In autumn 2024, Haaga-Helia introduced a new attendance policy. Under the reform, students were required to attend at least 75% of classes and demonstrate active participation, or their grade would be affected. Absence from more than 50% of classes resulted in failing the course. From the very beginning of the reform, Helga raised students’ concerns, collected feedback, and held several discussions with Haaga-Helia’s management. Now, Haaga-Helia has decided to ease its attendance policies starting from 1st of August 2026.
“It is great to see that students’ voices have been heard and the cooperation with Haaga-Helia works. We have raised concerns about how the attendance policies affect students’ everyday lives and flexible study opportunities, so this change is highly welcome,” comments Otso Muhonen, Chairperson of the Board of Helga.
The new attendance policies are as follows and will be updated on Haaga-Helia’s student pages:
- For bachelor’s degree students, absences will no longer lower the course grade.
- For master’s degree students, absences will not affect the grade or the completion of the course.
- For bachelor’s degree students, Haaga-Helia still requires attendance in teaching sessions marked in the timetable. If a student is absent from more than 50% of these scheduled sessions, the course will be failed. The same policies apply to both contact and blended studies.
- The attendance policies apply to students in bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes, but not to vocational teacher education.
- Exceptions to attendance requirements are made in situations where a student has a chronic illness. In these cases, the student is instructed to contact a special education teacher.
“We would like to thank Haaga-Helia for reviewing the attendance policies. This change shows that student feedback and long-term advocacy work can have a concrete impact on the university of applied sciences’ practices,” says Kalle Lehtonen, Member of the Board of Helga.
