At LUT, bachelor’s and master’s degrees may include courses that were completed no more than seven years ago. On valid grounds, the person in charge of the degree programme may recommend extending this period to the vice rector, who decides whether an extension is granted. Language and communication studies included in the degree expire in ten years with the exception of the public administration language examination (other official language of Finland), which does not expire. The expiration of language studies applies to courses arranged as of the academic year 2022–2023. However, supplementary studies will not expire.

Grounds for extending the validity of study attainments

When deciding on the validity of study and the requirements for progress, the following situations are taken into consideration:

1. the student’s illness or difficult circumstances,
2. participation in societal activities during the studies,
3. systematic top-level athletic training,
4. preparing for a top-level artistic performance or
5. the student only needs to complete his or her thesis to graduate (a bachelor’s thesis or master’s thesis).

Difficult circumstances refer to a situation comparable to illness, such as an illness of a family member causing a delay in the studies. Societal activities primarily refer to activities in an elected position that have a societal impact. They do not include working for another party or running a business, even though the tasks carried out may have a societal impact due to the nature of the operations.

Working while studying does not constitute an acceptable reason for slow progress of studies or grounds for an extension to the right to study.

If you are only lacking a thesis from your degree, you can be granted an extension for a maximum of one term. You can only be granted one extension for the purpose of completing your thesis.

If any of the above-mentioned grounds apply to you, specify them in an application submitted before your study attainments expire and attach any documents related to the circumstances to the application, which must be delivered to your student counsellor.

You should contact your study counsellor to update your PSP in good time before your study attainments expire.