You can study in Finland without IELTS if your previous degree was taught in English in a country your Finnish university accepts. The University of Oulu, for example, accepts an English-taught bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree from EU/EEA countries and from 42 other listed countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, India, the Philippines and the United States. Your transcript or an official letter from your university must state that teaching was in English. Online degrees and offshore-campus degrees do not count.
The scholarships are a separate question. Finland has no government scholarship for degree students, and university awards are tuition waivers that do not cover living costs (the one exception I found is Turku’s Fulbright award for US citizens). Under the latest published terms they range from a €2,000 Early Bird discount to a 100% waiver at the University of Helsinki. Applications for most English-taught programmes go through Studyinfo.fi in January 2027.
How to study in Finland without IELTS
Each Finnish university publishes its own language rules. The routes below are the ones Oulu confirms in writing, and they show the pattern most Finnish universities follow. Check your own university’s language requirements page before you rely on any of them.
- A degree taught in English in a listed country: bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral, with the language of instruction on your documents or in an official statement from your university.
- A bachelor’s from an EU/EEA country: accepted by Oulu as proof of English.
- Studies in Finland: a degree completed in Finland, or 15 ECTS credits of English-language studies at a Finnish higher education institution.
- School education in English: Oulu also lists basic or upper secondary education in English, but excludes online and offshore-campus qualifications, including offshore A-levels.
Countries whose English-taught degrees Oulu accepts
| Region | Countries |
|---|---|
| Europe | All EU/EEA countries, Great Britain, Switzerland |
| Africa | Botswana, Cameroon, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| Asia and Pacific | Australia, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore |
| Americas and Caribbean | Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States |
If your country is not on the list, a medium-of-instruction letter alone will not exempt you at Oulu, and you need a test. Oulu accepts IELTS, TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic and Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency. Duolingo is not on its list.
Some sites say Finnish universities waive IELTS after an admissions interview, or accept Duolingo across the board. I could not confirm either for the universities in this post, so treat those claims with caution.
Finland scholarships for 2027: what each university offers
Tuition applies to citizens of countries outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland who do not hold an exempting Finnish residence permit. Doctoral study has no tuition fee. These are the waivers I confirmed on each university’s own page.
| University | Annual fee (non-EU) | First year | Later years |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Helsinki | €13,000 to €18,000 (master’s) | 50% or 100% waiver, for master’s only, limited number | Same waiver for year two if you pass 55 ECTS |
| University of Oulu | €8,500 to €14,000 | Early Bird discount for paying early | 10% to 40% waiver with 60 credits a year |
| University of Eastern Finland (UEF) | €10,000 to €12,000 | 30% Early Bird discount (€3,000 or €3,600) if you pay within 21 days | 30% waiver with 55 ECTS in year one |
| University of Turku | Up to €12,000 (master’s) | €2,000 Early Bird discount for master’s (2026 terms) | 50% merit scholarship with 55 credits and grade average 3.0 (2026 terms) |
University of Helsinki scholarship programme
Helsinki offers the only full tuition waiver in this list. It is for fee-paying students admitted to a master’s programme, and most awards are 50%. The waiver lasts two years if you study full time (at least 55 ECTS a year). You apply for it on the same form as your master’s application, and selection looks at your previous results and motivation. Helsinki’s page still shows terms from the 2025 to 2026 round, so check it again when the January 2027 round opens. English-taught bachelor’s students cannot get a waiver, only a €1,000 Dean’s award in later years.
University of Oulu
Oulu replaced its old 50% to 100% scholarship with an Early Bird discount and a second-year waiver for everyone starting in autumn 2026 or later. The 2027 application runs from 7 to 21 January 2027 on Studyinfo. Our full University of Oulu scholarships guide lists the fee and waiver for each programme, the dates and the documents, so I will not repeat them here.
University of Eastern Finland
For the 2027 intake, UEF caps support at about 30% of the fee. Some sites say UEF’s top award covers 100% of tuition; UEF’s page says full waivers are not available, except for students under temporary protection in Finland. The first-year Early Bird discount needs you to accept your place and pay within 21 days of results. From the second year, a 30% waiver needs 55 ECTS in your first academic year, with a separate application. UEF also gives one-off Finnish proficiency awards of €2,500 or €1,500, and says these amounts will change from 2027 to 2028.
University of Turku
Turku had only published terms for students admitted in 2026 when I checked. Under those terms, no scholarship covers first-year tuition. Master’s applicants get €2,000 off if they accept and pay within 28 days of results. From year two, a merit scholarship pays 50% of the next year’s fee if you earn 55 credits with an average of at least 3.0 out of 5, and you need at least 4 credits of Finnish before applying. US citizens can also apply for the Fulbright award at Turku, which pays €1,000 a month plus a tuition scholarship.
Tampere University and Aalto University also run tuition scholarships, but I could not confirm their 2027 terms, so they are not in the table.
How to apply to study in Finland without IELTS
- Check your English route: open the language requirements page of each university you want and find your country. If you are not listed, book a test the university accepts.
- Get a language-of-instruction letter: if your transcript does not say your degree was taught in English, ask your registry for an official statement.
- Apply on Studyinfo.fi: the joint application for most English-taught master’s programmes runs in January. You can apply for up to six study options in one application.
- Pay the application fee: non-EU/EEA applicants pay €100 through Studyinfo. Unpaid applications are not processed.
- Tick the scholarship box where there is one: at Helsinki, the waiver application is part of the master’s form.
- Have first-year fees ready: Early Bird windows at Oulu, UEF and Turku run from 21 to 28 days after results.
- Apply for your residence permit: Finland’s immigration service asks students to show €9,600 for living costs for a year, on top of any tuition not yet paid.
If a programme asks for references, our recommendation letter samples will help your referees.
Is Finland worth it without a full scholarship?
Only if your family can cover part of the fee and the €9,600 living cost requirement. Even with a 50% Helsinki waiver on a €15,000 programme, you pay €7,500 in fees plus living costs in year one. The good news is that dropping IELTS is easy for many applicants: if your degree was taught in English in one of the listed countries, Oulu needs only your transcript or a letter. If you need full funding, look at fully funded awards such as the MARIHE Erasmus Mundus Scholarship instead.
FAQ on studying in Finland without IELTS
Can I study in Finland with a medium of instruction letter?
Yes, at Oulu, if your degree was completed in a listed country. The letter must come from the institution that awarded your degree, and it is needed only when your transcript does not already state the language of instruction.
Does Finland accept Duolingo for university admission?
Oulu does not accept it. I could not confirm Duolingo acceptance at any other university in this post, so check each university’s language page.
Is there a fully funded Finland government scholarship?
No. Study in Finland, the national portal, says there are no government scholarship programmes for degree students. Funding comes from each university as tuition waivers.
When is the deadline to apply to Finnish universities for 2027?
Most English-taught master’s programmes use the January 2027 joint application on Studyinfo. At Oulu it runs from 7 January (08:00) to 21 January 2027 (15:00, Finnish time, GMT+2).
Sources and updates
The English routes and country list come from the University of Oulu’s language requirements for master’s degrees. Helsinki’s fees and waiver come from its tuition fees and scholarship programme page. UEF’s 2027 waivers come from its tuition fees, waivers and scholarships page, and Turku’s terms from its scholarships and tuition fees page. Oulu’s fees, dates and application fee come from oulu.fi as set out in our Oulu guide. The €9,600 figure comes from the Finnish Immigration Service’s income requirement for students, and the status of government scholarships from Study in Finland. Information checked on 24 October 2026. I will update this post when Helsinki and Turku publish 2027 terms.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
