Programme specific requirements

The applicant applies directly to the Master’s Degree Programme in Social Exclusion, Master of Arts or to the Master’s Degree Programme in Social Exclusion, Master of Theology. All applicants must meet the academic and language requirements.

Academic requirements

Applicants must have a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field that is equivalent to a Finnish university Bachelor’s degree (kandidatexamen). Applying students must provide a relevant BA in Study of Religions, Gender Studies, History, Philosophy, Theology or an equivalent degree. As a rule of thumb the applicant should have the equivalence of 60 ECTS credits in the major subject. In addition, previous studies, relevant work and organisation experience, as well as other merits and qualifications can be taken into account. Student selection is made on the basis of application documents including a motivation letter and an interview (a maximum of 50 applicants are invited for an interview online or in person) .

If the applicant is formally eligible for studies, the degree certificates and transcripts of records are always assessed individually by the academic board of the programme in order to determine whether the profile of the previous studies matches the academic requirements.

Applicants with a BA in Theology should apply to Master’s Degree Programme in Social Exclusion, Master of Theology to obtain a Master of Theology degree.

Applicants with a BA in other subjects (see Application process for more information about eligibility) should apply to Master’s Degree Programme in Social Exclusion, Master of Arts, to obtain a Master of Arts degree.

Applicants can apply for both Master of Theology and Master of Arts and if admitted they can choose either one of the degrees offered.

Language requirements

All applicants must meet the general English language requirements set by Åbo Akademi University. See https://www.abo.fi/en/study/apply/language-requirements/ for more information on the requirements.

Students who do not meet the requirements mentioned on the page (above) can in the application apply for the right to be assessed separately by the coordinators of the Master´s Degree Programme in Social Exclusion. Only applicants who hold a degree that render them eligible for the program are preliminarily considered to be granted the right to get their level of proficiency in the English language assessed.

The level of proficiency in the English language is assessed during an interview.  Authenticating the identity of the applicant is done by passport. The applicant must bring the same passport of which a copy has been submitted with the application. Coordinators visually assess that it is the same persons. The interviews are recorded.

Whether or not the applicant’s level of proficiency in English is high enough for participating in the program is assessed based on his or her speaking, listening and writing skills. The level of proficiency is assessed by the coordinators after the interview.