13 - Finland - Student assessment

At universities, student assessment is based on continuous assessment. In most cases, students are assessed on the basis of written examinations at the end of lecture series or larger study units, but there are also oral examinations. In addition, students write papers for seminars and other papers. For the Bachelor’s (Finnish: kandidaatin tutkinto, Swedish: kandidatexamen) and Master’s degrees, (Finnish: maisterin tutkinto, Swedish: magisterexamen) students write theses. At art academies, the thesis may take the form of an artistic production, such as a concert, a play or some other performance, which also includes a written part.

Completed studies are entered onto the university’s electronic register. The examiner is usually the course lecturer or the teacher responsible for the study unit or module, but the final responsibility for assessment remains with the subject professor. Theses are assessed by two or more teachers appointed by the university or faculty. University-specific decrees include provisions on legal protection for students, in addition to which universities usually have more specific regulations concerning examinations, legal protection for students and the assessment of studies. Students must also be given the opportunity to obtain information on general assessment criteria and the way they have been applied to them as well as to request correction and, thereafter, appeal to the relevant faculty’s (or corresponding unit’s) legal protection board. Each polytechnic gives orders and instructions on student assessment in its degree regulations. Students have the right to know how assessment criteria are applied to them and to see their graded examination papers or other performance records. A student not satisfied with the assessment may request correction. The polytechnics also have autonomy in deciding on the assessment of practical training.

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Date: 2009
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