Sisu instructions: Applying for credit transfer

• A substitution application does not have to be submitted for studies completed at the University of Helsinki or at the Open university, unless these studies are already compiled within another degree or study module of the University of Helsinki. You can mark a course as equivalent yourself or make an application in the free edit mode (see study plan instructions). In some cases communication and language studies completed at UH may have to be substituted via credit transfer, more information in Language centre's instructions.
• Your application for credit transfer (also known as the recognition of prior learning) must be accompanied by a transcript of studies from the university where you completed the credits to be transferred. Your application cannot be processed if it is not accompanied by this transcript. Alternatively, you can add a link to the completed credits in the description field. You can find the link in the My Studyinfo service under My completed studies (information in Finnish and Swedish only). NB! Please first check that the linked information is correct. Please also note that the link is valid for only six months.
• Make a separate credit transfer application for each course so that you are able to place them into different parts of your study plan. Only add more than one course in one application if you are sure that you will place them in one place in your study plan - for example, in other optional studies.
• Even if you are applying for credit transfer for a study module, you should still make a separate credit transfer application for each course in the module.

Submit a substitution application when all of the following apply:

• you wish to substitute a compulsory or an optional course in your plan
• you have completed the substituting studies in another higher education institution in Finland (universities, the National Defence University, universities of applied sciences) or abroad or you are requesting the recognition of learning acquired in non-formal or informal education
• you do not have a credit marked in Sisu for the studies in question.

Select the course to be substituted

1. Start the application for substitution from the Structure of studies page. First, find the course from your study plan that you wish to substitute.
   
2. Open the course brochure by clicking the code on the course’s icon.
   
3. Open the course brochure’s Substitutions tab. 
   
   You can find the heading Credit transfer at the bottom of the tab, and below the heading is the View the application button. Click that.  The substitution application opens up in a pop-up window.
   
4. Click the button ‘Add information on studies or other prior learning’ in the middle part of the pop-up window.
   
5. Select the type of the studies you would like to add to the application in a new pop-up window.
   1. Select ‘Completed studies’ from the radio buttons if you have completed the credits in another higher education institution. 
   2. Select 'Other prior learning' if the learning has been acquired in non-formal or informal education.
6. Click the Add button.
7. 

Add the substitution’s information

Fill in the information of the course you have completed elsewhere, such as the scope and name of the course in the original place of completion, in the text fields of the view that opens. Add the name of the substituting course also in Finnish and Swedish, if possible. Give the objectives, contents and possible literature of the completed course in the Description field.

If necessary, next you can add another substitution’s information by clicking the ‘Add information on studies or other prior learning’ button again, which is now shown below the information of the course you have completed elsewhere. Do this when, for example, you wish to substitute a 10-credit course with two 5-credit courses that have been completed elsewhere.

Add attachments

Add attachments by clicking the Choose files button in the bottom corner of the page or by dragging the files in the light grey field that says “Drop files to attach”. You will need a transcript of studies from the university where you have completed the studies as well as a description of the completed course as attachments for the substitution application. Please attach a description of the completed course as an attachment (e.g. screenshot) to the application if you have not added it to the Description field. If you are applying for substitution on the basis of non-formal or informal learning, you must attach to your application a description of how the learning corresponds to the learning outcomes of the studies whose recognition you are requesting.Your application cannot be processed without a transcript of studies and a description of the course. If necessary, also add the attachments required by your degree programme. Additional information on the required attachments is available on the page Recognition and validation of prior learning. Finally, click the Continue button in the bottom right corner of the application.

Alternatively, you can add a link to the completed credits in the description field. You can find the link in the My Studyinfo service under My completed studies (information in Finnish and Swedish only). NB! Please first check that the linked information is correct. Please also note that the link is valid for only six months.

Choose how you want to be informed of the decision

Now, a heading Assessment and decision will appear at the bottom of the application. Select how you wish to be informed of the decision. We recommend that you choose the electronic decision if you do not necessarily need the decision on paper. Click the Submit application button in the bottom right corner of the application. After this, you can print out the application from the upper corner of the view. 

Notification of the decision

You will get a notification of the decision in Sisu’s frontpage and messages. The application can also be found from the My profile page. After your substitution application has been approved, the substituted course will be shown as completed in your study plan.

Submit an inclusion application when all of the following apply:

• you have completed the studies in another higher education institution in Finland (universities, the National Defence University, universities of applied sciences) or abroad or you are requesting the recognition of learning acquired in non-formal or informal education
• you do not have a credit marked in Sisu for the studies in question
• you plan to include the studies in optional or alternative studies in your plan.

Applying through a study draft

You may have already created a study draft of the studies to be included in your study plan. If this is the case, make the inclusion application through the study draft. Now the credit transfer will be shown in your study plan directly in the section where the study draft has previously been approved in.

Open the application on the Structure of studies page as follows:

1. First, click the ‘Study draft’ link on the icon of the study draft you are applying for inclusion for.
   
2. Then click the Suggest credit button.
   
3. Select ‘I am applying for an included course credit’ and click the Continue button. 
   

Applying without a study draft

If you are proceeding without a study draft, click the button with three dots in the upper right corner of the structure view. Select the option ‘Request to have prior learning included in your degree’ from the drop-down menu.

Suggest a credit

1. First, check or select the location of the credit to be included in your study plan. If the location has not been selected yet or you wish to change it, click the link next to the planned location. Depending on the case, the name of the link is either ‘Change’ or ‘Select a location for the credit in the structure’.
   
2. Type the name of the credit in the text field, e.g. the name given in another university’s transcript of studies. Then click the Continue button.
   
3. Click the button ‘Add information on studies or other prior learning’ in the middle part of the pop-up window.
   
4. Select the type of the studies you would like to add to the application in a new pop-up window. . 
   1. Select ‘Completed studies’ from the radio buttons if you have completed the studies in another higher education institution  
   2. Select 'Other prior learning' or you are requesting the recognition of learning acquired in non-formal or informal education
5. Click the Add button.
   

Add the information of the course that will be included

Fill in the information of the course you have completed elsewhere in the text fields of the view that opens. Add the name of the substituting course also in Finnish and Swedish, if possible. Only add the information of one course that has been completed elsewhere in one application!

Add attachments

Next, add attachments by clicking the Choose files button in the bottom corner of the page or by dragging the files in the light grey field that says “Drop files to attach”. Note! Add at least a transcript of studies from the university where you have completed the studies. The student’s basic information and the studies’ information have to be visible on the transcript. Your application cannot be processed without this attachment.

If you are applying for substitution on the basis of non-formal or informal learning, you must attach to your application a description of how the learning corresponds to the learning outcomes of the studies whose recognition you are requesting. Add other attachments if necessary. Finally, click the Continue button in the bottom right corner of the application.

Alternatively, you can add a link to the completed credits in the description field. You can find the link in the My Studyinfo service under My completed studies (information in Finnish and Swedish only). NB! Please first check that the linked information is correct. Please also note that the link is valid for only six months.

Choose how you want to be informed of the decision

Now, a heading Assessment and decision will appear at the bottom of the application. Select how you wish to be informed of the decision. We recommend that you choose the electronic decision if you do not necessarily need the decision on paper. Click the Submit application button in the bottom corner of the application. After this, you can print out the application from the upper corner of the view.

Notification of the decision

You will get a notification of the decision in Sisu’s frontpage and messages. The application can also be found from the My profile page. After your inclusion application has been approved, the included course will be shown as completed in your study plan.

Before applying for a custom course credit, please read the grounds for applying carefully on the page Completing a credit.

Apply for a custom course credit if some of the following apply to you:

• you have a study module whose every required part you have completed, but the amount of credits of the module is still incomplete
• you wish to substitute only a part of a certain compulsory course with a course that you have completed at another Finnish or foreign university and complete the credit to correspond the whole course according to the teacher’s instructions.

Note! A custom course credit cannot be used for updating expired studies.

Applying through a study draft

If you already have a study draft of the course, open the application on the Structure of studies page as follows:

1. First, click the ‘Study draft’ link in the study draft that you are applying for inclusion for.
   
2. Then click the Suggest credit button.
   
3. Select ‘I am applying for a custom course credit’ from the radio buttons and click the Continue button.
   

Applying without a study draft

If you are proceeding without a study draft, click the button with three dots in the upper right corner of the structure view. Select the option ‘Request a custom course credit’ from the drop-down menu.

Suggest a credit

1. First, check or select the location for the custom course credit in your study plan. If the location has not been selected yet or you wish to change it, click the link next to the planned location. Depending on the case, the name of the link is either ‘Change’ or ‘Select a location for the credit in the structure’.
   
2. Then type the name of the custom course credit in the text field, for example the heading of an essay assignment.
   

Add the information of the custom course credit

Fill in the information of the custom course credit in the text fields of the view that opens:

• Grounds for applying for the credit
• Name of the coordinating teacher
• Agreed amount of credits
• Content of the credit and required assignments

Add attachments

Next, add attachments by clicking the Choose files button in the bottom corner of the page or by dragging the files in the light grey field that says “Drop files to attach”. Finally, click the Continue button in the bottom right corner of the application.

Choose how you want to be informed of the decision

Now, a heading Assessment and decision will appear at the bottom of the application. Select how you wish to be informed of the decision. We recommend that you choose the electronic decision if you do not necessarily need the decision on paper. Click the Submit application button in the bottom right corner of the application. After this, you can print out the application. The Print button is in the upper corner of the application, on the left side of the Cancel application button.

Notification of the decision

You will get a notification of the decision in Sisu’s frontpage and messages. The application can also be found from the My profile page. After your application has been approved, the completed course will be shown as completed in your study plan.

Special cases

• If you have completed a course at another Finnish or foreign university that is e.g. worth 10 credits, half of which you intend to use to substitute a compulsory course and half of which you intend to include in your degree as optional studies, you have to submit two credit transfer applications.
  1. Substitution application to substitute compulsory studies
  2. Inclusion application to include the rest in your degree.
• If you have agreed that you can substitute a part of a course with a course completed at another Finnish or foreign university, and you are completing a credit in a way instructed by your degree programme, apply for a custom course credit in the following way:
  1. Apply for a custom course credit for studies completed at another university
  2. Apply for another custom course credit for the completing credits agreed with your degree programme
  3. In the free edit mode, delete the course from your study plan that you are substituting with custom course credits, and request for approval for the change.
• If you wish to substitute only a part of a compulsory course with a course that has been completed elsewhere and to complete the credit according to the coordinating teacher’s instructions:
  1. Apply for inclusion for the part of the course completed elsewhere
  2. Apply for a custom course credit for the part of the complementary course.
  3. Delete the original course from your plan in the free edit mode after both of the applications have been approved.

1. Click ‘My profile’ from the main menu in Sisu.
2. Open the Applications and decisions tab.
   
3. Click the application you wish to cancel.
   
4. Click the 'Cancel the application' button.

• Sisu instructions: Study plan
• Sisu instructions: Study draft

You can find all Sisu user instructions on the User instructions for Sisu page.

You can find answers to common problems and questions on the Frequently asked questions about Sisu page.