In recent years, student admissions and entrance examinations have been the focus of intensive development in the field of higher education. The Digivisio 2030 programme has identified a need to examine admissions and entrance examinations, especially from the perspective of digitalisation and cooperation across different sectors of higher education. The aim of the project launched in 2022 is to anticipate and form a view of how student admissions and entrance examinations in higher education institutions will change as 2030 draws closer, and what measures will be required of higher education institutions.
As part of the project, a preliminary study has been conducted on the current state of the development of admissions and entrance examinations and the potential role of the Digivisio programme in this development. The preliminary study was conducted by Marko Borodavki from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and Susanna Tarkiainen from the University of Helsinki.
The preliminary study examines the student admission and entrance examination reforms implemented in recent years, describes the current state of the admissions and entrance examinations in universities of applied sciences and universities, and examines ongoing development projects.
The preliminary study states that the admissions and entrance examinations are currently being systematically developed, and this work assumes that in the future, certificate-based admissions and entrance examinations will remain the main admissions methods to higher education institutions. The ‘AMK‑opiskelijavalinnat’ consortium, focused on the student admissions to universities of applied sciences, is responsible for the development carried out in their sector, while the student admissions to universities are examined in the University of Helsinki’s development project for student admissions 2022–2025. Universities of applied sciences have agreed on the development of student admissions until 2024, and the development project for university student admissions will end in 2025.
Universities and universities of applied sciences are currently at very different stages in the development of their student admissions, but the development of admissions can be considered cross-cutting themes in both sectors. They are being developed in a more applicant-friendly direction, more cost-effective and resource-efficient from the perspective of applicants and higher education institutions.
Based on the preliminary study, the steering group decided at its meeting in December that the Digivisio 2030 programme will not have a leading role in the development of student admissions to higher education institutions at this stage. The relationship between the development of student admissions and Digivisio can be reassessed in more detail once the plans for the later phase of Digivisio have been defined for 2025–2030, and the plans for the development of student admissions to higher education institutions have become more defined in the long term.
Read the summary of the preliminary study: download the summary.
Read the complete preliminary study: download the document (in Finnish).
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Expert Satu Hakanurmi