Editorial | The university entrance examination reform must be carefully prepared

YThe university entrance exams are largely over this spring, and now it’s time for those who took part in them to be excited, whether the door will open for studies. The results will be known in the first week of July at the latest.

Already next spring, applying to universities may be completely different, because the entrance exam system is being renewed. Now there are about 120 entrance exams for universities, but next spring there will probably be only nine national entrance exams left, which you can apply to different fields of study and different universities. The reform would specifically concern universities.

The initial impetus came from the selection exams during the exceptional circumstances of the corona years. Organizing them was difficult and expensive, and the system was found to require renovation even during normal times. The project has been a joint project of Finnish universities, and the presentation of the new type of entrance exams was made by the education vice-chancellors of Unifi, the university rectors’ council. Each university will make a final decision on participating in the system by the end of September. Universities will probably implement the reform.

A little more than half of the students are selected to universities directly on the basis of their matriculation certificate, and that will also happen next year. If the universities accept the reform, the results of the certificate selection are to be announced before the entrance exams. Those selected on the basis of the certificate therefore do not have to take the selection test just to be sure.

In the new system, one and the same exam could be used to apply to several fields of study. That would be a huge change. For example, according to the proposal, there would be a joint exam for the fields of law, administrative sciences, social sciences, social sciences and communication sciences, to which it would be possible to add a differentiating section to the educational program to measure, for example, writing skills and knowledge of law.

Bfor akija, the clear advantage of the reform would be that with the same entrance exam you can apply to many different education programs and universities at the same time. Since the advance materials would be published only a few days before the exams, it would be easier to participate in several exams in different fields.

However, the reform also involves changes whose effects are difficult to predict. For a long time, the selection exam has been a second chance for an applicant who has not received good grades in the matriculation exams. Now, the opportunity to prepare for the exam would be greatly reduced when the preliminary materials needed for the exam were published just a couple of days before the exam. It can create performance pressure, and raises the question of whether the school has prepared for this kind of testing.

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The selection exam system has been like a big patchwork quilt.

Applicants’ legal protection requires effort from the exam makers and examiners. The Rector’s Council’s proposal emphasizes the use of automatically checked multiple-choice questions, but it is not the best option in all fields. Evaluating the essay answers produced by a large group of applicants on a common basis requires a lot of attention.

Uwe are moving to the new system ambitiously quickly. There have been joint exams in the natural sciences, economics or education for a long time, but especially in humanities and social science fields that require excellent reading and writing skills, preparing a joint entrance exam is a big challenge. If the implementation of the reform turns out to be challenging even in the fall, it would be wise to take an extension of time.

The university entrance exam system has been like a big patchwork from the applicant’s point of view, and the system should be simplified. Now a strong contribution is needed to ensure that there are good resources for practical preparation. It is a significant choice for the applicants, so it is important that their legal protection is realized.

The editorials are HS’s positions on a current topic. The articles are prepared by HS’s editorial department, and they reflect the magazine principle line.