Minor studies

Minor Studies for students at the Faculty of Education and Psychology

Students at the Faculty of Education and Psychology have the possibility (depending on their degree structure) to complete minor studies and elective studies at their own faculty, other faculties at the University of Oulu, Oulu Open University studies, The Summer University of Northern Ostrobothnia studies and Cross-institutional studies. Students can also complete minor studies in other universities at their own expense and include the studies in their degree (if the degree structure allows this).

When choosing a minor, you should pay attention to
a) Degree structure – the number of free minors in your degree
b) Including your minor studies in your PSP

Minor studies info 2024 (in English) - material (pdf)

FEP minor applications spring 2025

Minor studies application round 2025 will be held from the 4th February until the 28th February 2025 at 03:00 PM UTC+2 (4.2.−28.2.2025 klo 15.00).

Remember to confirm your minor placement via Webropol forms by the 2nd June 2025.

1. Minor studies offered by the Faculty of Education and Psychology

You can find information on the minor studies offered by the faculty at Peppi.

• Please note that some of these minors are so called open minors, which means you can complete the minors freely, and sign up to the courses in Peppi or Tuudo.
• Other minors are only accessible via application during the Spring minor application round. Please follow your email and other communication, and remember to apply in the Spring application round! The application and selection criteria as well as the list of minor studies offered will be updated yearly.

Please note that the courses in Education in Transition, Digital Technologies in Teaching and Learning as well as Education for Intercultural Competences are in English, while the other subjects are mainly in Finnish.

2. Minor studies offered by other Faculties

You can find the minor studies offered by other faculties in Peppi. Notable possibilities can be found for example at the Faculty of Humanities and Oulu Business School. Applying: ask more information from the Faculty Study Services

3. Open University of Oulu

Studies at the Open University of Oulu are in principle free of charge to a degree student registered present at the University of Oulu. You may sign up for courses according to instructions of the Open university. Please note that some of the Open university courses offered by the Faculty of Education and Psychology are included in the Spring application round for minor studies. Please apply for health education and special education minor studies in the Spring application round, or in the additional application round in the Autumn. The Faculty will provide you with more specific instructions on how to sign up for those minor studies you apply for during the Spring application round.

Some studies offered at the Open University of Oulu may be on offer as other studies at the Faculty of Education and Psychology, and will not be free-of-charge for degree students.

If a study module on offer at the Open University is offered in the Summer University of Northern Ostrobothnia, please check any possible payment arrangements for these studies from the Faculty Study Services.

Please note that the selection of studies offered in English is very limited.

4. The Summer University of Northern Ostrobothnia

A student registered present at the University of Oulu can complete studies included in their PSP at the Summer University of Northern Ostrobothnia. The courses provided by The Summer University are free of charge for degree students, if the courses are included in their PSP. Please contact your degree programme’s education designer (the Faculty Study Services) if you wish to update your PSP. If teaching is free, it will be separately mentioned in the course description of the courses. Please visit the website: The Summer University of Northern Ostrobothnia. Please note that the selection of studies offered in English is very limited.

If the PSP is approved and a student is thus given a payment agreement to studies, this study entity will be counted as minor studies paid by the Faculty of Education. The Faculty of Education and Psychology will not offer a payment agreement to additional minor studies, or free elective studies that do not fit in their degree’s minimum amount of ECTS credits. This payment agreement only applies to courses/study modules that are completed, so please take this into consideration when timing your studies.

5. Cross-institutional study

See more from the Cross-institutional study -website.

6. Studies after graduation

Please note that you may complement your competencies at the University of Oulu after graduation.

a) You can apply for a complementary study right when you apply for graduation, and it allows you to

• complete minor studies you have been given a study right to during your degree studies
• study free minor studies at the University of Oulu, or
• study other separate study modules offered by the University of Oulu

b) Later after graduation you may apply for a non-degree study right, which may be granted for valid reasons to single courses or a study module. These studies will cost a student 10€/ECTS credit and the study right will be granted if there are available seats at the course or study module.

c) You can also complement your competencies later via Open University as a fee-paying customer, or perhaps find interesting studies via continuing education.

As a student of the Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, you have the opportunity to study minor subjects and optional courses from your own or other faculties of the University of Oulu, the Open University of Oulu and the The Summer University of Northern Ostrobothnia. Paid studies that reasonably support the study plan must be approved in advance in PSP. You can also complete minor subjects at other universities at your own expense and include them in your degree.

Studying in the Faculty of Humanities is relatively free. In many fields of study the students can build up their degree depending on where their interests lay.

Minor subjects are important aspects of the student’s degree. They form a significant part of the Bachelor’s and the Master’s degree. Students familiarize themselves with the minor subject options when putting together their personal study plan (PSP).

When choosing a minor subject, sudents can use the university’s expert resources, i.e. teacher tutors, Education Designers and the university’s Student and Career Counselling services.

You can find the current list of minor subjects in the Faculty of Humanities in the Peppi study guide.

Entrance examinations for minor subjects at the Faculty of Humanities:

• English

Entrance Examination for English is held simultaneously with the main subject entrance examination on Wednesday 31 May 2023 at 9-12 on Linnanmaa campus. The exact location will be informed later. Sign up for the examination through Peppi or Tuudo with HE00AF93-3002 Entrance Exam in English as a Minor Subject -realisation. The sign-up is open from 13 March to 14 May 2023.

The entrance examination consists of two parts

• the first part includes at least one writing task (approx. 300-500 words)
• the second part includes short tasks that assess the applicant’s analytical skills. These can include tasks that are related to linguistic structures, concepts and applications of those.

The entrance examination is in English. The maximum number of points in the written examination is 40. The entrance examination is based on materials delivered in the beginning of the exam. The materials may include short scientific texts, fiction, newspaper or magazine articles, or visual materials. The materials may pertain to language studies, language learning, and the cultures and literature of the Anglophone world.

• Finnish Language

• French Language

The entrance examination for French language is held on Thursday 27 April at 9 on Linnanmaa campus. Sign up for the examination by contacting heli.heinonen-aho@oulu.fi by 25 April at 16. The entrance examination is in French.

• German Language and Culture

Entrance Examination for German language and culture is held simultaneously with the main subject entrance examination on Monday 5 June 2023 at 9-12 on Linnanmaa campus. The exact location will be informed later. Sign up for the examination through Peppi or Tuudo with HG00AF89-3002 Entrance Exam, German Language and Culture as a Minor Subject -realisation by 22 May 2023. The entrance examination is in German.

• History and History of Science and Ideas
• Information Studies
• North Sami

• Swedish Language

Entrance Examination for Swedish language is held simultaneously with the main subject entrance examination on Monday 29 May 2023 at 14-17 on Linnanmaan campus. The exact location will be informed later. Sign up for the examination through Peppi or Tuudo with HR00AG02-3002 Entrance Exam, Swedish Language as a Minor Subject -realisation by 16 May 2023. The entrance examination is in Swedish.

More information about minor studies could be found at Peppi study guide.