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. The conditional applicants are required to indicate their anticipated graduation date in their application and submit a 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 6 August 2021.

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
• TOEFL rPDT: 20 in the reading section, 20 in the listening section, and 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 in English in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, or in a Nordic country
• a university degree in English in Australia, Canada, Ireland, 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: 1 December 2020 – 20 January 2021 15.00 (GMT+2).

Application procedure  

Applications are submitted through the national Studyinfo portal (studyinfo.fi) by 20 January 2021. Once the online application has been filled out, required enclosures must be uploaded electronically to the application by 27 January 2021 15.00 (GMT+2).

Should you have any questions about completing your application, please contact our admissions office, admissions@uef.fi, tel. +358 29 445 8990.

Required documents

Applicants must submit the following documents:

• CV listing earlier study and work experience relevant to this particular programme.
• 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.
• Proof of teacher qualification or relevant work experience (academic or professional certificate).
• Certificate of English proficiency. For detailed information about submitting the language test reports, see language requirements.
• Copy of the identification page of passport.
• Motivation letter. The letter should depict the applicant’s future 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.

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 by 26 March 2021. All applicants will be informed of their acceptance/rejection by email. The successful candidates are required to accept their study place by 3 May 2021 15.00 (GMT+2). Students will start their studies in September 2021.

The programme will accept 15 students.

Applicants will be placed in a rank order based on their earlier academic performance and experience, their motivation letter, and their suitability to the programme. To be eligible to the programme, all assessed items must meet the criteria for academic excellence.

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  

For students who are not citizens of EU/EEA countries or Switzerland, the annual tuition fee for the academic years 2021-2023 is 8000 €. In 2021, all new students receive a scholarship covering 70% of the tuition fee.  

Students are exempted from paying tuition fees if they have one of the following documents:

• Passport or identity card to indicate the citizenship of EU/EEA/Switzerland - EU Blue Card in Finland
• Continuos residence permit card in Finland, Type A
• EU Family Member's Residence Card in Finland
• Permanent residence permit card in Finland, Type P permit
• EU residence permit for third-country citizens with long-term residence permit card in Finland (Type P-EU)  

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 for the first academic year are 14 June 2021 and 30 November 2021 and for the second academic year 31 July 2022 and 30 November 2022. Students will be sent an invoice for each instalment with more specific payment details. Each instalment 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 100 € per academic year.  

The Student Union membership fee entitles the student to, for example:

• free basic health care
• 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 should be also able to cover all the other expenses related to their studying in Finland (500 - 800 EUR/month, depending on individual spending habits). The UEF does not offer selected students any additional funding, financial aid or working opportunities. Therefore, students must be able to cover all their own living costs in Finland independently. Finding any other funding opportunities is also the responsibility of the students himself/herself.  

One's own finances are one of the requirements for the Finnish residence permit, and finances need to be available permanently on a student's bank account for the whole period the permit is applicable. Completely financing one's stay and studies in Finland by working is not possible, though part-time work may be available. For more information about the residence permit, please see the Finnish Immigration Service's website.