Long-term student exchange

All of Laurea’s partner institutions are listed in the Solemove system. The system is also used to prepare Laurea’s internal mobility application.

Instructions for filling in the Solemove application

For long-term student exchanges, attach a motivation letter and a preliminary study plan to your Solemove application.

Motivation letter

• Attach an English motivation letter to your application intended for Laurea’s international services to help in selecting students to different destinations.
• If you are applying to multiple destinations (you can list 3 options on the application), you can write about all of them in the same motivation letter. Please include your name in the letter.
• The recommended length of the motivation letter is about 1 page. You may consider addressing the following points:
• Why are you applying for exchange?
• Are you applying mainly for studies in your own field or in some other field?
• What kind of competences will you develop during your exchange?
• What are your expectations regarding the exchange?
• What kind of studies or working tasks have you planned to complete during your exchange?
• How will the exchange support your personal learning and career prospects
• The recommended length of the motivation letter is about 1 page. You may consider addressing the following points:

Preliminary study plan

The purpose of the plan is to show that you have familiarised yourself with the course offerings at your target institution and considered which courses you should take there.

When you apply for a student exchange, attach a preliminary plan of the studies to be completed during the exchange to your application.

Emphasise the plan for your first-choice destination.

You may base your plan on the available course catalogue even if it is from a previous academic year.

• After you have applied for a long-term exchange and completed the Solemove application, an international mobility specialist (KV specialist) will contact you for a video interview.
• The video interview is arranged so that the KV specialist sends you the questions by email, you answer them in English on video and send the video to the KV specialist. If this is not possible for some reason, we will arrange the interview via Teams or in person.
• If necessary, the KV specialist may ask you to attend an in-person interview based on the video interview.
• The KV specialist will also ask for your tutor teacher’s endorsement of your exchange before requesting the interview.
• Decisions on Laurea’s internal selection are made as follows:
• In the spring call: decisions are made by March at the latest
• In the autumn call: decisions are made by October at the latest
• The decision is influenced by your Solemove application and motivation letter, the interview and the endorsement of your degree programme / tutor teacher.
• Decisions on Laurea’s internal selection are made as follows:
• When you have received a positive decision in Solemove, confirm the exchange in your Solemove application.

Nomination to the receiving institution

• Please note that each of our partner universities makes its own decision on which students to accept.
• Our partner institutions have their own and varying processes; the above describes Laurea UAS’s internal process for selecting students for exchange.
• Once Laurea’s internal decision has been made, the KV planner will inform your future host institution that you will be going there, so they know to contact you about further steps.
• The KV planner always informs the student which university they have been nominated to.

• After you have been selected for an exchange by Laurea, you must still apply separately to the receiving university according to their instructions.
• The receiving university will most likely contact you by email. Remember to check your spam folder regularly.
• Some destinations may take several months to contact you; please be patient. You can always ask the KV specialist for an update and, if necessary, contact the receiving university directly.

Preparations depending on the exchange destination

• Improve your language skills for the destination country and study language. See Laurea’s own language studies and the 3AMK language offerings.
• Follow the schedules and application instructions of the receiving university.
• Practices and customs vary by country. Check, for example, dress code and how teachers are addressed at your host institution in the destination country.
• If you are going on an Erasmus+ exchange, take the Erasmus Student Charter with you when you travel.

Students selected for exchange must attend the compulsory preparatory orientation (in-person day).

The orientation is held either at Tikkurila or Leppävaara campus, depending on participants’ preferences.

For those departing in spring 2026, the orientation will be held in October/November 2025.

Orientation materials are collected in a Canvas workspace to which all selected exchange students are added.

About Learning Agreements

• The Learning Agreement is a kind of agreement between the student, Laurea and the receiving institution. It documents the courses to be taken during the exchange and their equivalents at Laurea.
• A successful exchange requires that the studies completed abroad can be fully recognised as part of your degree at Laurea.
• Completed studies should be recognised as either core competence studies or complementary competence, so familiarise yourself with the receiving institution’s course offerings.
• When your application to the receiving institution has been approved, prepare the final study plan on the Learning Agreement form.
• If the receiving institution does not use the EU ECTS credit system, you can use the credit conversion table to help with planning.
• The Learning Agreement is approved by your tutor teacher and the receiving institution.
• Forms must be completed and approved well in advance of the exchange!
• A signed and approved Learning Agreement is a prerequisite for the grant application.
• The Learning Agreement can be done on paper, as a Word-Online version or in Solemove (OLA). More detailed information is below.

Online Learning Agreement

• The Erasmus+ programme is gradually going paperless and the Online Learning Agreement (OLA) platform has been introduced. Read here on how to create an electronic OLA. Contact the KV team if you need help with filling it in.
• If your receiving university has not adopted the OLA platform, you can generate a PDF version of your form from the system. This becomes clear only after you have filled in the OLA electronically and your field planner has submitted it for approval.
• When you have completed the OLA,
• send a PDF version to your tutor teacher so they can approve it in writing (e.g. by email),
• once you have received written approval from your tutor teacher, forward the message to the KV planner (maryan.hussein@laurea.fi),
• after this, the KV planner will approve the OLA in the system and send it to the receiving institution for approval.
• The complexity of the OLA process is due to the fact that Laurea’s teachers cannot see the OLAs of outgoing students in Solemove.
• When you have completed the OLA,

Learning Agreement (Word or Word-Online version)

• send it to the receiving university and request their signature as well.
• If your host institution does not use the OLA system or if you are going outside the EU, fill in the paper/electronic Word version of the Learning Agreement.
• You can find these Learning Agreements here.

When you have completed the Learning Agreement

• sign it yourself
• ask your tutor teacher to sign it (electronically or physically) and
• send it to the receiving institution and request their signature

You can receive a grant for study exchange through different mobility programmes. Through Laurea you can apply for grants for the following mobility programmes:

• Erasmus+
• Nordplus
• North2North
• TFK
• European Nursing Module

Read more about the different mobility programmes.

The amounts of grants depend on the duration and destination of the exchange, and on the funder.

Grants for long-term mobility are paid in two instalments: 80% before the exchange and 20% after the exchange (the final sum depends on the actual duration of the exchange or the number of credits completed).

Mobility grants require physical mobility. You cannot apply for Laurea grants for remote study/work.

Erasmus+ grants

• Erasmus+ grant amounts are based on the duration and destination country of the mobility
• Grants are defined per month and per day. The daily grant is calculated by dividing the monthly grant by 30
• Grants are available for a maximum of 12 months per degree
• The grant is tax-free income.
• The actual duration of the Erasmus+ mobility is verified after the exchange based on the confirmation provided by the host institution (Letter of Confirmation)

Solegrant grant application

You can apply for a grant when

• your exchange dates are confirmed and you have also received acceptance from the receiving institution
• the Learning Agreement is signed