Master's Degree Programme in English Language and Culture

Eligibility  

A recognized Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in the area of English Language and Literature, English Linguistics, or English Translation is required.

A previous Bachelor's degree corresponding to at least 3 years of fulltime academic studies from an institution for higher education is required from all applicants. The degree must be awarded by an internationally recognized university. The programme also accepts degrees from a recognized university of applied sciences or polytechnic.

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 the 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 7.0, with 6.5 in the writing section
• TOEFL iBT: overall score of 100, with 24 in the writing section
• PTE Academic: overall score of 68, with 59 in the writing section
• C1 Advanced (formerly CAE): overall score of 185, with 176 in the writing section
• C2 Proficiency (formerly CPE): overall score of 185, with 176 in the writing section

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

No other degrees or statements of language proficiency will be accepted. No exceptions will be made and no waivers to the language proficiency requirements will be given.

Applications are submitted through the national Studyinfo portal (studyinfo.fi) by 17 January 2024. Once the online application has been filled out, required enclosures must be uploaded to the application by 24 January 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  

1. Degree certificate(s). 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.  

2. 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.  

3. Certificate of English proficiency. For detailed information about submitting the language test reports, see here.  

4. Copy of the identification page of passport or other ID.

5. Motivation letter. The letter should depict applicant's educational goals and study objectives for the University of Eastern Finland and explain their personal motives for choosing 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.

Further information regarding educational documents can be found in Required documents.

Incomplete applications will not be processed.  

Admission decision  

The results of the selection will be announced to the applicants by 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.

Number of places  

The admission process in the Master's Degree Programme in English Language and Culture aims at fair selection of high-quality applicants. Student selection is based on the application documents and evaluation of how the applicant’s skills and competences gained by the previous academic studies correspond to the Master's studies applied for. Meeting the minimum application requirements does not guarantee acceptance to the programme.

Applicants will be ranked according to the selection criteria. The best 15 applicants will be accepted to the programme and the rest of the applicants will be rejected. Applicants are not placed on a waiting list.

Ranking of applicants  

The applications will be graded using the following criteria:

• overall language test result: 0–5 p (0 = poor, 5 = excellent) (20 %)
• writing test result: 0–5 p (0 = poor, 5 = excellent) (20 %)
• academic performance: 0–5 p (0 = poor, 5 = excellent) (40 %)
• motivation letter: 0–5 p (0 = poor, 5 = excellent) (20 %).

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 the website.

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 installments. 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 c. 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.

One's own finances are one of the requirements for the Finnish residence permit. 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.