Individual arrangements support studies | Open University

When agreeing on individual arrangements, you must first present a statement provided by a doctor or other healthcare professional describing the nature of the disability or disease and the need for individualarrangements. Alternatively, you can submit a corresponding decision by the Finnish matriculation examination board when requesting individual arrangements.

A statement from a special needs teacher, psychologist or speech therapist is sufficient to demonstrate difficulty with reading or writing. Further information on difficulties in reading or writing and related diagnoses is available on the website of the Helsingin seudun erilaiset oppijat association HERO (‘Diverse learners’ association of Helsinki’, website in Finnish only). The person drawing up the certificate must identify the student (name and personal identity code) and briefly state the grounds for the individual arrangements. The certificate should also describe which practical individual arrangements would benefit the student in their studies.

Teaching-related special arrangements may include using an accessible teaching space, assistive tools or a personal assistant for the student.  
 
If you need special arrangements in order to participate in teaching, please contact the Open University’s study advice no later than 14 days before the beginning of the course: avoin-student@helsinki.fi

Individual arrangements for examinations implemented on the basis of medical certificates or similar specialist statements can include the following: 

- Additional time to complete an examination
- Using a computer or other aids in an examination
- A smaller or separate examination room
- Alternative completion methods
 

The individual arrangements expert panel recommends 30 minutes of additional time for examinations whose duration is less than three hours, and 60 minutes of additional time for examinations whose duration is three hours or more. For well-grounded reasons, exceptions to this recommendation can be made.

The organiser of the examination session decides whether the additional time to complete the examination under individual arrangements is offered by bringing forward the start of the session or extending its duration (Rector’s Decision No HY/5740/00.00.06.00/2022).

• Contact specialneeds@helsinki.fi to agree how the expert statement or doctor’s certificate should be submitted to the University. NOTE! For reasons of information security, do not attach your doctor’s certificate or expert statement to this message.  
• In addition, notify us of the additional time granted no later than 10 days before the examination: specialneeds@helsinki.fi . Your message must contain at least the following details: 
   
  • Unit responsible for/organising the examination (Open University)
  • Name, identifier and time of the examination
  • Name of the examiner
  • Your name and student number

Special arrangements for Examinarium exams

Information on individual arrangements is confidential and processed by the university only by persons who need information for the planning and/or implementation of individual arrangements. Read more about the information security practices of the University of Helsinki and about the processing of students' personal data on the Data Protection website.

Information about accessibility at the University of Helsinki’s teaching facilities: University of Helsinki’s teaching facilities