University entrance exams in Europe

For many programmes in Finland you will face an entrance exam or an interview. Institutions can admit students on the basis of school certificates, an entrance exam, an interview or a combination of these – the rules are in the programme description on Studyinfo.fi.

An example: in the 2026 admissions, the University of Helsinki admitted applicants with a foreign school leaving certificate to its English-taught bachelor's programmes on the basis of their SAT or ACT scores. On the basis of the certificate alone, it admitted only applicants with the Finnish matriculation examination, the International Baccalaureate (IB), the European Baccalaureate (EB) or the German Abitur taken in Finland. Check the rules for your programme carefully – each institution sets its own.