Before going on student exchange

Instructions for TAMK Outgoing students

Outgoing orientation material
Internal application round at TAMK  
Application to receiving institution (after acceptance from TAMK)
Practicalities before going abroad; grant, insurance, health and safety
Important documents and links

Outgoing orientation material for 2025-2026

Internal application round at TAMK  

Spring 2026 exchanges: 

Application period (SoleMOVE): 1. - 15.9.2025

Exchange needs to be confirmed/cancelled in SoleMOVE by 31.10.2025

See TAMK's student exchange stories on Youtube.

NB! Music students fill in the SoleMOVE application after they have received acceptance for their exchange from the exchange destination. For more information, please contact Henri Annala, henri.annala [at] tuni.fi. 

1. Application in SoleMOVE

How to choose the exchange destination?

When you apply in SoleMOVE, we recommend that you choose between 3 - 10 exchange destinations. We aim to nominate you for the first exchange destination. However, if this is not possible (e.g. there are more priority applicants than places available), we will nominate you to the second destination or the third etc. Please note that we nominate you only for one destination at a time. 

Please take a look at your own degree programme's exchange partners in SoleMOVE. If you need assistance in finding a suitable exchange destination, consult your own international coordinator or contact Student Mobility Services outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi.

In SoleMOVE choose TAMK from the list of institutions (don't log in) and click Exchange destinations abroad and feedback under the red bar. Then choose your own degree programme as Home unit and click Advanced search. In the Type of exchange choose Studying, and in the Application period choose the correct application period. Finally, click Start search. By clicking the house icon, you can go to the homepage of each university. You can also read Additional information and Feedback from other students.

You can read previous exchange student's experiences also here:
Far Away but Still So Near - exchange postcard blog

How to apply in SoleMOVE?

Remember that you can only apply to your own degree programme's partner universities. If you are not going to a BIP exchange, i.e. the duration of your exchange is more than one month, please fill the "Normal Exchange" application, not the "Short Exchange" application. Please see the application instructions.

If you study in health care field and are applying for traineeship: please prepare Clinical Placement Plan and add it to your SoleMOVE application.   

2. Student selection and allocation of exchange places

Students will be selected according to criteria set by the board of TAMK. Lists of applicants will be checked by the international coordinators and the heads of degree programmes. Student Mobility Services will inform all applicants of TAMK decision (acceptance/refusal) and send an official nomination of to the desired host institution. Host institution will then contact the applicant directly.

If there are more applicants than places available students will be selected based on a separate grading system. Students get points (1 point each) from the following attachments:

• General international experience (free form document, max A4)
• Destination related studies/experience (preferably a certificate from a teacher or other testimonial)
• Certificate of destination language studies (Not English/Swedish)
• Certificate of international tutoring from Tamko
• Studying in a degree programme taught in English at TAMK (no certificate required)

Students should attach the documents/as many of them as possible to SoleMOVE at application stage.

3. Confirmation/Cancellation of the allocated exchange place

The deadline for confirming/cancelling the allocated exchange is 31.3. (autumn and academic year exchange)/30.10. (spring exchange). Confirmation/cancellation is done in SoleMOVE.

Please note that confirmation of an exchange place is binding. If you decide to cancel your exchange, remember to inform Student Mobility Services outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi (outgoing[dot]tamk[at]tuni[dot]fi) and your own international coordinator immediately.

Also note that TAMK´s acceptance does not mean that exchange destination has accepted you for exchange. After TAMK´s acceptance, you need to send the application to a partner university according to the instructions you get from there. 

Application to receiving institution (after acceptance from TAMK)

1. Student Mobility Services nominates the student to partner university

After TAMK has accepted your exchange application and allocated an exchange place for you, Student Mobility Services sends a nomination to the partner university.

2. Student receives application instructions and makes the application to partner university

Partner universities usually directly contact students and send the application instructions. Read the instructions carefully and act accordingly. Given deadlines need to be respected! If you have any doubts, please contact Student Mobility Services outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi. Student Mobility Services can also stamp documents required by the destination university.

If the destination university requires your own statement of your language skills at the application stage, you can use the TAMK language competence evaluation form. You can also use the self-evaluation grid if you are asked for your own opinion on coping with the language of teaching in your destination institution.

How to prove your English language skills for the destination university

Applying to an EU country 

• If you study in English at TAMK, contact Student Mobility office outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi (outgoing[dot]tamk[at]tuni[dot]fi) (Main campus B1-12B) for a certificate of English language skills.
• If you already have passed English courses at TAMK, contact Student Mobility office outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi (outgoing[dot]tamk[at]tuni[dot]fi) (Main campus B1-12B) for a certificate of English language skills.
• If you haven’t done your English courses at TAMK yet, contact Anne Kopperoinen: anne.kopperoinen [at] tuni.fi. She will interview you briefly. If you have passed the matriculation exam, bring the certificate to the meeting.  

Applying to a non-EU country 

• If you are applying to a non-EU country, you can take a TOEFL or an IELTS as English language test if needed. You pay the costs yourself.
• If you are applying to the USA, they require a TOEFL as English language test. You will be reimbursed max 150 € if you deliver the receipt and the certificate of the test to Student Mobility Services: outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi (outgoing[dot]tamk[at]tuni[dot]fi).

3. Learning agreement (study plan) for exchange

Minimum requirements for support for studying abroad:

• Minimum length: 2 months (60 days)
• Minimum credits: 5 cr/month

Minimum requirements for support for training (health care traineeship) abroad:

• Minimum length: 2 months (60 days)
• Minimum credits: 5 cr/month

In addition to the application to partner university, you must fill in the learning agreement which guarantees accreditation of successfully completed studies abroad. You fill in the learning agreement in collaboration with the international coordinator of your own degree programme.

You should fill in Online Learning Agreement (OLA). The link can be found from SoleMOVE (on the Acceptance tab) after you have confirmed your exchange. If a partner university does not yet use OLA, you should fill in the OLA and print out the pdf form.

If you are a student of Nursing, Physiotherapy, Radiography, or Biomedical Laboratory Science, you should fill in Erasmus+ Learning Agreement for training:

NB! The name of the responsible person for OLA/LA is:

• Engineering: Riku-Matti Kinnunen, riku-matti.kinnunen [at] tuni.fi
• Business Administration/International Business, and Hospitality Management: Riitta Vihuri, riitta.vihuri [at] tuni.fi
• Media and Arts, and Proacademy: Janne Tauriainen, janne.tauriainen [at] tuni.fi
• Professional Teacher Education, and Music: Henri Annala, henri.annala [at] tuni.fi
• Nursing and Health Care, Physiotherapy, Radiography, and Social Services: Sanna Aalto, sanna.aalto [at] tuni.fi

4. Acceptance from partner university

The exchange is confirmed once you receive an official acceptance letter/acceptance e-mail from the partner university. Please forward this information to Student Mobility Services outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi as we need the exact dates of your exchange to our records.

Now you can start arranging all practicalities such as grant application.

Practicalities before going abroad

Please note! Before buying flights or making other travel arrangements, paying deposit for accommodation, etc. make sure you have

• official acceptance from the host university
• necessary documents to enter the country of exchange (residence permit/visa, if it is required)

If you have, for example, bought the flights and your visa is delayed or rejected, you may not get the money back!

1. Grant application

There are different grants available for TAMK student going for an exchange, depending on the destination country and type of agreement between TAMK and the destination university:

• Erasmus+ grant for exchanges in other Erasmus+ countries and some UK and Albanian universities
• Erasmus+ Global grant for universities outside Erasmus+ countries, with which TAMK has an Erasmus+ Global agreement
• TAMK foundation grant for exchanges to countries outside the EU

Students going for an exchange can receive only one of these grants, not multiple grants for the same exchange.

Erasmus+ grant

Students going on Erasmus+ or Erasmus+ Global exchange can apply for Erasmus+ grant through the SoleGRANT system. You can apply for a grant as soon as you have

• confirmed exchange application in SoleMOVE
• received an acceptance letter/e-mail from the host university
• purchased a travel insurance (see section Insurances below)

SoleGrant application instructions (MP4 video)

Important

• Before you apply for the grant, confirm the actual dates of your exchange with your host university, if they are not mentioned in the acceptance letter. If your exchange is much shorter than stated in the grant application, you may need to pay part of the grant back.
• The first installment of the grant (80 %) will be paid no earlier than 1 month before the departure date.
• The second installment of the grant will be paid after the exchange once you have returned the necessary documents. The final grant amount will be calculated according to actual exchange dates on the Arrival/Departure Certificate. After final calculations you will be either awarded the remaining grant or sent an invoice for the outstanding amount.

The grant will be paid for the days you have to be present at the exchange school. The first day of the exchange is usually the first day of orientation, the last day is usually the day of your last lecture, exam or other event requiring attendance. The grant cannot be paid for a longer period than this, even if you are in the exchange country for a longer period or if you have to pay for accommodation for a longer period than the actual exchange days.

If your exchange is much shorter than originally planned, you may have to pay back part of the grant already paid. When applying for a grant, it is therefore advisable to put as specific dates as possible on your application. For example, not the whole autumn semester, unless you really need to be present at the exchange university for the whole of that period.

By submitting the Erasmus+ grant application, you agree to the grant terms and conditions set out in the Grant agreement. 

Annexes to grant agreement (for Erasmus+ only) :

• Annex I :  Learning Agreement for Student mobility for studies or for traineeship
• Annex II : Erasmus+ Student Charter

ERASMUS+ GRANTS FOR EXCHANGE STUDIES / TRAINING ABROAD 2025-26:

* UK: Erasmus+ grant (540 €/month) available for students going on to the following universities in the UK in 2025-26:

• Edge Hill University
• Edinburgh Napier University
• Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU)
• Guildhall School of Music and Drama
• University of Derby
• University of Reading
• University of Salford

Erasmus+ Global grant 

Students going on exchange to the following universities outside the EU in 2025-26 can apply for Erasmus+ Global grant:

• Albania: University of Tirana (for Business Administration/International Business, and Professional Teacher Education)
• Australia: Western Sydney University (for Paramedicine/Nursing)
• South Africa: North-West University (primarily for Nursing)
• USA: North Carolina State University (primarily for Bioproduct Engineering, Textile and Material Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering)

Study grant: 700 €/month

Travel grant: 530 € or 1500 € (depending on the distance between TAMK and the host university) 

TAMK Foundation grant

The foundation reserves funds annually to grant 20 grants of 1600 € (spring or autumn semester) and 5 grants of 2500 € (full academic year) for international exchanges outside the EU. If the number of applicants exceeds 25 per year, recipients will be selected based on academic performance in order of merit.

Grant criteria:

• The exchange must take place outside the EU.
• The exchange must be with a university that has an existing collaboration agreement with TAMK.
  • An up-to-date list of non-European partner institutions can be found via the SoleMOVE search tool at SoleMOVE / Welcome! On the login page, select TAMK as the institution. Then, click on Exchange destinations abroad and feedback at the top of the page without logging in. Next, click on Advanced search and choose Bilateral agreement as the exchange program.
  • Further information on the partner institutions is available at outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi (outgoing[dot]tamk[at]tuni[dot]fi).
• The applicant must have the endorsement of a supervising teacher or another academic advisor familiar with their studies, confirming the suitability of the exchange for their studies.
• The exchange must be confirmed. The applicant must have received an acceptance from the exchange destination (an acceptance letter or a message).
• The exchange must last at least one semester (spring or autumn).
• The grant is intended to cover travel and accommodation costs.
• The grant must be applied for before the start of the exchange.
• The grant cannot be granted for an exchange in the student’s home country.

The grant is open for continuous applications, and decisions are made monthly (excluding July). Grant applications can be submitted via the link  https://tamktukisaatio.apurahat.net.

In all questions concerning the application, please contact 

Foundation Coordinator Johanna Niemonen, johanna.niemonen [at] tuni.fi (johanna[dot]niemonen[at]tuni[dot]fi), tel. 050 431 6767

Erasmus + travel grant and green travel 

From autumn 2024 onwards, all Erasmus+ exchange students are entitled to a travel grant. The grant sum is defined by the length of the distance from home city (home institution city) to exchange destination, according to the table below. The distance is calculated using the European Commission's Distance calculator. If you travel in non-green ways, you can be paid daily grant for 0-2 days.

If you choose a green way of travel, you are entitled to a higher travel grant. In addition, you can be paid daily grant for up to 6 days. Green travel means travelling in which the journey or part of the journey is made using low-emissions means of transport (such as bus, train, car-pooling. Note that ferry does not count as green travel). You are entitled to the green travel grant when the main part of the travel (in km) or at least one direction of the round trip has been made using low-emissions means of transport.

Travel grant for student exchange is paid according to the table below.

Students do not need to apply for the travel grant separately, it is calculated automatically into their Erasmus+ grant. However, if you want to receive the green travel top-up, that needs to be proven with a declaration on honour signed by both the student and TAMK Student Mobility Services. The scanned form can be sent via email to Student Mobility Services outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi. 

Application forms:

Fixed additional grants in Erasmus+ programme (fewer opportunities top-up)

As of the academic year 2022 - 2023 students who

• have families (with minor children),
• are family carers,
• have disabilities,
• suffer from a severe or chronic health condition, or
• have received international protection

and who go on short- or long-term mobilities within the Erasmus+ programme are entitled to a fixed-fee additional grant on top of the ordinary Erasmus+ mobility grant. The student has to only prove belonging to one of the aforementioned groups in order to get the grant. The supplement is available for both studies and traineeship abroad.

The right to the fewer opportunities top-up grant is proven with a declaration on honour signed by both the student and TAMK Student Mobility Services. Bring the signed form and required attachments (Extract from population register or Doctor’s certificate/Doctor’s statement) to Student Mobility Services at the Main Campus room B1-12B. 

Application forms:

2. Kela student financial aid

If you are eligible for Kela support in Finland, you are also eligible for support while abroad. Apply online, you can find more information here.

Please remember that you have to be registered for attendance at TAMK during your exchange studies!

3. Insurances

All students going abroad for exchange must have a broad insurance cover. Here you can see which insurances are required and whose responsibility they are:

All students must acquire a travel and health care insurance for free-time activities, this is also one condition of the grant. The grant will not be paid unless you fill in the insurance number and the name of the insurance company to the grant agreement (Additional information box on the Grant information tab).

For studying in the EU/EEA or Switzerland you need

• Travel and health care insurance for free-time activities (including medical costs and repatriation)
• European Health Insurance Card which completes but does not replace the travel and health care insurance. The European Health Insurance Card is available to everyone covered under the Finnish health insurance system.

For studying outside the EU, you need

• Travel and health care insurance for free-time activities (including medical costs and repatriation)

4. Health and safety issues

FSHS offers nothing else but a certificate only for mandatory student exchanges. For voluntary exchanges, the student must apply for certificates from either private or welfare area operators. Laboratory/X-ray examinations required for student exchanges - that is, also for mandatory exchanges - should always be obtained from private or welfare sector operators, as they are not part of the FSHS services.

Other health and safety measures you should undertake

• File a travel notification to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Finnish/in English).
• Check the travel destination information for your destination country (by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, only in Finnish).
• Check the vaccination guide for your destination country (only in Finnish).
• Tuberculosis screening: Students going abroad to work or study in the health care field or social services, please check 

• If you are taking regular prescription medication, make sure to bring the medicine prescriptions with you and enough medication for your exchange duration. For further information about travel and medicine, see Kanta, Kela and Choosehealthcare.
• Make sure any electronic devices you take with you are secure, in case you lose them, or they are stolen. Keep copies of your files in multiple places (a cloud, USB drives) to avoid losing important documentation and material.

5. Mandatory "International Experiences and Competences" course

All students heading abroad from TAMK complete a compulsory online course International Experiences and Competences (NN00CU60-3010). The fundamental purpose of the course is to help you to enjoy your experience abroad as much as possible and to give you tools for getting all the possible benefits from it. The contents include cultural orientation, setting objectives for the period abroad, and personal evaluation. The international period during your studies is valuable capital while considering your future careers, so an open and ambitious attitude towards this period will be an asset.

Enroll yourself to the course NN00CU60-3010 Intercultural Experiences and Competences in Pakki and head to the Moodle area to start completing the tasks: https://moodle.tuni.fi/course/view.php?id=51340. Enrolment key is "iec2025".

The course uses two blogs, the Finnishness blog and the Exchange blog. If you can't write in the blogs, please contact Henri Annala (henri.annala [at] tuni.fi), the coordinator of the course. 

There are three sections in the course:

1. Before the take-off
2. During the exchange
3. After the return

As the names of the sections imply, you should complete the first section before heading abroad, the second while you are at the destination, and the third after you have come back home.

6. OLS (Erasmus+ Online Language Support, Erasmus+ exchanges only)

OLS is an excellent opportunity for testing and developing language skills. Language training is not limited to the working language of the exchange or the duration of the mobility, but on the OLS platform you can study and test your language skills in all 29 languages ​​there!

You will be invited via e-mail to participate to OLS. Read more here!

Important documents and links

SoleGrant application instructions (MP4 video)

SoleMOVE system

Self-evaluation Grid