Grading of studies

The student workload is measured in ECTS credits. A year of full-time studies corresponds to 60 ECTS, or 30 ECTS per semester. 

One ECTS credit corresponds to 27 hours of work. The ECTS system is common framework of the European Higher Education Area, and is used in many European countries.

Up until 2008, Finland used a system of study weeks to measure the student workload. Study weeks are converted to ECTS credits as follows: 1 study week equals 1.8 ECTS credits.

On the inofficial transcript of records which you can order in Sisu, you can see the average grade of all your courses at the end of the transcript. In your study plan, you can also see the average of all the courses you have placed in your study plan, as well as the averages of each module in your study plan. Please note that the average shown in your study plan may not correspond to the average of all your completed credits, if you have not placed all your credits in your study plan.

Example1:

You have completed a 5 credit course with a grade of 5 points and a 10 credit course with a grade of 4, the average is calculated in the following way: (5 cr*5 + 10 cr*4) / (5cr+10cr) = 4,33. When you apply for your degree certificate, your average for the major subject will be rounded up/down to the closest whole number, which would be 4 in this example.

Sisu räknar automatiskt ut ett vägt medeltal för kandidatexamen. Om du vill kontrollera ditt medeltal på förhand ska du kontrollera att din studieplan innehåller de kurser du vill inkludera i examen.

Sisu räknar också automatiskt ut ett medeltal för huvudämnet, vilket på examensbetyget avrundas till närmaste heltal. Kurserna Introduktion till företagets samhällsansvar, Statistisk analys, samt ditt huvudämnes grundkurs räknas med i huvudämnet och påverkar därmed också huvudämnets medeltal. Även biämneshelheternas medeltal avrundas till närmaste heltal.

Sisu automatically calculates a weighted GPA for the master's degree. If you want to check your GPA ahead of time, make sure your study plan contains all the courses you wish to include in your degree.

Sisu also automatically calculates an average grade for the major subject. On the degree certificate, this grade is rounded to the nearest whole number. Please note that the master’s thesis and seminar course are included when calculating the weighted average. Any potential minor subjects are also rounded to the nearest whole number on the degree certificate.

It is possible to exclude extra electives from the degree, provided you have completed more than 120 ECTS and fulfilled all degree requirements. The courses not included in the degree will naturally not affect the average grade of the degree. To exclude extra electives from your degree, just remove them from your study plan before applying for graduation.

A student has the right to know how the assessment criteria have been applied to his or her academic work (Universities’ Act Section 44). Written academic work will be kept for six months from the date of the publication of results. Students have the right to obtain copies of their academic work at their own expense.

Provisions on the rectification procedure for study performance are given in the Universities Act Section 82, subsection 3 and 4. Academic work includes all the theses, lectures and written or verbal exams and work which are being assessed.

A student may submit a request for rectification, orally or in writing, of the assessment of a study performance (bachelor's thesis, exam, essay, etc.) to the examiner who carried out the assessment within 14 days after the student have had the opportunity to take part in the assessment results and in the assessment criteria applicable to him or her. It should appear that it is a request for rectification of study performance. The request for rectification should be specified so that the examiner can specifically answer them. It is also important to make clear to the examiner that it is a question not only about gathering information. If the request for rectification made by the student is unclear or unclearly formulated, the examiner shall request clarification from the student until the examiner can make a decision on the claims made.

The examiner shall give a decision in the case. The decision shall, with motivations, state whether the examiner approves or rejects the student's claims. If the examiner does not approve the request and the student is still dissatisfied with the examiner's decision, the student has the right to forward the matter in writing to the university’s Board of Appeal within 14 days of the student receiving the examiner's decision. The right for students to submit the matter to Hanken's Board of Appeal shall emerge from the examiner's decision.

Regarding the grading of a doctoral dissertation, licentiate thesis or equivalent final project, or graduate thesis for advanced studies, the student may submit a rectification request directly to Hanken’s Board of Appeal within 14 days after the student received the assessment result.

The Board of Appeal is a legal body at Hanken that examines requests for rectifications applying to study performance. It is appointed by the Board of Hanken and consists of a professor as Chair and two other members, one of whom must hold a PhD and the other be a student. Hanken's lawyer serves as secretary. The Board of Appeal strives for consensus decisions and is currently chaired by professor Nari Lee.

Please hand in the request for rectification by e-mail to examensnamnden@hanken.fi or at the Student Service in Helsinki or to the Office of Study Affairs in Vaasa, the envelope should be addressed to the " Board of Appeal/Examensnämnden".

As of 1.8.2021, the main rule is that you can only try to get a higher grade for a completed course during the same course round, i.e. it is no longer possible to retake a course that you have already passed.

The reason for this change is that we have noticed that students risk ending up in a vicious circle when they try to improve old course grades, which makes it difficult for them to focus enough on the courses they are presently taking. In the worst case, it leads to students constantly underperforming on the courses they are taking and then trying to improve the grade later. We want our students to be able to concentrate on the courses they are presently taking and then move on, so that they can invest wholeheartedly in the coming courses.

Transition period (NOT APPLICABLE ANY LONGER!!!)

When the forms of teaching and examination changed at very short notice due to the pandemic, some students were not able to perform as well as in normal circumstances. Therefore, the Rector has introduced a transition period, which means that during the academic year 2021–2022 you may obtain the right to retake courses (try to get a higher grade) that you have taken between 12.3.2020 and 31.7.2021.

Reminder of other provisions regarding raising grades

As before, you may only once try to improve the grade for an exam that you have already passed. If you have already used your chance for trying to get a higher grade, the transitional provision does not apply to you.

The examiner decides on attempts to get a higher grade for course work other than exams.

As a rule, the course work is only valid during the same course round. If you did not pass the course, you must retake the entire course as it is now offered.

A thesis grades can only be raised through a rectification request.

If you want to check out the various regulations on studies and examination at Hanken, you can read the latest version of the rules of procedure concerning studies and examination that came into force on 1.8.2022.