Language requirements for doctoral programmes, applicable for studies starting 1 August 2025 onwards

For requirements in Finnish language proficiency, please see the admissions criteria written in Finnish for the programme in question. The Doctoral Programme in Language Studies has it's own language requirements, as stated in the admissions criteria of the programme.

In addition to these general language requirements, some of programmes have faculty-specific additions to the general requirements, please see information on those in the programme’s admission requirements.

Please upload an accepted language test result to the online application and, if needed, share the results to Tampere University (detailed instructions and minimum requirements below).

As Tampere University will confirm the official language scores through an online system of the language testing agency, test results must remain valid at least until the day when the application is submitted.

Make sure that you book a language test well in advance. There might not be many test dates available or they may be fully booked.

If you apply without a valid language test result, carefully examine that you fulfill the requirements below.

It is possible to be exempted from submitting a language test score if you have completed a higher education degree (*bachelor’s degree¹, master’s degree, licentiate degree or doctoral degree) taught in English in one of the countries listed below:

• Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Dominica, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Finland or another EU/EEA country, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, UK, USA, Zambia or Zimbabwe.

The official language of instruction must be stated in the degree certificate, an official transcript of records, diploma supplement or other official document issued by the awarding institution. If the degree was taught in multiple languages, at least 50% of the studies must have been completed in English. Applicants who received their degree from an institution located in one of the countries listed above but completed the studies entirely on a satellite campus not located in one of the countries listed above are not exempt from the requirement to demonstrate their language proficiency. If the degree that would make an applicant eligible for exemption from taking a language test is unfinished at the time he or she applies for admission to Tampere University, the applicant will only be eligible to apply for exemption if the same degree makes him or her eligible for admission to Tampere University.

If you request an exemption from submitting a language test based on previous studies completed in English, the officially certified copies of your degree certificate and transcript of records you submit as documentation to confirm your eligibility for doctoral studies also confirm your English language proficiency. Please note that if you apply for an exemption from submitting a language test score on the basis of previous studies that are other than the studies on the basis of which you apply to the doctoral programme, you must submit certified copies of these documents as well (and translation unless issued in English, Finnish or Swedish). Please note that the country-specific requirements concern these documents as well, if applicable.

¹ Or a similar degree which in the country in question confers eligibility for admission to a master’s programme.

It is possible to be exempted from submitting a language test score if you have already demonstrated your language proficiency while applying to Tampere University during a previous admission round.

Please inform detailed information on your previous admission to a doctoral programme and way of proving your language proficiency on the application form. Previous proof of meeting the language requirement can only be accepted if the previous admission can be verified.

Please see information on possible faculty-specific additions in the programme’s admission requirements in studyinfo.fi.