Study at Aalto

Admission to Bachelor's Programme in Design and Media, Bachelor and Master of Arts (3 yrs + 2 yrs)

The application period for Bachelor's Programme in Design and Media is from 8 to 23 January 2025. Studies start in August-September 2025. Applicants are selected to complete both the Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees. Admission to the Bachelor’s Programme in Design and Media is based on preliminary assignments, intake assignments, and an interview.

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Webinar on Aalto University Bachelor's Programmes

For more information about this and other English-taught Bachelor’s Programmes at Aalto, join our webinar on 24 October at 1pm / 13.00 (UTC+3).

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Admission schedule 2025

18 December 2024 Preliminary assignments are published
8 January 2025 at 8am/8.00 (UTC+2) Application period starts
23 January 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+2) Application period ends
30 January 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+2)

Deadline to submit the preliminary assignments

AND

Applicants who have graduated, and applicants completing a foreign qualification in spring 2025: deadline to submit academic documents 

AND

Deadline to submit official language test results

AND

Deadline to submit passport or other ID and (if applicable) residence permit

30 January 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+2) Deadline to submit an application for individual arrangements for the interview (if applicable)
28 February at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+2) Applicants completing an IB or EB diploma in spring 2025: deadline to submit predicted grades or preliminary marks
19 March 2025 after 3pm/15.00 (UTC+2)

Results of preliminary assignments are sent to applicants

Intake assignments are sent to applicants who have successfully passed their preliminary assignments

2 April 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+3) Deadline to submit the intake assignments
25 April 2025

Results of intake assignments are sent to applicants

Invitations to interviews are sent to applicants who have successfully passed their intake assignments

30 April 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+3) Applicants completing a DIA diploma in spring 2025: deadline to submit final grades
5-9 May 2025 Interviews
28 May 2025 Admission results publication deadline
13 June 2025 Applicants completing a Finnish vocational qualification in spring 2025: deadline for degree completion
10 July 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+3) Deadline to accept the admission offer (study place)
10 July 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+3) Applicants completing an IB or EB diploma in spring 2025: deadline to submit the final grades or final diploma
31 July 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+3) Applicants completing a foreign qualification in spring 2025: deadline to submit the final diploma 
5 August 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+3) Admission from the waiting list ends
August–September 2025 Studies begin with the orientation week

Programme information and intake

For a detailed description of the Bachelor's Programme in Design and Media, please view aalto.fi and Studyinfo.

In 2025, the intake for Bachelor’s Programme in Design and Media is 41.

Who can apply?

All applicants must fulfill the general eligibility requirements for higher education and submit the required documents by the given deadlines (see the Required application documents section). 

You are eligible to apply if you have completed or will complete during spring 2025 one of the following qualifications:

  • Finnish Matriculation Examination
  • International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, completed in an accredited IB school
  • European Baccalaureate (EB) Diploma, completed in an accredited EB school 
  • Deutsches Internationales Abitur (DIA) diploma or Reifeprüfung diploma (RP), completed in Finland
  • Upper secondary education completed outside Finland, for example a high school diploma. The qualification must give eligibility to the corresponding level of higher education in the country in which it was awarded.
  • A Finnish vocational upper secondary qualification, further vocational qualification or specialist vocational qualification as set in the Vocational Education Act (531/2017)
  • Advanced International Certificate of Education -diploma (AICE) in Finland

Additionally eligible to apply are:

  • applicants who have been granted the right to study in a university in Finland;
  • applicants who have a higher education degree completed in Finland; or
  • applicants who have at minimum a bachelor level degree completed abroad. 

Please note that any high school diploma awarded abroad does not qualify for an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma and any European high school diploma does not qualify for a European Baccalaureate (EB) Diploma. Both the IB and EB are specific programmes, and only students who have studied at a properly accredited school participating in the IB or EB programme can be awarded an IB or EB Diploma. 

How to apply?

Admission to the Bachelor's Programme in Design and Media is organised through Aalto University's application to English-taught bachelor's programmes. 

The application period for studies starting in autumn 2025 is 8 to 23 January 2025. Submit the online application form in the Studyinfo.fi system during the application period. You can submit only one application form. The link to the application form will be added here once the application period starts.

You can apply to a maximum of three study options with the one application form. You can find Aalto University's English-taught bachelor's programmes and study options on the Study Options page. 

Rank your study options in the order of preference on the application form. Preference order means that if you are admitted to your first preference option, your other study options will be automatically cancelled. You can change the study options or their order of preference only during the application period. 

Read the application instructions and document requirements carefully. You can edit your application form within the application period. Upload all the required application documents to your application form by the given deadlines.

If you apply in several admissions and are offered admission to more than one degree programme beginning in the same term, you may only accept one offer of admission at a university or university of applied sciences in Finland. The ‘one study place per term in higher education’ policy applies to all degree-granting higher education programmes, whether applying through: joint application procedures, separate admissions procedures, or applying to doctoral education (to earn a licentiate or doctoral degree).

Please note that Aalto University's application to English-taught bachelor's programmes, the first joint application and the second joint application are completely separate processes. If you wish to apply in several application rounds, you must submit an application form separately during each application period.

Please note that you can only apply to one study option leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree at Aalto University during spring 2025. If you apply to the English-taught study option Design and Media, you will not be allowed to apply to the study options available in Finnish or Swedish in the field of art and design at Aalto University in the Joint Application to  Finnish and Swedish degree programmes. The selection of study options is binding and cannot be changed after the application period has ended.

Admission process

Admission to the Bachelor's Programme in Design and Media consists of several stages. Admission is based on preliminary assignments, intake assignments, and an interview. Applicants can be screened out after each stage. 

The preliminary assignments are evaluated on a pass/fail basis. Only applicants who pass the preliminary assignments will be invited to the next stages of the admission process.

Applicants are ranked based on their total score from the intake assignments and the interview, which includes a separate intake assignment. The maximum total score is 100 points.

Required application documents

Attach the following documents to your Studyinfo application form: 

  1. Preliminary assignments (see the Preliminary assignments section)
  2. Academic documents proving eligibility for higher education (with translations, if required)
  3. Documents proving English language proficiency (see the Language requirements section)
  4. Passport or other ID (with translations, if required)
  5. Residence permit card (if applicable)

This section has instructions for providing the academic documents proving eligibility for higher education, passport or other ID, and residence permit card. Read the instructions carefully and attach the documents to your Studyinfo application form by the given deadlines. Scan the original documents in colour and save them as PDF files. The copies do not have to be certified.

Your application will be rejected if you do not provide the required documents by the given deadlines. If we require further information about your application or documents provided, we will be in contact via email after the application period has ended. Your application will be rejected if you do not respond to our email by the given due date.

After you have submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation email. After submitting your application, you can modify it and upload documents via the My Studyinfo service. If you cannot log in to the My Studyinfo service, you can make changes and attach documents to your application using the link included in the confirmation email. You can make changes to the application form only during the application period. Once the application period has ended, you can still upload and modify your application documents until the document-specific deadlines.

Please note that if you apply in several application rounds, you must attach the required documents to each application form separately. Only attachments submitted for the correct application form will be considered.

Language requirements

The language of instruction in the Bachelor’s Programme in Design and Media is English. All applicants must prove sufficient language skills when applying to the programme. Your application will be rejected if you do not do so by the given deadline.

Proficiency in English language can be proved with an official language test result or with a grade in the Finnish Matriculation Examination, International Baccalaureate (IB), European Baccalaureate (EB), or Deutsches Internationales Abitur (DIA) or Reifeprüfung (RP) diploma (DIA/RP completed in Finland only). Language proficiency cannot be proved with English subject grades received in other national high school diplomas.

If you have completed your basic education (primary and secondary school), high school or a university degree in English in an EU/EEA country, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States, you do not need to submit a language test result. You must demonstrate your English language proficiency by submitting a degree certificate. The language of instruction must be clearly stated in the diploma or other official document issued by the school.

  • If the degree that exempts you from the English test is also your qualifying degree, and you complete it in spring 2025, submit your documents by the deadline stated in the Required application documents section (depending on the qualification being completed). Admission is conditional until Aalto University Admission Services receives the official final grades. If the final grades do not meet the language requirements, the admission offer will be revoked.
  • If the degree that exempts you from the English test is not the one qualifying you for admission, the degree must be completed, and you must submit the degree certificate by 30 January 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+2).

Please note that the deadline for delivering the official language test result to Aalto University is 30 January 2025 at 3pm/15.00 (UTC+2). Language test results arriving after this deadline will not be considered. The results of all language tests will be verified electronically.

No language tests other than those mentioned below are accepted. If you have taken several language tests, the best official score that is still valid and received by Aalto University by the deadline will be considered. You cannot combine scores from different test dates (e.g. TOEFL MyBest scores is not accepted).

Tuition fees and scholarships

In Finland, tuition fees are collected from students who are not citizens of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA) member states or Switzerland. Tuition fees apply to the programmes taught in English.

The tuition fee for the Bachelor's Programme in Design and Media is 15 000€ per academic year. The normative duration of bachelor's degree studies is three academic years.

Admission results

Admission results are published in the Studyinfo service by 28 May 2025. You can check the results by logging in to the My Studyinfo service. The admission result is also sent by email. If you cannot log in to the My Studyinfo service, please wait for the arrival of the admission result email.

Accepting your study place offer

If you have been admitted to a study programme, you will receive an email notification. You must accept the offer of admission by the given deadline, otherwise the admission offer will be cancelled. 

You can only accept one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland for education that begins in the same academic term. The one study place per term provision applies to all higher education. Accepting an offer of admission is binding; it cannot be cancelled or changed later. Once you accept an offer of admission, all your other offers of admission will be cancelled automatically. 

If you applied to multiple study options or in different application rounds, it is likely that you will not receive the admission results for all of your study option preferences at the same time. Think carefully whether you wish to accept an offered study place or wait for the results of your other study options. 

Important information about accepting your study place offer and enrolment can be found at Studyinfo

Statistics 

In 2024, there were 736 applications and 39 new applicants were accepted for the Bachelor’s Programme in Design.

Previous years' preliminary and intake assignments

Admission statistics 

Contact information

Contact information and opening hours for Aalto University Admission Services can be found at the Contact information page.

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