Enrolling as absent

If you know that you will be away from your studies in the coming academic year, it is ESSENTIAL to remember to enrol as ‘absent'. Check carefully how absences either consume or do not consume the time allowed for the completion of a degree.

If you do not enrol at all (neither as ‘present' nor as ‘absent') this will always take time away from that allowed for the completion of the degree.

An example: 

A student intends to do his military service starting in January of his first academic year. Having accepted the place to study the student should register as ‘present' for the autumn term and as ‘absent' for the spring term. During his second academic year the student doing 12 months of military service should register in the autumn term as ‘absent' and in the spring term as ‘present'.

If the student presents himself at the registrar's office (aktuaarinkanslia) with a reliable explanation for his absence, this will be duly entered in the student database and the absence will not be counted in the completion time for the degree. If no explanation is presented, the absence will be entered as ‘other absence', of which only 4 terms are permissible during the completion time for the degree. ‘Other absences' in excess of 4 terms will be counted in the completion time for the degree.

Thus two terms of the student's two first academic years will be deemed to have been used up.