Application Enclosures

Degree Certificate

A degree certificate is a document issued by an institution to a student who has successfully completed all studies included in the degree. The student has graduated. The degree certificate should include the name of the institution awarding the degree, the date of issue, and the name of the person to whom the degree certificate has been issued and which title/degree the person has been awarded.

Temporary (Provisional) Degree Certificate

A temporary (provisional) degree certificate is accepted if it was issued no more than five years earlier. The five-year validity period begins from the date on which the degree was conferred and must not expire prior to the application deadline. In other words, a temporary degree certificate is not accepted if it was issued more than five years ago. In such cases, the applicant must present his or her final degree certificate. The graduation date/date of award stated on the certificate needs to be no later than 31th July the same year as offered admission.

A temporary (provisional) degree certificate is a document issued by an institution to a student who has been awarded or conferred an academic degree. The temporary degree certificate is issued as a replacement for the actual degree certificate e.g. in case the actual degree certificate cannot be given to the student immediately after the studies have been completed due to technical or administrative reasons.

The temporary degree certificate must include:

• the name of the institution awarding the degree
• the date of award/conferral of the degree
• the name of the person to whom the temporary degree certificate has been issued
• which academic title/degree the person has been awarded.

It is important to note that a document stating only that the student has completed all the courses is not sufficient as a temporary degree certificate.

The transcript of records must include:

Name of course units
If the transcript of records does not include the full names of the study units, an additional document explaining these is required. This can be, for example, a syllabus. The document should be officially certified by the awarding institution.

Completion time of study units
If your transcript of records does not include information on the completion times of the study units, a separate document explaining this is required. You must submit an officially certified document issued by the awarding institution that states either the completion times of the individual study units or your overall time of study at the institution. Please note that information on the usual duration of the programme is not sufficient.

Grades
If the transcript of records does not include the grades obtained, you are required to submit an officially certified document issued by the degree-awarding institution providing these.

Credits
If your transcript of records does not include information on the credits awarded for individual study units, please submit a separate officially certified document issued by the institution indicating this. If your institution uses a system different from the credit system, please submit an officially certified document issued by the awarding institution where the extent/scope of the study units is shown. This can be indicated, for example, as study hours required to complete the individual units.

Grading scale
The grading scale must include all the grades and marks that appear on the applicant’s transcript of records. The description should include the grades in relation to each other and clearly depict the highest and lowest grade, as well as which grades are passing grades and which are a fail.

The information should be included in the transcript of records. If it is not, a separate official document describing the grading scale is required. The document should be issued and officially certified by the awarding institution, or compiled by the applicant and officially certified by the awarding institution.

If your educational documents are issued in a language other than English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations of them to one of these languages are required. 

An official translation must be one of the following:

1. Issued by the awarding institution
2. An officially certified copy of a translation issued by the awarding institution
3. Translated by an official translator (original document)
4. An officially certified copy of a translation made by an official translator

Each page of an official translation must bear the translator’s stamp and/or signature. Official translations must be exact translations of the original documents. Translations done by the applicant him- or herself are not accepted.

The CV 

• must be written in English and should be 1-2 pages. The format is free.
• The main purpose of the CV is providing a timeline as support in the academic evaluation but is a mandatory application enclosure for all applicants.
• Note that all application documents are public information, so please do not include sensitive information such as information on health conditions, religious and political affiliation, union membership, relationship status, assets etc. 

If you are a refugee or asylum seeker or have a refugee-like status in Finland and cannot prove your eligibility for higher education by documentation, you still apply for admission.

You are required to provide reliable explanation of the qualification that gives you eligibility to apply, additional information on the lack of requisite documentation as well as an official decision on your refugee status (decision on being granted asylum or a residence permit based on need for international protection or a certificate of a pending application for asylum). You must submit a copy of this decision to the Admission Services before the deadline for submitting application attachments has ended. You must also submit an application like all other applicants and prove that you fulfill the language requirement for admission and attend required tests. Hanken can also request the applicant to attend an entrance exam or similar. The university will determine the applicant’s eligibility based on the additional information provided by the applicant.