Retakes and raising grades

You can attempt to raise the grade of completed studies no more than twice.

• If, for example, you have passed a book examination (an examination taken after independent study), you can attempt to raise your grade twice, in examination sessions where it is possible to take the examination in question. If, for the first or second resit, you receive a poorer grade in comparison to the grade you received originally, this retake will nevertheless count as an attempt to raise a passed grade.
• When you complete studies, for example lecture courses, you will be informed about how the course is assessed. Generally, there will be an end-of-course examination and at least one opportunity to retake the examination. If you pass the examination and there is only one opportunity for a retake, you will only be able to attempt to raise your grade once. If you do not take the examination in the first available session, but complete it at the resit session and there is no second resit session available, you will not be able to attempt to raise your grade.

The opportunity to raise a grade does not apply to recognised prior courses or bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral theses.

If you wish to raise the grade of written studies, such as a written project, essay or learning journal, a significant part of it must be rewritten or it must be written on an entirely new topic.

You can raise the grade of an individual course included in a study module. However, this will not impact the grade already given for the study module or the completion date of the module. This means that the grading of a study module will not be changed due to a raised course grade, and the incorporation of courses into a module cannot be cancelled. An already issued degree certificate will not be amended because of a raised grade.

If you are a degree programme student, you cannot register again for a course that you have completed and have used the opportunities available to raise your grade, unless the completed studies have expired and cannot, therefore, be included in your degree.

Students who have passed a course can register for the same course if it is organised by the Open University. Please note that if you wish to participate in an Open University course in order to raise the grade of previously completed studies, you must always pay the study fee for the course. Before enrolment, please contact avoin-student@helsinki.fi. 

If you receive a failing grade for an examination associated with teaching, you can retake the examination in the sessions made available.

If you receive a failing grade for an essay or an equivalent written assignment, you must be provided with an opportunity to redo it in order to receive a passing grade.

There are no restrictions on retaking examinations that are not associated with teaching. In other words, you can retake a failed book examination as many times as is needed to receive a passing grade.