Master level education in Youth Work and Social Equality

The intake of students to the Degree Programme in Youth Work and Social Equality has started in 2010. Additional intake in Estonia is 28th June -  3rd August 2010.

ADMISSION CRITERIA AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE IN 2010

Degree Programme in Youth Work and Social Equality – Comparative European Perspectives on Youth Work and Social Disadvantage

Title:  Master of Humanities  

HUMAK University of Applied Sciences (FI) with University of Bedfordshire (UK) and University of Tartu / Viljandi Culture Academy is launching a new Degree Programme, which is developed with a support of European Union, Lifelong Learning/Erasmus Programme.   

HOW TO APPLY?

The only possibility to apply is to send filled and signed application form with needed attachments to Viljandi Culture Academy  Admissions Office.  Applications must be posted or delivered to the Viljandi Culture Academy Admissions Office by the end of the application period. Faxed or scanned copies are not accepted.

Copies of certificates and testimonials must be attached to the application form. Applicants, who are applying with a qualification completed elsewhere than in Estonia and who are not a citizen or a permanent resident of an EU/EEA country, must also provide proof of their English language skills.  The pre-assignment should be done and submitted to Admissions Office together with an application form and other documents.

WHEN TO APPLY?

Application period is 28th June -  3rd August 2010 (additional intake).  The Applications with all required attachments should be at HUMAK University of Applied Sciences Admissions Office by 03.08.2010 at 16:00 (Finnish and Estonian time, GMT + 2).

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?

Eligibility for the programme is given by

  • a bachelor level education degree completed in Finland (yhteisöpedagogi AMK, sosionomi AMK), university degree in the field of study or a bachelor level education degree in the field of study completed outside Finland (will be checked case by case)
  • three years of work experience in study field  after completing the bachelor level education degree.   (The working experience could be from youth work, work at NGO´s or social youth work)
    • Applicants who have completed a Finnish vocational college diploma or higher vocational diploma (opistoasteinen tai ammatillinen korkea-asteen tutkinto) before the completion of their bachelor level education degree, may also take into account the work experience gained before the bachelor level education degree.
  • Required knowledge of English  (good skills in oral and written English)

To demonstrate his/her eligibility, the applicant must attach copies of the certificates used for applying to the application form. In addition, an authorised Finnish, Swedish or English translation of the certificate must be provided, if the certificate is not written in one of these languages (or in Estonian). The translation must have the translator’s signature and stamp.

The certificate copies must arrive at the Viljandi Culture Academy Admissions Office by the end of the application period.

Applicants, who are applying with a qualification completed elsewhere than in Estonia and who are not a citizen of an EU/EEA country, must also provide proof of their English language skills by the end of the application period. Further information below in the chapter “English language skills”.

ADMISSION PROCEDURE

All applicants who have demonstrated their eligibility will be invited to the entrance examination.  
The selection of students is made by entrance examination, pre-assignment, thesis and working experience:

Entrance examination and pre-assignment                                                  

max 50 points

Thesis

max 30 points

Work experience

max 20 points

Entrance examination

The entrance examination consists of a written test and an interview. The entrance examination is conducted in English. The invitation to the examination will include further details on the content of the examination which is hold in Helsinki in 17th August 2010.

Work experience in the field of study 

The three years’ work experience in the field of study is required for eligibility. Work experience completed by 31 July 2010 is taken into account. Additional work experience in the field of youth work, work at NGO`s or social youth work, exceeds the eligibility requirement, accrues one point per two months’ experience.

Part-time work is converted to full-time work so that 150 hours or 20 full days (at least seven working hours a day) correspond to one month. Work experience does not have to be continuous or earned with the same employer. Practical training or on-the-job training that is included in the degree used for application is not counted as work experience. Military service, civil service or nursing leave are not accepted as work experience.

To gain the work experience points, the applicant must enclose copies of testimonials with the application form. Testimonials should show the tasks/content of the work, duration of work and the number of working hours in case of part-time work and they should be approved by employer.

English language skills

Applicants, who are applying with a qualification completed elsewhere than in Finland and who are not a citizen of an EU/EEA country, must provide proof of their English language skills. The proof must be delivered to the Viljandi Culture Academy Admissions Office by the end of the application period.

The potential tests for proving the level of skills in English are as follows:

  • IELTS, academic level
  • TOEFL (Internet-based test)
  • level 4 in English language skills in the National Certificate of Language Proficiency (Yleinen kielitutkinto, a test in Finland)
  • the Finnish Matriculation Exam in an advanced level English

In addition, upper secondary level education completed in English in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, or bachelor’s or master’s degree completed in English in one of these countries, is also accepted as a proof of sufficient English language skills.

Further information concerning admission

The results of student selection are announced by 17th August at the earliest. Admitted students must confirm they will accept their study place by 24th August 2010 by 16:00 Finnish time (GMT +2) at the latest. New students must also register for the academic year at the same time students confirm they will accept the study place.

If you need more information about the content of the studies, please do not hesitate to contact HUMAK/ Principal lecturer Ph.D. Jukka Määttä tel. +358 (0)20 7621 249 or Senior lecturer Sari Höylä tel. +358 (0)20 7621 376 or at Tartu University, Viljandi Culture Academy/ Head of Department Allan Kährik  allan@kultuur.edu.ee