A Bachelor’s degree includes a written thesis worth 6 credits. Students complete the thesis as part of the intermediate studies in their discipline.
A Bachelor’s thesis must demonstrate the student’s ability for scientific thinking, addressing the problems in his or her discipline, and scientific communications. Students can prepare their thesis independently or in a group or by participating in a more extensive research project, provided that their independent contribution can be clearly identified and assessed. Students must write their thesis independently, primarily in their native language in Finnish or Swedish. The examination and grading of the thesis must focus on the independent contribution of the student.
All Bachelor’s theses are assessed in the E-thesis information system. E-thesis: instructions for examiners.
The thesis is graded 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. Students dissatisfied with the grading of their thesis can submit an oral or written appeal to the teacher in charge of the assessment. The date when the student submits his or her 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.
A thesis must always include a summary in Finnish/Swedish, and, in some cases, in English. If the summary is examined as a maturity test, please read the related instructions issued by your degree programme.
For more information on the maturity test language policy, see here.
For more information on supervising a Bachelor’s degree, see here.
A maturity test is a scholarly text related to the field of the student’s thesis, such as a part of the thesis or its abstract or another piece of written work defined in the curriculum of the degree programme. Before undertaking a maturity test, the student must complete the native-language studies required for the degree.
Maturity tests demonstrate students’ familiarity with the field of their thesis, and Finnish or Swedish skills.
Students take a maturity test in the language of their secondary education, i.e., in Finnish or Swedish. Each degree certificate states the language of the student’s secondary education and the language in which they completed their maturity test. By completing secondary education and a maturity test, students 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 the student’s secondary education was not Finnish or Swedish, they may take a maturity test in Finnish, Swedish, English or the language of their thesis. However, in this case their degree certificate will not indicate that they have excellent skills in Finnish or Swedish.
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., the thesis supervisor). The person approving a maturity test must be proficient in the language of the test.
If, in your degree programme, the maturity test is the thesis abstract, it will be assessed in E-thesis. Please provide information on the approval of a maturity test in the assessment form in the E-thesis system at the examination stage of the thesis. Information on the approval of the test will be passed on, and the test will be recorded as completed in the student information system.
A maturity test is an independent study attainment, but it is recorded in the student information system as having a scope of 0 credits.
Bachelor's thesis will be examined and graded by a person with at least a doctoral degree and working at the department. The supervisor of the thesis can also be the examiner. Grading scale is 1-5.
Intended learning outcomes of the thesis (link to wiki)
Assessment criteria of the thesis (link to wiki)
Starting from August 1, 2026, Bachelor's theses will be submitted and evaluated in the E-thesis system. The student submits the final version of the thesis for evaluation as a PDF file in E-thesis. The student enters the name of their supervisor, who is a staff member at the University of Helsinki, in the Supervisor field and can select a suggestion from the personnel directory. Once the student has submitted their thesis for evaluation, the supervisor will automatically receive a notification about the submitted thesis. The message will contain a link to the system, and if necessary, they can transfer the review to someone else if they do not act as the examiner themselves.
The evaluation is based on the assessment matrix for the Bachelor's thesis (link to the wiki). The examiner records an overall grade and written justification for the evaluation in E-thesis.
Once the thesis has been evaluated in E-thesis, the performance information will be automatically transferred to Sisu.
For guidance on teaching work: E-thesis user instructions for examiners.
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.
The maturity exam must always be carried out in the language of student's secondary education (Finnish or Swedish). If the student's language of secondary education is other than Finnish or Swedish, the student can write the maturity exam in Finnish, Swedish, or English. If you are unsure about the language of instruction for the maturity exam, you can contact Helsinki UniHelp.
Starting from August 1, 2026, the maturity exam related to the Bachelor's thesis will be conducted in exam format at the Examinarium. After August 1, 2026, the summary of the thesis submitted for review will no longer be accepted as the maturity exam.
The maturity exam will be conducted at the Examinarium as a personal exam. In order for the student to take the maturity exam as an Examinarium exam, the instructor must create a personal exam for the student in the Examinarium: