Sisu instructions: Registering for teaching and exams

To be able to register for the courses and examinations without problems, please check the following:

1. Always register for the course via your primary study plan. Don’t register via Sisu’s Search page. You will find instructions for adding a course into your study plan on the page Sisu instructions: Study plan.
   NB! If you have a study right for both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, you need to add the Master’s programme’s degree structure after the Bachelor’s programme’s degree structure into the same study plan. You will find more instructions on how to choose a Master’s programme in your study plan on the page Sisu instructions: Choosing a Master’s programme.
2. Check that your study plan includes this academic year’s version of the course. You will find instructions for checking and updating the course version on the page Sisu instructions: Updating a version of a course or a study module in the study plan.
3. Always select the completion method before selecting the teaching. Select the completion method on the course brochure by first clicking the column of a completion method and then clicking the green “Select this completion method” button.
4. In the Study calendar when you're registering for the course, please register to all the suitable teaching groups if there are multiple to choose from. This way it is more likely for you to be chosen to at least one of the groups.
5. Read and carefully follow the registration instructions on this page.
6. Finally, check the status of your registration i.e. whether you can participate or not. Further instructions can be found on this page.

Selecting the completion method and teaching

Before registering, you must select a completion method and teaching for the course either in the Study calendar or by clicking the course code on the Structure of studies page. If possible, the choice of completion method should be made in advance for all courses in the next teaching period, so that you can later complete all registrations in the study calendar at once. Note! Do not start course registration from the Search page because registration approval requires that you select teaching through your plan.

1. Open the course brochure and move to the Completion methods tab. Firstly, check below the course name that the version of the course corresponds to the academic year.
2. Click the column of the completion method you want and then click Select this completion method. 
3. Select teaching by clicking the Select button, which will activate after the completion method has been selected. You can see the registration period and selection criteria for teaching from the teaching’s additional information by clicking its name. You can read more about selection criteria in the section Registration methods at the end of this page.
   
   If a completion method has more than five teachings, you can get all teachings visible by clicking Show more under the undermost teaching. 

   Under teaching may appear the notification ‘The teaching is already in your calendar, either through one of the parts of another completion method, through another version of the course or through another course.’ By clicking the Show link below, you can see which course and completion method you have chosen.
   

4. Click Proceed to registration on the notification that appears at the top of the page right after you have selected teaching. You can also proceed directly to the study calendar later when the registration is open.
   
5. You will be moved to the Study calendar page. You can register for teaching from the sidebar in the upper right corner of the page. If the sidebar does not open automatically, click Open sidebar in the upper right corner of the page. The information of the teaching you just selected will be open by default.
   
6. With the Show events in calendar button you can choose if the teaching times are shown in your study calendar. Note! Adding teaching to the calendar does not equal registration for teaching. You still have to separately register for teaching at the bottom of the sidebar.

Selecting teaching groups

If there are alternative teaching groups in a teaching, you must select teaching groups suitable for you before the actual registration. If there are no alternative groups, all the teaching is mandatory, and you can proceed straight to the end of the sidebar to register.

Please note that individual parts of a course can require separate registration. For example, the registration for lectures and exercises is not necessarily done at the same time.

1. Select at least the number of teaching groups instructed as preferred (Preferred group). Also select other groups that are suitable for you (Suitable). You can leave the selections of teaching groups that are not suitable for you in the default selection (Not suitable). The more groups you select as suitable, the more likely it is that you will get a place in teaching. Teaching that is joint and mandatory for all students registering for the teaching is not selected separately.
   
   You can also register in a full group if the group does not have a lock icon
   
2. Finally, click Register at the end of the teaching information. 
    
   If you have not made all necessary group selections, you will see a notification about it above the button. 
   

Confirming the registration

After you have clicked the Register button, a dialog box for confirming the registration opens. You can confirm your registration directly if there are no selections to be made in the dialogue box and there are no mandatory questions. Click on the arrow next to the course name to see the deadlines for editing and cancelling the registration.

1. Below, you can see the study right that is the basis for your registration. If you have multiple study rights, you can change it from the drop-down menu. Select the study right corresponding to the plan to which you have added the course. Note! The study right selection might affect the approval of the registration, so remember to consider the prerequisites and selection criteria on the course brochure.
2. If there are registration questions, you will see them below the study right. Registration questions can include selecting the language of completion and different open-ended questions. The questions can be either mandatory or optional, and they can affect the selection of the students accepted to the course and their order.
3. Finally, click the Confirm button. The Confirm button will only activate after you have answered all the mandatory registration questions. You will receive a notification at the top of the screen that your registration has been pre-accepted or failed.

Please note that preliminary acceptance does not yet guarantee you a place in the course, as students registered in the course are usually definitively confirmed only after the registration period is over.

If the course is not yet included in your study plan or your study plan includes a wrong version of it, you will receive a notification in the confirmation window. In this case go back and add the course to your study plan or select the correct version before coming back to continue with the registration.

If you nevertheless continue to confirm your registration, you will receive a notification at the top of the screen. In this case, click the Add the course to your plan link in the notification and proceed to add the course to your plan and select a completion method for the course. After that, it is recommended that you re-register so you can immediately see the updated status of your registration. Your registration cannot be accepted if the course is not in your primary plan or you have not chosen the correct version of it.

During the registration period, you will see the current status of your registration and the preliminary placement in groups in the Study calendar. You will see one of the following notifications in the same spot where you originally registered:

• Your registration has been processed. If the registration ended now, you would be selected.
• Your registration has been processed. If the registration ended now, you would not be selected.
• Your registration has been processed. You do not meet the requirements and therefore you cannot be selected to attend the teaching.
• Registration confirmed
• Registration rejected. You were not selected.

“Your registration has been processed” means that students for the course have not been confirmed definitively. Please note that the status of your registration may change as long as it has not been confirmed. Confirmations may have a delay of a day or two after the end of registration if the teacher or administrator does it manually only after the end of the registration.

You will also see a notification if you do not meet the requirements for registration and cannot be selected for the teaching, as well as the criteria that you do not meet. If possible, please correct the reported deficiencies and re-register. See also these instructions: What should I do if my registration is declined?

The teaching groups for which you have been selected have been marked with an approval mark. If necessary, remember to remove the groups you were not selected for from your calendar.

On some courses, participants are selected in order of registration. In this case, you will receive a confirmation of admission to the course or exam directly after registration: “Your registration has been confirmed / Your registration was declined”. You can also recognise this type of registration from the number of places icon for teaching groups. The number and colours of the circles in the icon is always the same and does not reflect the number of places in the teaching.

If you did not get a place on the course, you will receive a notification after the registration period has ended saying: “Your registration has been declined, you have not been selected for the teaching”. If the course still has space or places become available, late registration can be opened afterwards, allowing you to re-register. Late registered students are selected in order of registration. Sisu does not have an automatic waitlist function.

If your registration is declined as soon as you register, you probably do not meet the prerequisites for the course, or the decline is due to technical reasons. Make sure these things are in order before you re-register:

• You have registered as an attending student for the duration of the teaching. You have a valid study right and you are registered for attendance for the entire duration of the course. If necessary, contact the teacher/student services if the course can be completed before the end of its actual duration.
• The course is in your primary plan and you have chosen the right completion method.
• You have selected the teaching for your calendar through your study plan. If you select a course only through Sisu's search function and not through your study plan, you may accidentally register for a different version of the course than you have selected in your study plan. If necessary, you can change the version in your study plan from the course brochure.
• You have made a study plan update or a new study plan if your current plan was made before 1 August 2020.
• If you have multiple study rights, make sure you have registered through the correct study plan.
• If, after reviewing and correcting these, your registration is still declined at the time of registration, please check the course or exam’s selection criteria. For some courses and exams, registration could only be limited to a specific target group.

Note! If you are supposed to attend a course even if you do not meet the selection criteria, please contact the course instructor well in advance.

In Sisu, the selection of students who can be admitted to a course is based on the prerequisites of the course, the selection criteria, the size of the teaching groups and the student's group wishes. For most courses, the speed of registration is irrelevant. If you have multiple active study rights, please note that the criteria are checked always automatically based on the study right used in registration.

You can only take part in the course if you meet these mandatory prerequisites:

• you have registered for attendance for the duration of the entire teaching
• your right to study is valid throughout the course
• the course is part of your primary study plan and you have registered through your study plan
• you have completed the compulsory prior knowledge for the course

In addition, there may be other selection criteria for teaching. If there is space in the teaching, you can be selected even if these selection criteria are not met. Criteria can include:

• being a part of a certain target group
• the recommended prior knowledge for the course
• completed credits for the degree
• approved registration for another teaching

Please note that in some cases, being part of the target group may have been set as a mandatory requirement, which means that you cannot be accepted even if there are available spaces on the course. Always check the selection criteria in the course brochure.

If there are more registrations than there are places in the teaching and the registered are on an equal footing on the basis of the selection criteria, the students are selected on the basis of a draw.

If there are teaching group selections, students are not placed in the groups they have marked “not suitable”. Therefore, select at least one group as a preferred group and as many as possible as suitable.

On some courses, registered students are selected according to the order of registration on some courses and during re-registration. In this case, you will see a text below the registration button: “Students meeting the criteria will be accepted for the teaching directly if there are available places."

 Where can I find the prerequisites and selection criteria?

The requirements and criteria that are checked automatically in registration can be found in the course brochure, under the teaching’s Registration tab. In addition to these, other selection criteria may be used if registrations are confirmed manually.

It is necessary to update your registration when you wish to change your preferred groups, the study right used in the registration or your answers to the registration questions. You can update your registration as long as the registration period is valid.

Updating your registration happens in the Study calendar in the same order as the original registration: if necessary, select your preferred groups and then click the Update registration button.

If necessary, select the study right and answer possible registration questions in the confirmation dialog box. Finally, confirm the registration. You will get a notification at the top of the view after the registration is updated. After a few seconds, a notification about the status of the registration will replace it.

If it has been made possible for students to edit group selections by themselves and your registration has already been confirmed, you will see the Edit group selections button in the course information in the Registration section of the Study calendar page.

Please note that while the normal registration period is in progress, you can always change your group selections by updating your registration. You can read more about how to update your registration in the chapter Updating or editing a registration on this page.

In this case, you can edit your group selections as follows. 

1. Click on the Edit group selections button to open the edit window. 
2. Remove the selection from the previously selected group. 
3. Select the group you want.  
4. Click Save.

You can cancel your registration for teaching as long as the registration period or the cancellation period is valid. You will see the Cancel registration button in the sidebar of the study calendar at the end of the teaching’s information as long as cancelling is possible.

Now you can remove the course from your calendar by switching off the button Show events in the calendar. If you wish, you can also re-register for the teaching.

Cancelling Open University registrations is done by emailing avoin-student@helsinki.fi. See instructions here.

A course must be discontinued instead of cancelling if the teaching has started and the cancellation period for registration has ended. Discontinuing means that you cannot re-register for the teaching in question yourself. Contact student services if you should re-register for teaching that you have discontinued.

You will see the Discontinue teaching button in the study calendar at the end of the teaching’s information when discontinuing is possible. Discontinuing is only possible after the registrations have been confirmed.
.

Discontinued teaching will be transferred to the Ended and discontinued tab, where you can remove it from your calendar. After this, you can select another completion method for the course.

If you have already successfully completed the course, you can register for the retake examination by opening the course brochure and selecting the version of the academic year during which you completed the course. Therefore, you may need to change the course version to the previous academic year, for example, in order to select the retake exam. In some cases, you will not be able to register for a retake exam this way, so you can contact your faculty's student services for registration.

If you do not yet have a completed course credit (or have failed the course), you will be able to register for the retake exam normally without changing the course version backwards. So, select the appropriate exam event from the course brochure and register.

In some cases, the retake exam may have a different identification code than the original course. In this case, your plan will have two completed courses, but you will be able to remove the extra course later in free edit mode.

Please also note the restrictions on improving grades and retaking completed studies.

If you register for a course and receive the notification ‘The course is not included in your primary study plan’, Sisu will advise you to add the course to your plan.

However, if the course is already included in your primary plan, but you still receive the above message, please check from the course brochure that you have selected the most recent version of the course available.

1. Access your study plan, open the course brochure by clicking on the course code, and change the course version to the most recent one.
   
    
2. When you change the course version, the following message will appear below the drop-down menu: ‘You are viewing a version of the course that is not in your plan. Switch to this version.’
   
    
3. Once you have switched to the most recent version, you should be able to register.

If you have any problems or questions after reading the instructions on this page and answers on the Frequently asked questions about Sisu page, please contact the Student Services. You can find contact details for the Student Services on the Student Services page.

Watch video instructions for registration on Unitube (in English)

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.