OF THE ARTS ADMISSIONS GUIDE 2016 CHANGE OF MAIN SUBJECT AND STUDY RIGHT

Transcription

1 SIBELIUS ACADEMY UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS ADMISSIONS GUIDE 2016 CHANGE OF MAIN SUBJECT AND STUDY RIGHT

2 Do you wish to change your main subject? OR Do you have a university degree from another university and wish to change from the Bachelor level to the Master level in your own main subject / classical main instrument or voice (for students studying in the 5.5-year education)? Regulations concerning the right to study The right to study is to be understood according to the definition set out in Section 41 of the Universities Act (558/2009). Undergraduate selection concerns applicants who do not at that time have the right to study for a Bachelor s or Master s degree at the University of the Arts Helsinki. A person who has completed a Bachelor s and/or Master s degree, or a Sibelius Academy degree under the old system, and who does not have the right to study for an undergraduate degree at the Sibelius Academy shall apply for admission as set out in the undergraduate admission criteria. The applicant shall take an entrance examination as set forth in the admission criteria. Changing the right to study If you are a registered bachelor's or master's student at University of the Arts Helsinki, you can apply for a change of main subject / instrument or degree programme within your home academy or the University. The Dean of Sibelius Academy decides on the change after receiving approval from the head of the degree programme or department you have applied to. If your application is approved, you will be credited for all your applicable prior studies. A student who wishes to change his or her study right shall apply to for permission to either: change main subject / degree programme within his or her home academy or the University change classical main instrument or voice change the undergraduate right to study within a main subject / classical main instrument or voice (from Bachelor level to Master level) If your application for a change of main subject is approved, you will lose your study right for the first main subject and gain study rights for the new main subject and the academy as necessary. The application process for changing one s study right is scheduled in tandem with applications and decisions for undergraduate student selection. You are advised to apply for a change of main subject or degree programme by filling in an electronic application form on the University of the Arts Helsinki s website ( by (3 p.m. Finnish time). In addition, you must submit the following documents to Sibelius Academy Admissions Office: 1) Motivational letter 2) Transcript of academic records 3) Preliminary individual study plan for the new degree programme or main subject 4) Any advance assignments required for admissions These documents an possible pre-examination assignments must be submitted to Sibelius Academy Admissions Office no later than (3 p.m. Finnish time). 1

3 Undergraduate selection criteria apply to those seeking to change their study right (please see the Admissions Guide 2016 for the 5.5-year and the 2.5-year programmes). N.B. If there is a video audition or if the preexamination assignments are delivered via the DecisionDesk system, the same applies also to students applying for a change of main subject! An approved change of main subject will be valid from the beginning of the academic year (1 August). N.B. A student can, however, apply for a change of study right within his or her main subject / classical main instrument or voice (from the Bachelor level to the Master level) at any time by submitting a free-form application to the Admissions Office. The applicant must also deliver a certificate of a completed university / polytechnic degree. Criteria for decisions on changing the right to study (selection criteria) Sibelius Academy s general admission criteria as well as undergraduate selection criteria apply to those seeking to change their main subject or degree programme. In order to change your main subject within University of the Arts Helsinki, you must demonstrate your artistic talent and aptitude in a proficiency test, which is organised in connection with the entrance examinations or as part of them. Applicants from within the academy in question and from other academies attend the same proficiency test, but applicants from Sibelius Academy do not take part in general theory and solfège examinations. The head of admissions or degree programme can decide whether students seeking to change their main subject or degree programme need to attend all parts of the entrance examination. Students seeking to change their main subject will be treated equally when deciding about the matter. The applications and performance in entrance examinations of those applying to change study right will be reviewed as a separate group in each main subject. N.B. Master-level students cannot apply for a change to a bachelor-level main subject or degree programme. In other words, the change of degree programme must occur during bachelor s studies. During master s studies, it is only possible to transfer to another master s programme. If a bachelor s student has completed a higher education degree or a sufficient amount of studies outside University of the Arts Helsinki that qualifies him or her for master-level studies at the Sibelius Academy, he or she can apply directly to a master s programme in another main subject or degree programme. Subsequently, he or she will lose the right to study in the previous bachelor's programme. The Dean of Sibelius Academy will take decisions on applications to change the right to study within a main subject / classical main instrument or voice (from the Bachelor s level to the Master s level in the 5.5-year programme) on the basis of the student s application and the statement provided by the head of the department. The head of the department may require the applicant to perform a demonstration of his or her skill in the main subject / instrument. The demonstration will be evaluated by a committee appointed by the head of the department. Studying towards two degrees simultaneously Students with a valid right to study towards a degree at University of the Arts Helsinki can apply for a simultaneous right to study towards another degree at University of the Arts Helsinki in exceptional cases only. 2

4 According to the degree regulations of University of the Arts Helsinki, a student is, at any given time, entitled to only one right to pursue a degree at the University of the Arts. On specific grounds, the Rector may grant an exception to the rule of one study right. The right must be applied for by a written free-form notification to the University of the Arts Helsinki s Rector. The notification must include grounds for the right to pursue a second degree simultaneously, a transcript of academic records and an individual study plan for the completion of the first degree. The notification must be submitted to the admissions services of the academy in question by and in connection with the new application for the second degree via the Studyinfo.fi system. If necessary, please contact the head of academic affairs Sanna Kotajärvi-Söderholm at [email protected]. If the Rector does not permit the student to pursue a simultaneous second degree and the student is admitted to the second degree or study programme, and he or she accepts the study place, he or she loses the prior study rights. The allocated time for the completion of the new degree starts at the beginning of the next academic year (1 August). Commencing the studies, study time and the number of individual tuition hours During the first academic year after your change of study right, it is possible to enrol as an absent student only with permission granted by the university. Enrolment as an absent student for the first year is possible only due to following statutory reasons: voluntary military service or conscription maternity, paternity or parental leave own illness or injury Study at another educational institution or abroad does not qualify. The right to absence must be applied for in writing at the Sibelius Academy Admissions Office by (3 p.m. Finnish time). The student is considered to have started degree studies on the date when he/she accepted the original study position in the university. If the student is admitted to study for a higher university degree based on a bachelor s degree completed at another university, he or she has the right to complete the higher degree in a period of time equal to the normative duration of a higher university degree but not longer. In accordance with the Universities Act (558/2009), Section 40, a student admitted to study only for the higher university degree has the right to complete the degree in a period of time exceeding the normative duration of studies by a maximum of two years (in total, 4.5 years). For students who change their study rights, the amount of individual instruction may be restricted at the beginning of the new study rights. 3

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