How to apply?
HELBUS admissions are based on a personal statement and interviews gauging your motivation, strengths, and future career aspirations. We look for applicants who can provide balanced and well-thought arguments in their essay and demonstrate the level of communication required in higher education studies. Applications for the HELBUS bachelor’s degree are made through the online application form. On this page you will find all the relevant information on apply to the programme.
Entry requirements
To be eligible for the programme, you must have:
EU & EEA applicants:
1. Upper Secondary School qualification:
- Education abroad that would provide eligibility for academic higher education studies in that particular country
- International Baccalaureate examination
- European Baccalaureate examination
- Reifeprüfung examination
- Finnish Matriculation Examination (Ylioppilastutkinto)
- Vocational secondary education with a minimum duration of three years in Finland, or a vocational adult education qualification
2. English language proficiency via one of the following ways*:
- Finnish Matriculation Examination A1 English Cum Laude Approbatur (C) or better
- Finnish Vocational College English grade 4 (scale 1-5)
- International Baccalaureate English A 4 SL & HL
- International Baccalaureate English B 6 SL / 5 HL
- Completion of upper secondary education in English
- An English proficiency test (max 2 years old):
- IELTS overall score 6.0 with no section below 5.5
- TOEFL overall score 70, minimum scores: Listening – 17, Reading – 18, Writing – 17, Speaking- 20
- PTE Academic: overall score 51, no section below 51
*If your diploma examination grades are lower, please contact our admissions staff at admissions(at)helbus.fi to discuss your options.
3. High motivation to study business!
If you are completing your matriculation or IB exam in the spring, you can still submit an application and receive a conditional admission offer. The offer will be made unconditionally after you receive your final diploma.
Non-EU applicants:
1. Upper Secondary School certificate and transcript with good grades:
- Education abroad that would provide eligibility for academic higher education studies in that particular country (provide translations if the documents are not in English)
- International Baccalaureate examination
2. English language proficiency must be proven via one of the following tests (max 2 years old)*:
- IELTS overall score 6.0 with no section below 5.5
- TOEFL overall score 70, minimum scores: Listening – 17, Reading – 18, Writing – 17, Speaking- 20
- PTE Academic overall score 51, no section below 51
3. High motivation to study business!
Please note that applicants who have yet to graduate before applying are ineligible for the next intake. We are unable to offer conditional offers to non-EU applicants.
*not applicable for applicants who have completed an IB programme in English or are from USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Application deadlines
You can apply to HELBUS programmes at any time of the year. We make admissions decisions throughout the year. You can apply early and indicate in your application which intake you are applying to. However, for each intake we have set deadlines:
EU & EEA applicants:
September 2024 application period open until 31.7.24
January 2024 application period open until 2.1.25
Non-EU applicants:
September 2025 application period open until 8.2.25
Non-EU applicants are unable to apply for January intakes.
Application process
Application
First, applicants must fill in the application form and add the following documents:
- Scanned copies of your upper secondary school diplomas and transcripts. If the document is not in English or Finnish, please provide official translations.
- Proof of English language proficiency (as listed in the “Entry requirements” -section).
- A personal statement in English describing your motivation and competencies to study in the programme. The statement should be max. 500 words, which is equivalent to one A4 document. Please find more information on what the personal statement should include in the guidance for Personal Statements.
- If you are a non-EU citizen, please add your a scanned copy of your passport.
All documents should be uploaded either in PDF or JPEG format.
Please note, applicants must complete and submit the application by themselves. Never copy statements written by other people or found on the internet. Do not use artificial intelligence tools to generate answers; there are detection tools and the statement must give an accurate picture of the applicants writing competencies and unique background. If such a breach is discovered, the application will be rejected or your studies may be terminated without warning.
Non-EU applicants who need a residence permit will apply to the Dual-Award programme. For more information about the Dual-Award, visit the International Applicants page.
Non-EU applicants who DO NOT need a residence permit will apply to the regular programme. Please provide a copy of your residence permit in the application (must be valid until the end of the studies).
Interview
If your application fulfils our entry requirements, you will be invited for an online interview for which you will need to book a time. During the interview, we will further assess your competencies to study the programme, your motivation, and your English level. The interview will either be held over the phone, or Zoom, depending on your location and background and lasts approximately 20-30 minutes.
Admissions decision
Around 1 week after the interview, you will receive the admissions decision via email. If admitted, you will also receive more information about the studies and how to respond to the offer.
If you are a non-EU applicant, you will need to respond to the offer by the deadline stated in your provisional acceptance letter and prepare to pay the first invoice. After you have paid the first tuition fee invoice, you will receive the Official Acceptance Certificate and you are then able to start your residence permit application. More information about the residence permit process can be found here.
Any questions regarding the admissions process, please contact admissions(at)helbus.fi.
