University Entrance Exam Selection – An Overview of Written Entrance Exams from the Perspectives of Content, Registers, and Surveys

Policy Reports Tuomo Suhonen, Virve Murto, Jukka-Pekka Jänkälä

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine universities’ written entrance exams. Each year, Finnish universities use around 150 different written entrance exams for student admissions. Some of the entrance exams are used for many study programmes available for application, while others are used only for one. The study was commissioned by Yliopistojen valintakokeiden kehittämishanke (The university entrance exam development project) and implemented by Research Foundation for Studies and Education Otus and the Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE. The study began in summer 2022 and ended in spring 2023.

The study examined the kind of information and skills measured by current written entrance exams, how successful the measurement was, and how entrance exams should be developed in order to facilitate future student admissions. The study was also interested in the significance and success of collaboration concerning entrance exams. Multiple methods were used in the study. Around 250 written entrance exams were analysed using content analysis. The success of measurement and the impact of joint application were examined using a wide range of register data dating from 2015–2021. A survey aimed at university personnel (n=194, 83 study programmes available for application) utilised qualitative and quantitative analysis.

The written entrance examinations required field-specific skills and more general academic skills, such as the ability to absorb information and to perceive things as part of a wider whole. In the fields of humanities and social studies in particular, competence is measured through essay tasks and definitions of concepts, which are based on material distributed both in advance and during the examination. The use of advance material was highlighted in social sciences and law. The measurement of mathematical and scientific competence focused on knowledge of the content of upper secondary school courses plus various calculation tasks in addition to so-called ‘traditional’ examination tasks, which require longer answers. In language exams, understanding and producing the language, plus grammar and vocabulary were important. Multiple-choice exams were utilised in 56 per cent of entrance exams and were used to measure the retention of details and the ability to apply information.

Using data from the student admissions register and the VIRTA Higher Education Achievement Register, the study examined whether success in entrance exams explains university students’ study performance in various fields during their first academic year, regardless of prior study performance. The ranking and score in entrance exams systematically had a positive correlation with course grades, while the correlation with the number of completed courses varied more, and the correlation with the probability of reapplying to an institute of higher education was poor. The register data was additionally used to investigate the impact of adding joint application on the properties of students applying for and students admitted to study administrative science, economic science, law, and medicine. Joint application was observed to attract many new applicants to programmes and to increase regional mobility. Joint application also appears to have enabled the admission of more students from a low-income or low-education background, but this was not observed to have an impact on the quality of students when measured by their studies during their first academic year.

The survey material was used to create a descriptive analysis of the comments of those who prepared the entrance exams for 2022 concerning joint entrance exams. Study programmes available for joint application between several universities considered the disadvantages and hindrances to be considerably less important and advantages to be more important. The most common risks feared by study programmes that hold entrance exams within a single university related to an increase in workload, competition between universities, and whether the measurement precision of the exam would suffer. Study programmes available for joint application mentioned a reduction in the load on the applicant, savings in work time, and the general usefulness of the collaboration as advantages.

In summary, it can be stated that the opportunities for combining entrance examinations should be investigated without prejudice in such a way that the purpose performed by the entrance exam can be assessed. There should be investigation into what is measured by the current types of questions, advance material, and the materials distributed during the exams. The appropriateness of differences in the content of entrance examinations should be reassessed in a situation in which half of students are admitted through certificate-based admission. In order to ensure smooth collaboration, it is important for the requirements of collaboration to be assessed with study programmes available for application. Based on register data and survey analysis, collaboration could benefit applicants, study programmes available for application, and societal mobility.

Publication Information

Murto, V., Suhonen, T., & Jänkälä, J.-P. (2023), Yliopistojen valintakoevalinta – katsaus kirjallisiin valintakokeisiin sisältöjen, rekisterin ja kyselyn näkökulmasta, Opiskelun ja koulutuksen tutkimussäätiö Otus 2/2023.

  • ISSN: 2341-7307
  • ISBN: 978-952-5282-71-9