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    • Admission requirements
    • How to apply
    • Programmes offered
    • Documents required
    • Language requirements
      • Submitting the language test scores
      • Language testing in Finland
    • FAQ
    • Statistics
  • Doctoral studies
• Double, joint and cross-disciplinary studies
• Scholarships and tuition fees
• Admissions Results 2012
• Student projects

Language requirements

Successful applicants must have an excellent command of Finnish, Swedish or English. Please note that some degree programmes may require knowledge of Finnish.

All guest students and international students applying for master's or doctoral studies offered in English must demonstrate their proficiency in English. Applicants are required to attach an official language test report to their application.

The tests suitable for this purpose are listed below with their minimum scores*:

TOEFL**

Total score: 92 (IBT), 580 (PBT)
Writing score: 22 (IBT), 4.0 (PBT)

IELTS***

Overall Band Score: 6.5
Writing Band Score: 5.5

CAE/CPE****

Grades accepted: A, B, C

_{* The minimum requirements are very strict. If your score does not fulfill the minimum requirements, you are not eligible to apply and your application cannot be processed.
** IBT = Internet Based Test, PBT = Paper Based Test
*** Academic IELTS only
**** CAE = Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English, CPE = Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English.}

The following groups are exempted from the above mentioned requirement:

1. Applicants who have completed a higher education degree

• instructed in Finnish, Swedish or English at a Finnish university or a university of applied sciences.
• instructed in English at a university or a university of applied sciences in an EU/EEA country.
  (The official language of the degree programme has to be stated in the degree certificate or its supplement, in the transcript of records or in an official document issued by the higher education institution in question.)
• instructed in English at a higher education institution that is physically located in one of the following countries: USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand.

2. Applicants who

• have studied as exchange students in the field of science and technology at Aalto University.
  (transcript of records or certificate of student status from Aalto University is requested)
• are EU/EEA citizens from partner universities of Aalto University in the field of science and technology
  (Erasmus partners, TIME, Cluster, NordTek, Nordic5Tech or other official inter-institutional co-operation agreement on student exchange; Such applicants must have completed the language studies required for the degree in English language. This should be stated in their official transcript of records. If language studies in English are not included in the degree, the applicants must provide a certificate of sufficient English language proficiency provided by their home higher education institution.)
• are applying for a doctoral degree and who are already working at a Aalto University in the field of science and technology.
  (Sufficient language skills may be proven by a statement written by the  professor in charge of the research field the applicant is applying for.)
• are applying for the non-degree programmes with a tuition fee.

Studies in Finnish?

International applicants who wish to study in Finnish, but have not completed a school or a university degree in Finnish or in Swedish, must provide a certificate of their Finnish proficiency. Sufficient proficiency can be proven by passing the National Certificate of Language Proficiency ("yleinen kielitutkinto") with the minimum grade of 4/6. The applicant must have taken the test or registered for it by the time the application is submitted. Applicants who fail to submit their test score by 9 August will not be admitted. You can check the test schedules for the Finnish test on the web pages of the Finnish National Board of Education (Opetushallitus, http://www.oph.fi), which coordinates the tests. Please note that there are only a few test dates available every year so it is very important that you check the test dates well in advance.