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Programme description
Read more about the programme at Master's programme in Software Engineering and Digital Transformation.
Admission criteria
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Bachelor of Science in Technology
Completed in a University
Tekniikan kandidaatti -
Bachelor of Engineering
Completed in a University of Applied Sciences
Insinööri (AMK) -
Bachelor of Business Administration, Business Information Technology
Completed in a University of Applied Sciences
Tradenomi (AMK), Tietojenkäsittely -
Bachelor's Degree in another field of study
Completed in a University or in a University of Applied Sciences
Regarding all the degrees mentioned above
- Having completed a Master's Degree still makes you eligible to apply, but only when applying with your Bachelor's Degree.
For example: diplomi-insinööri, maisteri, ylempi AMK-tutkinto
- Exception 1:
You are not eligible to apply, if having completed a degree diplomi-insinööri in a degree programme on the same field of study compared to the programme you are applying to.
- Exception 2:
Degree diplomi-insinööri is accepted for applying, if completed before 2008 when there was no separate Bachelor's Degree awarded.
- Exception 1:
The Admissions Committee for the programme always reserves a right to decide whether the degree and the completed studies provide the applicant with eligibility to apply to the programme.
- Bachelor of Science in Technology OR closely related to Technology
Completed in a University - All countries - Bachelor of Science in Business Informatics
Completed in a University - All countries - Bachelor of Science in Business Information Technology
Completed in a University - All countries - Bachelor of Engineering in Software Engineering or in Computer Science or in Information Technology
Completed in a University of Applied Sciences - All countries - Bachelor of Business in Business Informatics or in Business Information Technology
Completed in a University of Applied Sciences - All countries - Bachelor of Engineering
Completed in a University of Applied Sciences - EU/EEA countries and Switzerland
Applicants having completed a Master's Degree are eligible to apply but only with the Bachelor's Degree. If you have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Software Engineering in a university in Finland (tietotekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting LUT studies, you are not eligible to apply.
You can only apply with a Master's degree if you have a higher university degree that does not include a lower university degree (no separate Bachelor's degree awarded).
Applying with a combination of a 2-year Bachelor's + 2-year Master's Degree completed in certain countries is accepted when the combination of these two degrees is equivalent only to a Finnish Bachelor's Degree.
- Having completed a Master's Degree still makes you eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree.
Exception to the rule: A combination of Bachelor's + Master's Degree with no separate Bachelor's Degree accepted for applying.
Overall requirements for the Bachelor's Degree
- An equivalent degree to a corresponding Finnish Bachelor's Degree by the number of academic years and ECTS credits.
- Degree providing you with eligibility to apply to university level Master's studies in the country where the degree was awarded in.
Requirements for the degree-awarding university
The university having awarded you the degree you are applying with must be
- An official and recognized part of the national education system
- Listed on the World Higher Education Database WHED by International Association of Universities
The Admissions Committee for the programme always reserves a right to decide whether the degree and the completed studies provide the applicant with eligibility to apply to the programme.
To be eligible to apply to the programme, you must have completed a minimum of 24 ECTS credits of programme-specific studies in
- Software Engineering
- Software Production
- Computer Science
- Information Technology
- Information Systems, Information Systems Science
- Business Informatics, Business Information Systems
- Data Processing Technology
- Business Systems and Analytics, Business Systems Design
- Programming
- Databases
- Data Science
by the application deadline.
If you have not listed the required studies as requested on your application form, your application will remain an incomplete one and will not be forwarded to academic evaluation.
These studies must be completed in one or two of the following groups of universities:
- a University, all countries
- a University of Applied Sciences, all countries
The Admissions Committee for the programme reserves a right to decide whether the completed studies provide the applicant with eligibility to apply to the programme.
Requirements for the programme-related studies
What to do if there are no credits available for the completed courses?
To be eligible to apply, the arithmetic GPA of the degree you have to apply with must be
- a minimum of 3.00 on the scale of 1.00 - 5.00.
First, LUT University checks and verifies the arithmetic GPA. If the original grading scale is not on a scale of 1.00 - 5.00, LUT University will convert the arithmetic GPA to this scale during the evaluation process. Finally, the arithmetic GPA is evaluated with two decimals.
The arithmetic GPA evaluated in the LUT selection process is
- an arithmetic average of grades for all individual courses and the grade of the Final Thesis included in the degree you must apply with
- that are completed at the time of applying
- that have been evaluated on a numerical, verbal or letter-based grading scale
- that are listed on the official Transcript of Records
What is excluded from the arithmetic GPA?
- Courses evaluated with "pass" or "fail"
- Courses evaluated with a grade corresponding to a fail grade
- Large modules, unless the individual courses in the module are not evaluated separately.
- Courses without a related study unit such as ECTS credit, credit, credit hour etc.
- Courses completed outside the degree
- Courses completed outside the degree that have been credited or compensated, unless the degree-awarding university having graded them on a numerical, verbal or letter-based grading scale.
You must prove your proficiency in English with one of the following:
- one of the accepted language tests
- a degree in higher education completed in English in an EU/EEA country or in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom or the United States of America
- a degree in higher education completed in Finnish or in Swedish in Finland
More information: How to prove your proficiency in English
Application process
Before starting your application process, have a look at the basics on applying at
- Applying to Master's Programmes through Regular Admission
>> Application process
where all the important information regarding to applying in general is given.
You must list the programme-related studies on your application form in ECTS credits by each course under the related field of study and indicate the total ECTS credits for all the listed courses.
In case of your courses not originally listed in ECTS credits on your Transcript of Records, you are responsible for converting the original study units (credits, credit hours etc.) to ECTS credits according to the following conversion.
When listing the required programme-related studies on your application form, you must be able to upload a Transcript of Records for the studies you have listed.
The Transcript of Records must include the total number of credits for the related degree.
What to do if there are no credits available for the completed courses?
How to get the conversion factor?
Studies on Bachelor's level
- Divide 180 ECTS credits (= total credits for a LUT Bachelor’s Degree) by the total number of all the original study units (credits, credit hours etc.) you have completed for the Bachelor’s degree that you are applying with
- As a result you will get a factor for the following conversion.
Studies on Master's level
- Divide 120 ECTS credits (= total credits for a LUT Master’s Degree) by the total number of all the original study units (credits, credit hours etc.) for the Master’s degree from which you are listing the programme-related studies as additional studies not included in the degree you are applying with
- As a result you will get a factor for the following conversion.
How to convert your study units to ECTS credits?
- Multiply the original number of study unit (credits, credit hours etc.) for your courses with the factor explained above
- As a result you will have your courses in ECTS credits
Case example
The total study units completed for your Bachelor’s Degree are 120 credits and you need to convert a course with 2 credits to ECTS credits.
- Divide 180 ECTS credits by 120 credits >> the conversion factor is 1.5
- Multiply 2 credits with the factor 1.5 >> your course is equal to 3 ECTS credits.
Do not round up the result for the converted ECTS credits:
If the result is 3.84 ECTS credits, you must also list the course with exactly 3.84 ECTS credits.
- Degree Certificate for the Bachelor's Degree
+ an official translation when required
Upload a scan for the original/s.
- Transcript of Records for the Bachelor's Degree
+ an official translation when required
Upload a scan for the original.If your Bachelor's Degree is a combination of two different degrees, upload one combined scan/document in which you have included both the original Transcripts of Records.
The total number of study units (ECTS credits, credits, credit hours etc.) completed for the degree must be included on the Transcript of Records - if not, an official document about the completed study units certified by the university must be provided.
What to do if there are no credits available for the completed courses? - Language Test result when required
Upload a scan for the test result or a screenshot from your test account.
The result is always electronically verified from the test database. - Additional educational documents when required
+ official translations when required
Upload a scan for the original/s.When proving your proficiency in English with another degree apart from the one you are applying with.
When having completed programme-specifically required university-level studies not included in the degree you are applying with. - Work Certificate/s
All documents combined into only one attachment if having related work experience.Upload only ONE attachment where you have combined all the different original Work Certificates for work experience related to the programme and completed by the end of the application period.
Note: In case of the documents not having been combined into ONE attachment the application will remain an incomplete one and will not be evaluated.
The following elements must be included in the Work Certificate:
Name of the company
Title for the position in the company
Duration of the employment
Start and end date for the employment; in case of the employment still being valid, this must be mentioned as well.
Date for the work certificate having been awarded
Signature and name in writing for the person having awarded and signed the document
Contact details for the person and the companyWork experience only mentioned on a CV or salary slip will not be evaluated.
- Documentation for publications and extracurricular activities
All documents combined into only one attachment if having related publications and extracurricular activities.Upload only ONE attachment where you have combined all the different documents for your publications and extracurricular activities related to the programme and completed by the end of the application period.
Note: In case of the documents not having been combined into ONE attachment the application will remain an incomplete one and will not be evaluated.
- Transcript of Records for LUT Open University or other LUT Pathway studies
If having completed pathway studies in Software Engineering offered by LUT University, upload an official Transcript of Records for them.
Further information: Evaluation > Stage 1. - Passport or ID card with nationality
Upload a scan for the document or card. - Finnish Residence Permit Card
Upload a scan for the card if having one.
What is an unfinished Bachelor's Degree?
- You have not yet graduated = you have not been awarded your Degree Certificate or the Provisional Degree Certificate
Having completed all your studies does not mean that you have graduated unless not having been awarded the Degree Certificate or the Provisional Degree Certificate.
If not being able to upload your Degree Certificate or the Provisional Degree Certificate by the supplementary deadline, you must identify your status on the application form as "not yet graduated".
When applying
- Indicate the estimated date of graduation on your Application Form
- No official statement for the date required from the home university
- Upload your latest Transcript of Records to your Online Application Form
- plus the official translation (when required)
- The Transcript of Records must include the name of the degree to be awarded.
- If not included, an additional statement issued by the awarding university about the name of the degree must be uploaded to your Online Application Form.
If admitted
If admitted, you must be able to
- Graduate by 31 August 2025
- Provide us with the following documents by 31 August 2025 at 15:00 (UTC+3)
- Scan for your original Degree Certificate
- Scan for your original Transcript of Records
- Provide us with the following documents by 5 September 2025 at 15:00 (UTC+3)
- Scans for the official translations in English for both the documents (when applicable)
- Official translations required, if the original documents are not issued in English, Finnish or Swedish.
The documents must be provided according to the given instructions despite of the country the degree was awarded in.
If not being able to meet with both the requirements by the given deadlines, your right to study in the programme will automatically be cancelled and you will lose your place without a possibility to claim it back.
Evaluation
Before the academic evaluation begins, the admission committee checks the programme-specific requirements and the applicants meeting with the requirements will move forward to academic evaluation.
Applications will be evaluated according to the admission groups 1 and 2.
There is no interview included in the evaluation process as the final selection among the applicants is based on the total points of:
- Academic performance, work experience, publications etc.
If there are places left from another admission group they can be supplemented from the other admission group in the order of selection.
In case of there are applicants with same points, all applicants will be selected.
The evaluation is done in two admission groups according to the country where you completed the degree that you have to apply with.
Admission Group 1
EU/EEA countries and Switzerland
Admission Group 2
Other countries
Your application is given points as follows:
Field of study and relevance of the degree you must apply with
Max. 5 points
Arithmetic GPA for the degree you must apply with
Max. 5 points
The arithmetic GPA evaluated in the LUT selection process is
- an arithmetic average of grades for all individual courses included in the degree you have to apply with that
- are completed at the time of applying
- have been evaluated on a numeric grading scale
- are listed on the official Transcript of Records
Only in cases where some individual courses are combined into a bigger module on the Transcript of Records including only one total grade for all the courses included in the module and with no individual evaluation for the included courses available, the combined total grade will be included in the arithmetic GPA.
Grade for the Final Thesis is included in the arithmetic GPA while failed grades are excluded from it.
Courses without a related study unit such as ECTS credit, credit, credit hour etc. are excluded from the arithmetic GPA even if the course having been evaluated on a numeric grading scale.
Courses completed outside the degree as well as courses included in the degree that have been credited or compensated are excluded from the arithmetic GPA unless the degree-awarding university having graded them on a numeric grading scale.
All the courses included in the arithmetic GPA must be listed on the official Transcript of Records for the degree you must be applying with.
The arithmetic GPA will be first checked and verified by LUT University and in case of the original grading scale not having been on a scale of 1.00 - 5.00, the arithmetic GPA will be converted by LUT University on this scale during the evaluation process. Finally, the arithmetic GPA with two decimals will be evaluated.
Work experience
Max. 5 points
Relevant work experience supportive for the programme and completed by the end of the application period will be evaluated.
**Note**
Upload only ONE attachment where you have combined all original Work Certificates for work experience related to the programme.
Note: In case of the documents not having been combined into ONE attachment the application will remain an incomplete one and will not be evaluated.
The following elements must be included in the Work Certificate:
- Name of the company
- Title for the position in the company
- Duration of the employment
- Start and end date for the employment; in case of the employment still continuing this must be mentioned as well.
- Date for the work certificate having been awarded
- Signature and name in writing for the person having awarded and signed the document
- Contact details for the person and the company
Work experience mentioned only for example, on a CV or on a salary slip will not be considered.
Publications and extracurricular activities related to the field of study
Max. 10 points
Remember to upload the related documents to prove your publications and extracurricular activities.
**Note**
Upload only ONE attachment where you have combined all the different documents for your publications and extracurricular activities related to the programme and completed by the end of the application period.
Note: In case of the documents not having been combined into ONE attachment the application will remain an incomplete one and will not be evaluated.
Ranking of the applicant's degree-awarding university, Max. 3 points
If the university having awarded or awarding you the degree you are applying with is ranked among the Top 500 universities on the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024 - Overall Ranking List you will get 3 points.
You must check the ranking for the university on the THE 2024 Overall Ranking List linked above and indicate on the application form whether the university is included in the Top 500 universities or not. If the university is included in the Top 500 universities, you must indicate the ranking position and the direct link for the result page for the ranking position on the THE 2024 Overall Ranking List as well.
In case of having indicated the ranking position for the university, it will be verified during the academic evaluation. In case of having indicated the university not being included in the Top 500 list, there will be no further processing related to the ranking position during the academic evaluation.
In case of the degree you have to apply with is a combination of two different degrees, the ranking position is considered for the university awarding you the top-up degree that provides you with the eligibility to apply.
Previous studies by LUT Open University or by other LUT Pathway studies
Max. 5 points
A minimum of 18 ECTS credits of studies offered by the LUT Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree Programme in Software Engineering and completed through LUT Open University or other LUT pathway studies.
Only courses in Software Engineering with course numbers beginning with CT accepted.
The language of instruction for the courses must be either English or Finnish.