Bachelor’s theses and maturity tests

A bachelor’s degree, a first-cycle university degree, includes a 6 cr written thesis. In the thesis, you will demonstrate your academic thinking skills and communication and the ability to discuss field-specific problems. 

You may complete the thesis independently or by participating in groupwork or an extensive research project, in which case your independent contribution must be clearly demonstrable and easily assessed. Write your thesis independently. 

The thesis can be completed as pairwork by two students only if such an option is indicated in the degree programme curriculum. In such cases, the independent contribution of both students must be clearly demonstrable. Co-authored theses are assessed as independent works submitted by both students separately, and the same examiner assesses them separately. 

You should write your thesis in academic language.

The thesis template

To ensure the accessibility of the thesis file, you can use the text styles contained in the University of Helsinki template and follow the instructions provided in the template. However, make sure your faculty and degree program's thesis guidelines before using the template. When the Word file is in order for accessibility, you can also easily create an accessible PDF file.

Abstract

The thesis includes an abstract written in the language of the thesis. In addition, if you have completed your secondary education in Finnish or Swedish, you must write an abstract in the language of your secondary education if the abstract also serves as a maturity test with which you demonstrate your proficiency in Finnish or Swedish. The instructions concerning the abstract (e.g. number of characters) vary according to the degree programme. Please check the instructions from your degree programme. 

You can use the University's abstract document (a word document). Fill in the requested information on each line and finally add your abstract. The length of the abstract is usually one page. The degree programmes or faculties may have more specific instructions, please see also the degree programme-specific instructions. Attached is also a model document as a pdf. If you wish, you can also write the abstract using other word processors, following the template.

Thesis submission

All Bachelor's theses will be assessed in the new E-thesis information system starting from the beginning of the 2026-2027 academic year. In Bachelor's programmes where E-thesis has not previously been used, the thesis can be submitted to the new E-thesis system starting from 3 August 2026 at 9 am.

Before submitting your thesis, register in Sisu for both

• the course implementation of the Bachelor's thesis and
• the course implementation of the maturity test.

Please note that registering for the thesis seminar is not enough; you must register for the implementations mentioned above when submitting your thesis. 

If you have registered for more than one implementation, select the registration for the current academic year. This is important so that the performance information is recorded correctly in Sisu. 

After registering, you can submit the final version of your Bachelor's thesis to the new E-thesis and your thesis will be assessed. After submission, you will no longer be able to make changes or corrections to your thesis. You will receive confirmation of successful submission by email and you can follow the progress of the assessment in the system.

Also read the instructions for using the new E-thesis.

Assessment

The thesis is assessed on a scale of 0–5. More detailed instructions for grading a Bachelor’s thesis are provided in the curricula of your degree programme. The grade awarded for the thesis is taken into account when calculating the overall grade for intermediate studies. 

The date when you submit your thesis for assessment shall be recorded as the completion date of the thesis. If the thesis is the only uncompleted component of your studies, you can submit a graduation request in Sisu on the same date.

If you are dissatisfied with the grading of the thesis, you can submit an oral or written appeal to the teacher in charge of the assessment. Read more on the page Protection of students' rights and review procedures.

The maturity test is mostly completed as an Examinarium examination. However, it can be decided in degree programme curricula that the maturity test is an academic text related to the topic of the thesis, such as the thesis abstract. The maturity test is undertaken after the completion of first-language studies or equivalent studies.

The maturity test demonstrates your familiarity with the topic of the thesis and your proficiency in Finnish or Swedish.

If you have completed your basic or secondary education in Finnish or Swedish you must write the maturity test in the language of your basic or secondary education. Basic or secondary education and the maturity test together provide the ‘excellent ability’ in this language referred to in section 6, subsection 1 of the Act on language proficiency (424/2003).

If you have completed your basic or secondary education in a language other than Finnish or Swedish or have been educated abroad you may complete your maturity test in English, Finnish or Swedish or in the language in which you wrote their bachelor’s thesis. In this case, however, your degree certificate will not indicate that you have ‘excellent ability’ in Finnish or Swedish. Instead, you must obtain, when necessary, a certificate of your excellent Finnish or Swedish language skills by another method. Further information on alternative methods is available on the website of the Finnish National Agency for Education (National Certificates of Language Proficiency).

Maturity tests are graded on a pass–fail basis. The person marking and approving a maturity test is usually a teacher in the degree programme (e.g., your thesis supervisor). The person approving a maturity test must be proficient in the language of the test.

A maturity test is an independent study attainment, but it is recorded in Sisu as having a scope of 0 credits.

The maturity test is an independent study attainment which, however, does not yield credits and is graded on a pass–fail basis. A teacher in the relevant degree programme, for example the thesis supervisor, approves the maturity test, provided that they are proficient in the language in which the test is written. 

Please note that the use of artificial intelligence in maturity tests is never allowed. Read more on the page Using AI to support learning.

Public access to theses

Bachelor’s theses included in first-cycle (bachelor’s) degrees are public documents. Their public access is based on the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999). This means that the University must grant access to theses to anyone upon request.

The abstract is also always made available to the public.

Secret material and theses

A thesis submitted for assessment must not include any confidential information, as they are made available to the public immediately following assessment and approval. You must include any such information in the background material, which is not appended to the assessed thesis.

The Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999) contains provisions on secret official documents. Secret information includes information on private business or commercial activities or a private individual’s health, assets, political convictions or family life.

You cannot either include secret material in thesis appendices or abstracts. The thesis supervisor can gain access to secret background material but must ensure that such material is excluded from the thesis itself. 

Publication of theses

The University of Helsinki recommends the open publication of theses. 

If your degree programme uses the E-thesis system, the abstracts of bachelor’s theses are always published in the University’s open Helda repository. If you permit the publication of your entire thesis, it will be published in Helda, where it will be available to the general public. Search engines will display resources contained in the publication repository prominently in search results. If you do not permit the publication of your thesis, it will be available for viewing only on the library terminals of Helsinki University Library.

You must use the E-thesis system, currently available in two versions, to accept or reject the publication of your thesis. 

• If your degree programme uses the old version, you will receive a message about publication permission from the E-thesis system after the approval of your thesis.
• If your degree programme uses the new version, you must accept or reject the publication of your thesis when submitting it for assessment.