Maturity test and demonstration of language skills in degrees

In the maturity test, degree students demonstrate their familiarity with the field of their thesis as well as their scientific and professional maturity needed in expert positions in their field of study.

The maturity test is a study attainment mandated by the Government Decree on University Degrees (794/2004) with which students demonstrate both their familiarity with the field of their thesis and their command of their language of education (if it is Finnish or Swedish). If a student has demonstrated his, her or their proficiency in the language of school education at the bachelor’s degree level, it is sufficient to demonstrate just familiarity with the field of the thesis at the master’s level. Only the language of the maturity test written in Finnish or Swedish is checked if necessary. 

Maturity test from 1 September 2024

An overview of the Maturity test students and supervisors

Maturity test instructions for students

Maturity test guidelines for the thesis supervisor and language revisor

Demonstrating language skills in a degree

An overview of the maturity test for students and supervisors

The maturity test is a study attainment mandated by a government decree with which degree students demonstrate both their familiarity with the field of their thesis and their command of their language of education (if it is Finnish or Swedish). If a student has already demonstrated his, her or their skills in the language of education in the bachelor’s degree or a previously completed university of applied sciences degree, it is enough that they demonstrate their familiarity with the field of the thesis. Where necessary, only the language of a maturity test taken in Finnish or Swedish is checked.

The maturity test is written in the language of education, i.e. Finnish or Swedish, if the student is required to demonstrate excellent command of Finnish or Swedish in their degree. If the maturity test is not taken to demonstrate Finnish or Swedish language skills, the maturity test is written in the language of the thesis. 

Maturity tests cannot be compensated by previous learning. If a student has taken a maturity test in a previous degree where he, she or they have demonstrated Finnish or Swedish language skills, only the contents of the maturity test will be assessed in the student’s subsequent degrees.

The maturity tests of bachelor’s degrees will be completed as EXAM exams from 1 September 2024. The maturity tests of master’s degrees will be completed as EXAM exams when they include language checking. In other cases, the abstracts of theses function as maturity tests.

The content and language of a maturity test must be assessed within 21 days when the abstract of the thesis serves as the maturity test and within 28 days when the maturity test is an electronic exam. 

Further information on maturity tests is provided by the faculties, Language Centre and Specialist Hanna Nurmi.

Maturity test instructions for students

From 1 August 2024, students who have not completed the maturity test should swap their maturity test course for the 2024—2027 version in their personal study plans in Sisu.

In the case of a maturity test in the bachelor’s degree or a maturity test in the master’s degree involving a language checking, the supervisor of the thesis drafts a personal exam for the student in EXAM when the time comes to take the maturity test. The student books an exam slot in EXAM and takes the test. The test is available for booking for two weeks. More information is available in the student’s EXAM instructions. If the language of a master’s degree maturity test is not examined, the abstract of the thesis serves as the maturity test, and it is submitted via the Trepo publication database as part of the thesis. If a thesis is done in pairs, both students write summaries, which the instructor evaluates separately as maturity tests. However, the thesis to be returned to the Trepo will only have one abstract, which can be one of the above-mentioned abstracts or an abstract written together.

The student registers in the correct maturity test course in Sisu. The implementations of maturity tests included in bachelor's degrees are specific to each faculty and academic year. The maturity tests included in master's degrees are implemented based on the academic year. Note! If the student has to complete the maturity test in the autumn semester and the student's study right is about to expire at the end of the autumn semester in question, the student should contact hanna.nurmi [at] tuni.fi (Hanna Nurmi), who will register the student to the maturity test implementation at Sisu.

If a maturity test is not approved, the supervisor drafts another maturity test exam for the student or asks him, her or they to write a new abstract for the thesis. Please note! If the abstract of a thesis is failed, it is re-drafted, and the student sends the thesis file containing the new abstract to the Library’s address thesis [at] tuni.fi (thesis[at]tuni[dot]fi). 

If the thesis has been written in a foreign language and its supervisor doesn't speak Finnish (or Swedish), but the student needs to complete a Finnish-language (or a Swedish-language) maturity test, the student answers the exam question in Finnish (or in Swedish). The instructor evaluates the content of the answer using, for example, artificial intelligence. Please note! The student should register for the implementation that includes language checking.

Maturity test guidelines for the thesis supervisor and language revisor

In the case of an electronically completed maturity test, the supervisor and language revisor act in accordance with the instructions that open in a following link Maturity test as an electronic exam 

In the maturity test assignment, it is good to remember the following:

• The thesis supervisor is responsible for preparing a good assignment.
• The assignment should address the thesis of the student in question. The assignment ensures the student's mastery of his or her subject.
• The assignment should guide the student to limit the processing or perspective. For example, one word or "tell on X" is not enough for a task assignment.

The maturity test for lower degrees is most often the course TAU.KN.010 Maturity test in Finnish for Bachelor’s Degree, content and language. In EXAM, a faculty-specific implementation is selected, to which the exam is attached. Other maturity testes for lower degrees are

• TAU.KN.011 Maturity test in Finnish in Bachelor’s Degree, content
• TAU.KN.020 Maturity test in Swedish in Bachelor’s Degree, content and language
• TAU.KN.021 Maturity test in Swedish in Bachelor’s Degree, content
• TAU.KN.031 Maturity test in English in Bachelor’s Degree, content
• TAU.KN.051 Maturity test in German in Bachelor’s Degree, content
• TAU.KN.061 Maturity test in Russian in Bachelor’s Degree, content

The maturity test for higher degrees is most often the course TAU.KN.111 Maturity test in Finnish for Master’s Degree, content. If the maturity test includes language checking, a faculty-specific implementation TAU.KN.110 or TAU.KN.120, is selected in EXAM:

• TAU.KN.110 Maturity Test in Finnish in Master’s Degree, content and language – This course is always used in the Licentiate of Medicine degrees!
• TAU.KN.120 Maturity Test in Swedish in Master’s Degree, content and language

 Other maturity tests for higher degrees are

• TAU.KN.121 Maturity Test in Swedish in Master’s Degree, content 
• TAU.KN.131 Maturity Test in English in Master’s Degree, content
• TAU.KN.151 Maturity Test in German in Master’s Degree, content 
• TAU.KN.161 Maturity Test in Russian in Master’s Degree, content 

If a supervisor is unsure about the type of maturity test the student should take, he, she or they can send email to opintotietojarjestelmat.tau [at] tuni.fi (koulutuksen[dot]kehittaminen[dot]tau[at]tuni[dot]fi).

When it comes to the exam for the implementation of the course TAU.KN.010 Maturity test in Finnish for Bachelor’s Degree, content and language, the supervisor adds a language revisor as an evaluator of the maturity test exam. The supervisor looks at the surname of the student taking the maturity test and chooses the surname based on alphabetical order from the table, which the language examiner adds as a evaluator in EXAM. So if the student's last name is, for example, Kemppainen, he is placed in the alphabetical interval Hir - Kli and the language revisor is then Hanna-Riikka Hodges. If the student's last name is Komppa, he is placed in the alphabetic interval Klo - Lem, and the language revisor is then Hilkka Paldanius. See list of language revisors below:

In the case of language revision in master’s degrees, the persons are the same as in the corresponding bachelor’s degree. Note! Karita Katto (City centre campus students and Kauppi campus students) and Marita Heikkinen (Hervanta campus students) inspect the Swedish maturity tests. In the Finnish Language and Scandinavian Languages specialisations of ​​the Bachelor's Programme in Languages, the supervisor also checks the language.

Where necessary, the supervisor contacts the Language Centre kielikeskus.tau [at] tuni.fi (kielikeskus[dot]tau[at]tuni[dot]fi).

If the abstract of the thesis serves as the maturity test, the maturity test is assessed in connection to assessing the thesis. If a thesis is done in pairs, both students write summaries, which the instructor evaluates separately as maturity tests. However, the thesis to be returned to the Trepo will only have one abstract, which can be one of the above-mentioned abstracts or an abstract written together.

When the abstract of a thesis serves as the maturity test, the content and language of the maturity test must be assessed within 21 days and within 28 days when the maturity test is an electronic exam. 

When the supervisor has assessed the maturity test exam and, where necessary, learned that the language of the test has been approved by the language revisor, he, she or they give the final grade for the maturity test attainment, which automatically transfers to Sisu. After that the supervisor asks the education assistant of the faculty / degree programme to confirm the attainment in the appropriate implementation in Sisu.

If the student fails the maturity test exam, the supervisor drafts a new exam for the student. If a thesis abstract serving as the maturity test is failed, the student writes a new abstract.

If the thesis has been written in a foreign language and its supervisor doesn't speak Finnish (or Swedish), but the student needs to complete a Finnish-language (or a Swedish-language) maturity test, the student answers the exam question in Finnish (or in Swedish). The instructor evaluates the content of the answer using, for example, artificial intelligence. Please note! The exam is created in an implementation that includes language checking, TAU.KN.010 or TAU.KN.110 (or TAU.KN.020 or TAU.KN.120).

Demonstrating language skills in a degree

The student demonstrates his, her or their language skills as stipulated by the Government Decree by completing the language and communication studies included in the degree and by passing the maturity test. The legal basis comprises the Government Decree on the Demonstration of Proficiency in the Finnish and Swedish Languages in Civil Service 481/2003 (especially Sections 15-20) and the Government Decree on University Degrees and Specialist Training 794/2004 (especially Sections 6, 10, 16).

The language of education and communication and language studies required in the degree

The language of education is the language in which the student has completed first language studies in comprehensive school and / or upper secondary school in Finland OR the language in which the student has completed the matriculation examination in Finnish or Swedish as the second language earning the grade of at least magna cum laude (M) even if the student did not study Finnish or Swedish as their first language. 

Students who have received Finnish-language school education complete Finnish, Swedish and foreign language studies in accordance with the curriculum in their bachelor's degree and take the maturity test in Finnish. If a student who has been educated in Finnish has completed a bachelor's degree abroad, he, she or they complete the required language and communication studies for their master’s degree and submit a maturity test in Finnish.

Students who have received Swedish-language education demonstrate their Swedish language skills by taking the maturity test in Swedish. Students demonstrate good proficiency in the other national language (Finnish) by completing the academic writing studies included in their degree in Finnish or by drafting a Finnish-language maturity test. They also complete the other communication and language studies included in their degree, except for the Swedish language course. It is recommended that instead of taking a Swedish language course, the student completes an optional course in communication and language studies. The student ensures that the minimum scope of the degree is met with other studies where necessary. 

The student’s language of education is other than Finnish or Swedish if, for example, he, she or they have attended a Finnish-language comprehensive school and/or upper secondary school but have not studied Finnish as his/her first language OR he, she or they have completed an IB degree OR education corresponding to comprehensive school and upper secondary school abroad. If their language skills are sufficient, students primarily complete the communication and language studies included in their degree in accordance with the curriculum. It is recommended that students complete a Finnish as a second language course corresponding to their proficiency level or a course in Finnish communication offered by the Language Centre or a course in Finnish language and culture. The language of the maturity test is determined separately according to the student's language skills and goals. The language of the maturity test can be English and, in the case of language studies, the main language of the degree. In such cases the language of the maturity test is not checked, and the maturity test cannot be used to attest to language skills. If the level of skills is sufficiently high, the student can take the maturity test in Finnish. In those cases, the language is checked, and the test can be used to demonstrate a good command of the Finnish language.

The student has two languages of learning if he, she or they have completed first language studies in Finnish in comprehensive school and in Swedish in upper secondary school or vice versa. The student must choose which language of learning he, she or they will use to complete communication and language studies and demonstrate language skills in the degree.

The decision on exemption from language and communication studies is made by the Dean of student's faculty.

Further information is available from the faculties and the Language Centre and specialist Hanna Nurmi.