Important documents during your exchange

The certificate of student status is a free-of-charge certificate of attendance or non-attendance available to all University of Helsinki degree students. You can use a certificate of student status to prove that you are a University of Helsinki student in cases where a student card or transcript of studies is insufficient.

You will receive this certificate at the Welcome Fair during the orientation week. You can later order your certificate of student status from Sisu and if necessary request for it from the Student Services.

Arrival and departure certificates are mainly applicable to Erasmus exchange students. Some universities require one or the other, some both. Please follow your home university's instructions! Please note that this is a certificate provided by your home university, not by the University of Helsinki.

These certificates can be signed by Student Services or International Exchange Services. Please see you home university's instructions on when to return the papers.

Please note that “end of stay” -date is the date you pick up the certificate or maximum three working days after that. The certificate can only be signed in person, so make sure you have the departure certificate signed before you depart from Helsinki!

After your arrival to the University of Helsinki, changes to your Learning Agreement (LA) are possible (overlaps, cancellations, courses fully booked etc.). You might need an acceptance for changes from your home university, but the University of Helsinki does not require you to update your LA due to minor changes. If you fulfill the prerequisites and if there's space in the course, you are welcome to include it in your study plan.

You can get a signature for your LA from International Exchange Services by visiting during the office hours or by sending an electronic copy by e-mail.

Please note that the LA is not a registration for any courses nor a guarantee that you are accepted to those courses. 

If you need more information concerning the LA or want to make changes, please contact International Exchange Services. In case you need to update your LA and your home university has not provided you with a form for changes, you can use this changes to Learning Agreement form.

The transcript of studies (/records) includes only credits of those courses you have passed. It is not technically possible to add failed courses on the transcript. If your home institution requires proof of a failed course, you need to ask for this from the teacher of the failed course. Please note that teachers are not obliged to write such certificates, nor are they able to grade pass/fail courses if they haven't agreed to do so at the beginning of the course. 

The University of Helsinki does not send automatically your transcript of studies! You need to order the transcript once all your courses have been registered in Sisu. You have access to your Sisu account until end of February (if you are staying for the fall period) or September (if you are studying in the spring term/whole academic year). 

Here you can find instructions for ordering a transcript of studies.

Check with your home institution whether they accept an electronically signed transcript of studies or if they need a paper copy.