Bachelor’s theses and maturity tests

A bachelor’s degree, a first-cycle university degree, includes a 6 cr written thesis.

In the thesis, you will demonstrate your ability for scholarly thinking, discussing issues in your discipline and scientific communication. You can complete the thesis independently or by participating in groupwork or a more extensive research project. The thesis must include a clearly defined independent contribution from you, which will be assessed. Write your thesis independently. 

The thesis is assessed on a scale of 0–5. The grade awarded for a Bachelor’s thesis is taken into account when calculating the overall grade for intermediate studies. Is you are dissatisfied with the grading of the thesis you can submit an oral or written appeal to the teacher in charge of the assessment. The date when you submit your thesis for assessment shall be recorded as the completion date of the thesis. More detailed provisions and instructions for grading a Bachelor’s thesis are provided in the curricula of the degree programmes.

To ensure the accessibility of the thesis file, you can use the text styles contained in the University of Helsinki template and follow the instructions provided in the template. However, make sure your faculty and degree program's thesis guidelines before using the template. When the Word file is in order for accessibility, you can also easily create an accessible PDF file.

The thesis includes an abstract written in the language of the thesis. In addition, students who have completed their secondary education in Finnish or Swedish must write an abstract in the language of their secondary education if the abstract also serves as a 
maturity test with which the student demonstrates their proficiency in Finnish or Swedish. The instructions concerning the summary vary according to the degree programme. Please check the instructions from your degree programme. You can use the University's abstract document (a word document). Fill in the needed information on each line and write your abstract at the end. The length of the abstract is usually 1 page. The degree programmes and/or faculties can give more detailed instructions in the matter, please see also the degree programme-specific instructions. Attached is also a model document as a pdf. If needed, you can write the abstract also in other word processing programmes with the help of the model document.

A maturity test is a scholarly text related to the field of your thesis, such as a part of the thesis or its abstract, or another piece of written work defined in the curriculum of your degree programme. Before undertaking a maturity test, you must complete the native-language studies required for your degree.

The maturity test, which is an essay, serves to demonstrate your command of the field of your thesis and proficiency in the use of Finnish or Swedish.

You must complete your maturity test in the language of your secondary education, Finnish or Swedish. Your degree certificate indicates the language of your secondary education and the language in which you completed your maturity test. By completing secondary education and a maturity test, you demonstrate excellent ability in the language in question (Act on the Knowledge of Languages Required of Personnel in Public Bodies, section 6).

If the language of your secondary education was not Finnish or Swedish, you may complete a maturity test in Finnish, Swedish, English or the language of your thesis. In this case, however, your degree certificate will not indicate that you have excellent language skills. Instead, you must obtain, when necessary, a certificate of your excellent Finnish or Swedish skills by another method. Further information on alternative methods is available on the website of the Finnish National Agency for Education (National Certificates of Language Proficiency).

Maturity tests are graded on a pass–fail basis. The person marking and approving a maturity test is usually a teacher in the degree programme (e.g., your thesis supervisor). The person approving a maturity test must be proficient in the language of the test.

A maturity test is an independent study attainment, but it is recorded in the student information system as having a scope of 0 credits.

Please note that the use of artificial intelligence in maturity tests is never allowed. Read more on the page Using AI to support learning.

Public access to theses

Bachelor’s theses included in first-cycle (bachelor’s) degrees are public documents. Their public access is based on the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999). This means that the University must grant access to theses to anyone upon request.

Public access to theses includes their abstracts.

Secret material and theses

Theses must not include any confidential information, as they are made available to the public immediately following assessment and approval. You can include secret information in the background material, which is not part of the thesis to be assessed.

The Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999) contains provisions on secret official documents. Secret information includes information on private business or commercial activities or a private individual’s health, assets, political convictions or family life.

You cannot either include secret material in thesis appendices or abstracts. The thesis supervisor can gain access to secret background material, but must ensure that such material is excluded from the thesis itself. The thesis examiner conducts their assessment based on the student’s written thesis, which must not include secret information. The examiner is not entitled to access secret background material.

Publication of theses

The University of Helsinki recommends the open publication of theses. 

If your degree programme uses the E-thesis system, the abstracts of bachelor’s theses are always published in the University’s open Helda repository. If you permit the publication of your entire thesis, it will be published in Helda, where it will be available to the general public. Search engines will display resources contained in the publication repository prominently in search results. If you do not permit the publication of your thesis, it will be available for viewing only on the library terminals of Helsinki University Library.

You must use the E-thesis system, currently available in two versions, to accept or reject the publication of your thesis. 

• If your degree programme uses the old version, you will receive a message about publication permission from the E-thesis system after the approval of your thesis.
• If your degree programme uses the new version, you must accept or reject the publication of your thesis when submitting it for assessment.