Student Guide

Language of education

‘Language of education’ refers to the language of the student’s education in comprehensive (grades 1–9) and upper secondary (grades 10–12) school in Finland, and is thus either Finnish or Swedish. The student’s language of education can also be defined by Finnish or Swedish as the second language in the Finnish matriculation examination if the student passes the examination with magna cum laude honours or higher.

Language of primary and secondary education

To demonstrate proficiency in their language of primary and secondary education (hereinafter ‘language of education’; koulusivistyskieli in Finnish), students write a maturity essay in that language and complete any other language-of-education studies specified in the degree requirements. 

If you are like most Finnish students, your language of education is either Finnish or Swedish based on the language you received your education in from primary through upper secondary school. Students whose language of education differed from primary through upper secondary school (that is, if it was Finnish in one and Swedish in the other) may choose either Finnish or Swedish as their language of education.

If the student passes the Finnish matriculation examination with a magna cum laude grade or higher, the student’s language of education is based on whether Finnish or Swedish was the language in which they completed the second national language component of the exam.

Note:

  • Students have not demonstrated that their language of education was Finnish or Swedish if they completed only the mother tongue test in the Finnish matriculation exam or if they were tested for a language other than Finnish or Swedish in their primary and secondary education.
  • Finnish or Swedish first-language (‘mother tongue’) studies at an IB (International Baccalaureate) or EB (European Baccalaureate) school are not equivalent to studies in one of Finland’s languages of education.
  • Finnish mother-tongue studies at a German school are also not equivalent to studies in one of Finland’s languages of education.
  • A vocational degree also provides no basis for determining the language of education.

Second national language: written test and oral test

School of Business

Swedish, 2 cr:

  • Second national language tests: LC-5001 National Language Requirement (Swedish) Writing Test (1 cr) and LC-5002 National Language Requirement (Swedish) Oral Test (1 cr), which are completed in connection with basic level courses (LCB-5800/LCB-5803/LC-5003/LC-5004). Students with advanced proficiency in Swedish can simply take the tests, without the preparatory courses, to receive the credits (see registration instructions and additional information in the course description in Sisu).
  • Good or satisfactory writing skills in Swedish, as demonstrated in the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate (VKT), are supplemented with an oral test completed at the Language Centre.

Finnish, 2 cr:

Schools of technology 

Swedish, 2 cr:

  • Second national language tests: LC-5001 National Language Requirement (Swedish) Writing Test (1 cr) and LC-5002 National Language Requirement (Swedish) Oral Test (1 cr), which are completed in connection with basic level courses (LC-5410/LC-5411/LC-5003/LC-5004). Students with advanced proficiency in Swedish can simply take the tests, without the preparatory courses, to receive the credits (see registration instructions and additional details in the course description on Sisu).
  • Good or satisfactory writing skills in Swedish, as demonstrated in the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate (VKT), are supplemented with an oral test completed at the Language Centre.

Finnish, 2 cr.:

School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Swedish, 3 cr:

  • National language proficiency test, written Swedish  LCA-5701 (2 cr) and oral test LCA-5702 (1 op), which are completed in connection with basic level courses (LCA-5703/LCA-5704/LC-5003/LC-5004). Students with advanced proficiency in Swedish can simply take the tests, without the preparatory courses, to receive the credits (see registration instructions and additional information in the course description in Sisu).
  • Good or satisfactory writing skills in Swedish, as demonstrated in the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate (VKT), are supplemented with an oral test completed at the Language Centre.

Finnish, 3 cr:

Exemption from demonstrating proficiency in the language of education

Exemption from demonstrating proficiency in the language of education 

Sometimes students at Aalto University have an upper secondary school certificate indicating Finnish or Swedish as their language of education, but their mother tongue is in fact a foreign language and they lack a sufficient command of Finnish or Swedish. An exemption from demonstrating proficiency in the language of education can be granted upon application for the following reasons:

  • The student has taken Finnish or Swedish as a second language in the matriculation examination and received a grade lower than magna cum laude.
  • The student’s language of education is determined solely based on their primary education (primary school certificate). Their upper secondary school studies were completed in a foreign language (not in a national language of Finland), such as in an IB (International Baccalaureate) upper secondary school.

Exemptions from requirements for language and communication proficiency

Credit transfer

If a student has written a maturity essay in their language of education during earlier studies, and the essay was approved for language proficiency, then the quality of language in the essay will no longer be subjected to a review.

Bachelor’s degrees in the arts or in business contain language-of-education studies that are compulsory.  Students who apply for credit transfer for these degrees must show that their previous studies included language-of-education studies (written and oral communication).

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