Korkeakouluun can still apply even after spring admissions

Finnish higher-education institutions are still accepting applications for autumn admission, with some programmes offering additional places even to candidates with lower grades.

Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK) has 50 to 100 extra places open in the summer supplementary admissions round, Janne Santala, head of student services at SAMK, told Yle.

Unlike the spring joint application system, the summer round does not hold entrance exams, so selection is based on paper qualifications alone. “This is not a second-class route,” said Riku Hanhinen, senior specialist at the Finnish National Agency for Education. “It is a valid way to secure a study place.”

Applicants aged over 30 are the most active group in the summer round; in the spring joint application round about half of all applicants were aged 18–24.

Additional places become available when programmes are not filled in the spring, for example because not all invited candidates sat the entrance exam, scores did not meet the threshold, or selected candidates declined their places, explained Andreas Iivonen, specialist in student selection at Turku University of Applied Sciences.

Nationally, the number of supplementary places is rising, partly because highly competitive programmes attract more applicants and partly because candidates are making more deliberate choices, Hanhinen said.