Master's Degree Programme in Pedagogy and Teaching for Sustainability

Eligibility

A previous bachelor's degree corresponding to at least 3 years of full-time academic studies from an institution for higher education is required from all master's degree 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.  

In this degree programme, an applicable bachelor’s degree (or higher) including a considerable amount of studies in education is required for eligibility.

Language requirements  

Applicants must either (1) meet the language proficiency criteria (see below), or (2) reach the minimum required language test results to be considered eligible to the University of Eastern Finland. No exceptions will be made and no waivers regarding the language proficiency requirements are given.  

 
(1) Applicants who hold one of the following do not have to take an English language test   

•1. a) A language test is not required if the applicant has completed Finnish Matriculation Examination, English language (A-language, advanced syllabus) with a minimum grade of magna cum laude approbatur (M)    

• 1. b) A language test is not required if the applicant has completed their secondary education in English language in EU/EEA -countries, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand or in Switzerland. The applicants from EU/ETA -countries and Switzerland must prove the language of instruction. The medium of instruction must be clearly stated on the educational documents. If your documents do not explicitly mention English as the medium of instruction, you must provide an additional official statement issued by a representative of your educational 
institution confirming this.   

• 1. c) A language test is not required if the applicant has completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or higher degree in an English-taught programme in EU/EEA -countries, or in one of the following countries:  
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Dominica, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South-Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.  

The applicants from these countries must prove the language of instruction. The medium of instruction must be clearly stated on the educational documents. If your documents do not explicitly mention English as the medium of instruction, you must provide an additional official statement issued by a representative 
of your educational institution confirming this.  

• 1. d) A language test is not required if the applicant has completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or higher degree in an English-taught programme in Australia, Canada, Ghana, Ireland, New Zealand, Nigeria, the United Kingdom or the United States.  The applicants prove their language skills with a university degree.  

The degree/programme must be taught and assessed in English (at least 50 % of the degree must be completed in English). If you verify your language skills with your education degree, the language of instruction must be clearly indicated on the educational documents.  

Online studies or studies completed on offshore campuses outside the accepted countries/area cannot be 
used to indicate language skills, even if the degree-awarding institution is in one of the accepted countries.  

 
(2) All other applicants have to take one of the following language tests  

• TOEFL iBT, overall score 92, min. 22 in writing 
• IELTS (academic) overall score 6.5, min. 6.0 in writing 
• PTE (academic), overall score 62, min 54 in writing 
• C1 Advanced overall score C or 180, with min. 162 in writing 
• C2 Proficiency overall score level C1 or 180, with min. 162 in writing 
• National Certificate of Language Proficiency YKI-test: level 5 in all different subtests 
(reading  comprehension, writing, speaking comprehension and speaking). It is possible to combine different examinations.   

Kindly note that the University of Eastern Finland also accepts the following tests:  
• IELTS Academic online and UKVI tests, IELTS One Skill Retake test results. 
• PTE Academic online and UKVI tests 
• TOEFL iBT Home Edition tests, MyBest Scores 

No other degrees or statements of language proficiency will be accepted.  

TOEFL, IELTS and PTE certificates are valid for two years from the day they are issued, i.e. the language test needs to be in effect during the application period, from 7 January 2024 onwards.  

The language test results must be verifiable from the online verification service of the organiser.   

Application procedure

Applications are submitted through the national Studyinfo portal (studyinfo.fi). The application period is 7 January 2025 8:00 –21 January 2026 15:00 (EEST). Once the online application has been filled out, required enclosures must be uploaded to the application by 28 January 2026 15:00 (EEST).

Enclosures   
The required enclosures need to be uploaded electronically to the application by 28 January 2026 at 3 pm (EET). UEF does not process application documents that have arrived after the deadline. 

Required enclosures: 
Certificates   
• 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 http://www.uef.fi/en/web/admissions/language-requirements .  

Additional form   
• 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. 

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.  

All enclosures are compulsory for the selection process. 
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.  

All enclosures are compulsory for the selection process.  

Student selection procedure   

The admission process in the Master's Degree Programme in Pedagogy and Teaching for Sustainability 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. Applicants will be placed in a rank order based on their earlier academic performance and experience, their motivation letter, and their suitability for the programme. To be eligible to the programme, all assessed items must meet the criteria for academic excellence. The best 20 applicants will be accepted to the programme and the rest of the applicants will be rejected. The programme may accept more applicants by discretion to fulfill the available study places in the programme.  Applicants are not placed on the waiting list.  

The applications will be graded using the combined scoring of the following criteria (overall maximum 20 points):  

1. Suitability and the content of the previous studies to the area of Teaching of Sustainability: 0-5 p (0=poor, 5=excellent)   
2. Applicant's success in the previous studies in general:  0-5 p (0=poor, 5=excellent) 
3. Applicant's success in the previous studies of the suitable field(s): 0-5 p (0=poor, 5=excellent) 
4. Applicant's own explanations about their motivation to apply for studies: 0-5 p (0=poor, 
5=excellent)  

Admission results  

Results for studies starting in September 2026 will be published on 27 May 2026 at the latest. When the selection decision has been made, the results will be posted immediately to the applicants by e-mail. 

Admitted students shall inform whether they accept their study place by latest on 9 July 2026 at 3 pm (EEST) electronically via Studyinfo portal or by submitting the confirmation form to the admission office, [email protected].  

Conditional admission   

Admission to the programme is conditional for applicants who apply with a degree that is not finished during the application period. It is required that conditionally accepted applicants deliver officially certified copies of the final degree certificate and the transcript of records to the programme coordinator by 30 July 2026. 

All accepted students need to provide officially certified copies of their educational documents if they cannot authenticate their degree/transcript electronically when applying. These students will be conditionally accepted until they have provided certified copies of their degree certificate and transcript of records. Country-specific requirements apply in situations when applicants cannot provide the documents electronically. The last date when the documents need to be at the university is 29 May 2026. Failure to deliver the required documents by the given deadline will result in the cancellation of the right to study. 

Tuition fee

The annual tuition fee for non-EU/EEA students is 10,000 EUR. The fee is paid in two instalments of 5000 euros. There are no tuition fees for students who are citizens of EU/EEA countries or Switzerland.

The best 70 % of admitted applicants (as ranked by the reviewers of the applications) receive a scholarship covering 50 % of the tuition fee. In addition, the highest ranked applicant will be completely exempted from paying the tuition fee.

Applicants subject to tuition fees can apply for tuition waivers and scholarships during the university application process by completing the relevant section on the application form.

Other fees

All degree students of the university are members of the Student Union. The Student Union membership fee is ca. 75 € per academic year. The membership 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 

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 ca. 35 € 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.