Master's Degree Programme in Early Language Education for Intercultural Communication

Eligibility  

A recognized Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in the area of education or foreign languages, or equivalent, is required. In addition, applicants must have studies or work experience in the field of early language education.

The programme will accept a temporary degree certificate. The temporary degree certificate is issued as a replacement for the actual degree certificate in case the latter cannot be given to student immediately after the studies have been completed due to technical or administrative reasons. The temporary degree certificate should include the same information as the actual degree certificate. The programme will accept a temporary certificate only if all the studies included in the degree have been successfully completed.

The programme will conditionally accept applications from persons who will not have graduated by the time the application period for the programme ends.  Conditionally accepted applicants are required to indicate their anticipated graduation date in their application and submit an officially certified copy of their last transcript of records by the end of the application period. The conditional applicants must submit their final degree certificate and the final transcript of records to the programme coordinator by 9 August 2024.

English proficiency  

Minimum requirements for the language skills verified through official language tests are as follows:

• IELTS Academic: overall score of 6.5, with 5.5 in the writing section
• TOEFL iBT: overall score of 92, with 22 in the writing section
• PTE Academic: overall score of 62, with 54 in the writing section
• C1 Advanced (formerly CAE): overall score of 180, with 162 in the writing section
• C2 Proficiency (formerly CPE): overall score of 180, with 162 in the writing section
• National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI): level 5 in the reading comprehension, writing, and speaking sections

Language test certificates are valid for two years from the day they are issued and they have to be valid during the application period.

A language test is not required of applicants who have completed

• upper secondary education or a university degree completely in English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, or an EU/EEA country
• a university degree in Finland with English as a major subject

Application period  

Application period: 3.1.2024 8:00 –17.1.2024 15:00 (EEST).

Application procedure  

Applications are submitted through the national Studyinfo portal (studyinfo.fi) by 17.1.2024. Once the online application has been filled out, required enclosures must be uploaded to the application by 24.1.2024 15:00 (EEST).

Should you have any questions about completing your application, please contact our admissions office, admissions@uef.fi, tel. +358294458990.

Required documents

Applicants must submit the following documents:

• Degree certificate(s) relevant to the programme. The degree certificate should include the name of the institution awarding the degree, the date of issue, the name of the degree and the name of the degree holder.
• Transcript of academic records. The transcript should include full titles and completion period of the units that the student has completed for the degree (or at the very least the overall study time at the institution), grades and credit points obtained together with information on the grading scale used at the institution at the time of study. The transcript must cover the full length of studies.
• Certificate of English proficiency. For detailed information about submitting the language test reports, see language requirements.
• Copy of the identification page of passport or other ID.
• Proof of studies or work experience in the field of early language education.
• Motivation letter. The letter should depict the applicant’s study plans and academic goals, future career plans and professional goals, and contain a clear description of the personal and/or academic motivation for applying for this particular programme.
• CV listing earlier study and work experience relevant to this particular programme.

See also country-specific document requirements. Please note that country-specific requirements apply only to admitted applicants. During the application period, only scanned copies of original documents are required.

If educational documents are issued in a language other than English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations of them to one of these languages are required. Also officially certified copies of the original documents have to be submitted. All educational documents must be officially certified or legalised: How to submit documents.

Incomplete applications will not be processed.

Admission decision  

The results of the selection will be announced to the applicants on 12 April 2024. All applicants will be informed of their acceptance/rejection by email. The successful candidates are required to accept their study place by 11 July 2024 15.00 (EEST). Students will start their studies in September 2024.

The programme will accept 20 students.

The applications will be graded using the combined scoring of the following criteria (overall maximum 15 points):
1.    Suitability and the content of earlier academic performance and experience 0-5 p (0=poor, 5=excellent) 
2.    Applicant's success in the previous studies in general and in studies related to the field of language education (0=poor, 5=excellent)
3.    Motivation letter 0-5 p (0=poor, 5=excellent)

The 20 best applicants are accepted and the rest are rejected. Applicants are not placed in a reserve list.

Citizens of EU/EEA countries and Switzerland  

This programme is offered free of charge for the citizens of EU/EEA countries and Switzerland.

• EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Gibraltar
• EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway 

Citizens of other countries  

There is an annual tuition fee of 8000 euros for other students. In 2024, all new students receive a scholarship covering 50 % of the tuition fee. For further information, see Tuition fees, waivers and scholarships | University of Eastern Finland (uef.fi).

Tuition fees cover the studies included in the degree (120 ECTS), as well as studies-related academic supervision and counseling. They also cover supporting services offered by the university; assistance in applying for student accommodation, orientation programme, tutoring, access to IT services, wireless internet access on campus, computer classrooms available 24/7 and library services.  

The annual fee is paid in two equal instalments for an academic year. The due dates are 31 August (autumn semester) and 31 December (spring semester). Each installment has to be completely paid until the concerning due date.

Other mandatory fees for all degree students regardless of their country of origin  

All degree students of the university are members of the Student Union. The Student Union membership fee is ca. 100 € per academic year. The Student Union membership fee entitles the student to, for example:

• reduced lunch prices at student cafeterias
• discounts on local buses and long-distance transportation
• discounts on many public services and free-time activities 

Further information is available on the website of the Student Union.  

All students also need to pay a healthcare fee, which entitles students to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service. The healthcare fee is 35-40 € per semester.

Students should be able to cover all the other expenses related to their studying in Finland (500-800 €/month, depending on individual spending habits). The UEF does not offer selected students any additional funding or financial aid.

For more information about the residence permit, please see the Finnish Immigration Service's website.

The Finland Scholarship

UEF will grant a Finland Scholarship (Suomi-stipendi) of € 5 000 for the two best applicants in each Master's Degree programme. The Finland Scholarship is granted for the first year of Master’s studies and the students who receive it must be non-EU/EEA citizens who are liable to pay tuition fees.

For more information about the Finland Scholarship, please see the Tuition fees, waivers and scholarships website.