diak

Transfer applications will not be accepted during the same semester (autumn semester 1 August – 31 December or spring semester 1 January – 31 July) when the applicant has started their studies at the original institution.

Transfer applicant should note that their study right period will not be extended and they will not be entitled for more months of student financial aid on the basis of the transfer. The start date of the study right is the date on which the student has made a binding acceptance of their place at the original institution.

Transfer applicants are treated equally based on similar selection criteria. Applicants may be ranked based on the suitability of their earlier studies and the possible learning skills, working skills and social skills assessment.

The following documents are attached to the application form by the end of the application period.

• certificate of study issued by the current UAS with record of the student’s periods of attendance and non-attendance
• transcript of records issued by the current UAS and
• a comparison table made by the applicant in which they describe how they could apply for recognition of prior learning and credit transfer (RPL) based on their previously completed studies at the current UAS. This is done by comparing one’s completed studies to Diak’s curriculum and looking for similarities in contents, learning outcomes and scope of the modules. If the transfer is accepted, the student will apply for recognition of prior learning and credit transfer according to the RPL process.

You can find the curriculum in Diak’s curriculum guide under Education in English.

Applicants to Bachelor of Health Care, Nursing are required to have skills in Finnish. The minimum requirement is level B1 on the Common European framework for languages.

Language skills can be demonstrated by the following documents:

• Primary and lower secondary education certificate: Finnish as a mother tongue or Finnish as a second language
• General upper secondary education certificate: Finnish as a mother tongue or Finnish as a second language
• Matriculation examination certificate: Finnish as a mother tongue or Finnish as a second language
• Vocational upper secondary qualification completed in Finnish
• International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma: Finnish: language A or B
• European Baccalaureate (EB) diploma: Finnish: L1, L2 or L3
• Reifeprüfung (RP) / Deutsche Internationale Abitur (DIA) diploma: Finnish as native language or B1-language
• National certificates of language proficiency (YKI): Finnish intermediate or advanced level (speaking and listening comprehension: assessment 3 or 4 at intermediate level; assessment 5 or 6 at advanced level).
• Civil service language proficiency certificates: Finnish satisfactory, good, or excellent skills.

Attach your document to the application form.

If you don’t have any of the documents listed above, you will be invited to a Finnish language test.

If needed, the applicant can be invited to a learning skills, working skills and social skills assessment. The invitations are sent via email.

Applicants need to have such health and functional capacity such that they are capable of performing assignments and practical training related to their studies. Please familiarise yourself with the health and functional capacity requirements on the UASinfo.fi website.

If you believe there has been a mistake in the student selection and the admission criteria have not been applied correctly, you have the right to make a written request for rectification.

If you are dissatisfied with the result, we recommend that you contact Diak’s Admission Services first. Admission Services can give you a breakdown of your score. If you wish to make an appeal after contacting the Admission Services, please follow the instructions below.

According to the Universities of Applied Sciences Act, a person who has applied for entry to a university of applied sciences may lodge a rectification request (appeal) with an administrative body designated by the university of applied sciences. According to the Degree Regulations of Diaconia University of Applied Sciences, this administrative body is the Examination Board of Diaconia University of Applied Sciences.

The appeal has to be made within 14 days from the publication of the student selection results. The appeal has to be submitted by 3pm on the last day of the rectification period.

The appeal is to be addressed at the Examination Board of Diaconia University of Applied Sciences.

Diaconia University of Applied Sciences
Examination Board
PO Box 12
FI-00511 Helsinki, Finland
tutkintolautakunta@diak.fi

The request for rectification has to be made in writing. It can also be sent by email. If you use email, please take into account IT security matters.

The request has to include the following information:

• the decision that is being appealed (please attach a copy of your notification of student selection results letter)
• which part of the decision is requested to be rectified
• grounds for the appeal
• contact information (name, address, email address, phone number)

Please also attach to the request any documents that you wish to appeal to.

The Examination Board will consider the appeal in their meeting and the applicant will be notified of the decision in writing.

Please see the meeting schedule on the Assessment page.