Apply to Master’s Programme in Fine Arts

Published 5.5.2020 | Updated 5.5.2026

Key information

• Degree programme: Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Duration of studies 2 years
• Language of degree: Finnish, Swedish or English
• Number of open study places: max. 24 new students
• Application period begins on 5 August and ends on 19 August 2026 at 3:00 p.m. EEST (local Finnish time)
• Second phase remote interviews: 19-27 October 2026
• Announcement of the admissions result: 4 November 2026
• Deadline for accepting the study place: 18 November 2026 at 3 p.m. EET (local Finnish time)
• Start of studies: January 2027
• Who is required to pay annual tuition fees?
  • No tuition fees are charged to citizens of EU and EEA Member States or Switzerland who study in English
  • Tuition fee non-EU and non-EEA students who study in English: €28,000 per academic year
  • No tuition fees are charged to students who study in Finnish or Swedish

Admissions criteria

An applicant can be accepted to undertake studies in the degree programme leading to Master’s degree in Fine Arts if they:

• demonstrate ability in the fine arts, and have an aptitude for the studies included in the degree programme for master’s degree,
• are deemed to have sufficient experience in fine arts,
• have the necessary educational background required for the studies,
• have demonstrated their language proficiency in the manner specified by the Academy.

During the admissions process, the applicant’s ability in fine arts is assessed using the following criteria: the applicant’s capacity for expression, the individuality of their expressiveness, and the applicant’s readiness to develop.

The suitability for undertaking the studies leading to the Master of Fine Arts degree will be assessed according to the following criteria, among others: the applicant’s educability and motivation, their ability to learn new things, and their ability to analyse their own artistic practice.

When educability is assessed, attention is paid to the fact that the new degree must provide the applicant with sufficient new competence. The master’s degree programme is primarily intended for applicants who do not already have a master’s degree.

The evaluation of the applicant’s prior experience of working in the field of fine arts is based on evidence of, e.g., the applicant’s long-term artistic activities, their participation in public fine art projects, and the organisation of art exhibitions and corresponding events.

Admissions process

The applicant will be deemed eligible to apply if they have the required educational background, they have provided acceptable proof of sufficient language proficiency, and they have submitted the required application materials in accordance with the schedule set by the Academy.

An applicant can be deemed conditionally eligible if the degree required for the eligibility is completed by the deadline for accepting the study place. The admissions decision of the Academy of Fine Arts will remain conditional for the applicant until they submit the certificate demonstrating the completion of their degree.

The first phase of the admissions process involves determining the applicant’s eligibility and assessing their application and the required accompanying application materials.

Based on the applications, some applicants will be invited to take part in an interview, which comprises the second phase of the admissions procedure.

The programme’s admissions jury prepares its proposal for new students to be admitted. The group’s assessment takes both phases of the admissions process into account. The dean of the Academy of Fine Arts makes the final decision on which applicants will be admitted and who will be placed on the waiting list. The new student are admitted on the basis of the subject areas in fine arts.

Applying for transfer from another university

Applicants who are refugees or in a refugee-like situation

Educational background

General eligibility

According to the Universities Act (558/2009, 37§), a person is eligible to apply for the studies leading to a master’s degree in higher education (Master of Fine Arts) if they have completed a relevant bachelor’s degree awarded by a university or a university of applied sciences or a relevant degree programme outside of Finland, which in that country grants eligibility to undertake studies at the corresponding level in higher education. The Academy can also decide to admitted applicants who have not been awarded a relevant degree if they are deemed to have sufficient knowledge and skills required for the studies. The University can require a person admitted as a student to take supplementary studies to acquire the skills necessary for the MFA studies.

Suitable educational background required for eligibility in the master’s degree admissions in fine arts:

• A bachelor’s degree completed at a university or university of applied sciences, either in Finland or abroad
• Other education: the applicant may be accepted to study in the degree programme if the University deems that the applicant has acquired the necessary skills and knowledge for postgraduate studies through other education. In such case, the applicant is asked to provide the relevant diplomas of this education or completed study programmes. The adequacy of the background education of applicants applying under the “other education” basis is assessed on the basis of their application and the application materials. The applicant will not be separately notified of this assessment.

Language proficiency requirement

All applicants must prove their proficiency in the language in which they plan to complete their degree, that is, either English, Finnish, or Swedish.

The applicant must prove their language proficiency in accordance with the requirements set by the Academy of Fine Arts and during the application period. An applicant cannot be deemed as eligible to apply if they have not provided acceptable proof of their language proficiency.

How to apply

First phase: electronic application, appendices and required application materials

The application period begins on 5 August 2026 and ends on 19 August 2026 at 3:00 p.m. EEST (local Finnish time).

Fill in an electronic application form in Studyinfo.fi portal during the application period and submit the required appendices.

If you are already a degree student at Uniarts Helsinki and wish to apply for a change of your study right, please see the instructions at the Students Uniarts Helsinki website.

In the application form, fill in your personal information, educational background, and the language in which you are applying to study. Remember to also indicate the subject area to which you are applying in your application form. You can only apply to one subject area. The subject areas are sculpture, painting, printmaking, and time and space arts.

The admissions jury may suggest that you are placed in a subject area different from that of your original choice after the required materials have been evaluated during the first phase of the assessment.

You must include in your application the following appendices and the required application materials, which are submitted electronically via Studyinfo.fi:

1. Documents demonstrating your educational background
2. Document demonstrating your language proficiency
3. Official proof of identity
4. Required application materials motivation letter including a study plan, résumé/CV, and work portfolio)
5. Possible document exempting you from the application fee or the annual tuition fee

Please submit all attachments as PDF files.

The applications, required application materials, or interviews are not scored.

Translation of documents

Have any certificates, transcripts of records and other documents translated by an official translator, if these documents are not in Finnish, Swedish or English.

1) Documents demonstrating the applicant’s educational background

Append to the application certificates which indicate that you have the necessary educational background required for studying in the master’s degree programme: (see: Admissions criteria)

•  A degree certificate and a transcript of records of a completed higher education degree (a scanned copy of the original document or an authenticated copy)
  OR
• A certificate of student status and a transcript of records of ongoing studies. Applicants who will graduate by 18 November 2026 at the latest, must append a certificate of student status to the application, which shows the estimated graduation date and the language in which the degree has been completed in case the applicant uses the degree in question to demonstrate their language proficiency. The certificate of student status must be appropriately stamped and signed by the education institution.
  OR
• Another document that shows that the applicant has the necessary educational background (“other education”) and that the Academy can use to assess the applicant’s skills and knowledge.

In case of a foreign degree, we may request clarification on the degree’s status within the awarding country’s education system.

2) Document demonstrating the applicant’s language proficiency

Append to the application a language proficiency certificate of the language in which you are applying to study. The language proficiency certificate must meet the proficiency requirements as determined by the Academy (see Admissions criteria).

If you demonstrate your language proficiency by taking a language test accepted by the Academy of Fine Arts, you must append a certificate of the completed language test to the application prior to the conclusion of the application period.

You can demonstrate your language proficiency only in the manner determined by the Academy. We do not take other evidence of language skills into consideration in the admissions process.

3) Official proof of identity

Append a copy of your valid passport, EU identity card, or Finnish driving licence to your application. We use the identity documents only to verify the identity of the applicant in the entrance examination.

4) Required application materials (motivation letter, résumé, and work portfolio)

Required application materials consist of three parts:

1. motivation letter including a study plan
2. résumé/CV, and
3. work portfolio

The required application materials can be in Finnish, Swedish, or English.

Please read the instructions and check the accepted file sizes and formats below. If you do not submit the required materials that you have completed in accordance with the instructions by the due date, your application will be rejected. We will not provide any additional instructions or examples for the required materials or any of its parts.

The expectation is that you present your own artworks and own writing in your own words. If you use generative AI in the production of the artworks or the statements about them that should be explicitly acknowledged in the application.

Allowed file formats and sizes

Please submit the required materials in its entirety as a single PDF file. Maximum file size: 100 MB. Please name the file according to the following template: Lastname-Firstname-applicationmaterials

Parts of the required materials

1) Motivation letter including a study plan. Provide a clear account of why you wish to engage in studies in the master’s degree programme at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki. Why are these studies significant to you right now, and what would you like to accomplish during the two-year degree programme? Formulate a preliminary plan that outlines the themes and working methods that you intend to focus on during your master’s studies.

The motivation letter should not be longer than 3,000 characters (including spaces). To support the preparation of your motivation letter, familiarise yourself with the degree programme’s study guide.

2) Résumé/CV (information about prior education, possible work experience, possible exhibitions, publications, awards, grants, and study trips).

3) Work portfolio. Instructions for the portfolio can be found below. Please read them carefully.

Work portfolio

Present your artistic work with images in your work portfolio. The content of the work portfolio is not thematically restricted. Please only include recent works that support your application.

You can present a maximum of eight (8) works in your work portfolio. Please mark down the relevant details of the works, such as the work’s name, size, technique, material, and year, next to the image. If the presentation of a work involves some speciality, such as the use of artificial intelligence, indicate it in the portfolio in connection with the work description. If a work has several parts or is a three-dimensional artwork, you can, at your own discretion, present the work using as many pictures as necessary.

The admissions jury will not open any links included in the application (e.g., a link to the applicant’s homepage).

Some of the works in the work portfolio may be time-based artworks, moving images, audio art or media artworks. You may submit one (1) media file sample of this type of work. Please include a media file in your application only if the nature of the art works presented requires so. We recognise that contemporary artists work with a plurality of forms, some of which resist conventional modes of still and moving image representation. Please do your best within these guidelines to represent your work.

The maximum length of the sample is 5 minutes. Accepted file formats: MP3 (sound) or MP4 (video). Maximum file size: 500 MB. Please name the media file according to the following template: Lastname-Firstname-Mediafile.

Mark your name on the media file clearly. Add information about the art works presented to the file (e.g. screen credits) or to the picture portfolio (PDF file).

You can use the free HandBrake transcoder software, for instance, for the conversion and packaging of your media file.

5) Possible document exempting you from the application fee or the annual tuition fee

Applicants from outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland are required to pay an application fee in order to apply to higher education studies.

If you are from outside the aforementioned area and you are applying to bachelor’s or master’s level studies in Finland, you will need to pay the application fee.

The application fee is 100 euros. The application fee is collected by the Finnish National Agency for Education.

Paying the application fee guarantees that we will process your application in a manner described in this admissions guide. The application fee does not guarantee that you will be offered admission to studies.

Read more about the application fee and documents for waiving the application fee

Uniarts Helsinki will charge an annual tuition fee from students outside of EU, EEA and Switzerland studying in a bachelor’s or a master’s degree programme in English. If you apply to study in a programme organised in English, you will be liable to pay an annual tuition fee unless you submit a document indicating that you are exempt.

For more information on tuition fees, see section titled “Tuition fees”

Eligibility to apply

In the first phase of the admissions process, we will check the eligibility of each applicant.

All applicants will be informed by e-mail of their eligibility to apply on 11 September 2026. The Academy will only evaluate the materials of applicants who have been deemed eligible to apply. If you have not been contacted by the Academy of Fine Arts by 11 September 2026, please be in touch with the admissions services (kuva.admissions(at)uniarts.fi). Be sure to also check your junk e-mail folder.

Second phase: interview

Based on the required materials, we will invite some of the applicants to an interview, which comprises the second phase of the admissions procedure.

The interviews will be organised from 19 October 2026 to 27 October 2026. We will send an interview invitation via email on 5 October 2026 to those who have advanced to the second phase. We will also notify the eliminated applicants of the decision by email at that time.

Unless you request otherwise, the interview will be primarily carried out in the language which you have chosen as the language of study.

Individual arrangements

If the applicant requires individual arrangements during the interview process because of a sensory or physical disability, illness or other corresponding reason, they must apply for individual arrangements by filling in a separate application (see the link below). NB. The application must be submitted to the admissions office during the application period.

Individual arrangements in the entrance examination

Announcing the results

We will publish the results of the student admissions on the website of Uniarts Helsinki on 4 November 2026 for the applicants who have given their permission to publish their name. After this, you can also enquire about the student admissions results via e-mail (kuva.admissions(at)uniarts.fi).

We will send a result letter by email to admitted applicants and those who are placed on the waiting list. Some e-mail clients may treat our messages as spam, so please check your spam folder as well.

Request for rectification

Applicants can apply for rectification of the admission decision from Uniarts Helsinki under the Universities Act (558/2009), section 82. The purpose of a written request for rectification is to give the applicant the possibility to request for rectification if there is a reason to believe that there has been an error in the decision-making process. The rectification procedure is not intended as a means for receiving feedback or asking for further information about the admissions process.

A written request for rectification should be submitted within 14 days of the publication of the admission result.

How to request for rectification

Accepting the study place

Accept the study place offered to you no later than at 15:00 on 18 November 2026.

Notifications that arrive after the deadline will not be considered. The notification regarding accepting a study place is binding and cannot be changed or cancelled. If the applicant wishes to cancel their study place after accepting it, they will be regarded as having accepted a study place offered to them during that term.

Visit the Studyinfo.fi portal to learn more about accepting a study place.

If the applicant has been deemed conditionally eligible in the first phase of the admissions process, they must provide a certificate of the completed degree that confirms that they have a suitable educational background by the deadline for accepting the study place.

The following legislative amendment is currently under consideration in Finnish parliament:

“The proposal seeks to amend the Universities Act and the Universities of Applied Sciences Act. A higher education student could have only one right to study at a time leading to a degree at the same level. If a student accepts a new right to study, they would lose any existing rights to study at the same or a lower level (the so-called one-study-right rule). The acts are intended to enter into force on 1 August 2026, and they would be applied for the first time when admitting students to education starting on 1 January 2027.” If the amendment is adopted, the related information will be updated here.

Read more about the “one study place per term” provision

A student may, at any given time, have only one right to pursue a degree at Uniarts Helsinki. When accepting a new right to pursue a degree at Uniarts Helsinki, the student forfeits any prior study right at Uniarts Helsinki.

Enrolment for the first year

The enrolment instructions are sent to new students together with the material on being admitted to study.

Registering as absent for the first year of studies

Tuition fees

Uniarts Helsinki will charge an annual tuition fee of €28,000 from students outside of EU, EEA and Switzerland studying in a bachelor’s or a master’s degree programme in English. The amount of the annual tuition fee will stay the same for the statutory duration of a particular student’s studies.

Read more about the tuition fees

Contact

Academy of Fine Arts of Uniarts Helsinki admissions office
kuva.admissions@uniarts.fi