Living and Studying

 

Digital society

Estonia is one of the most advanced digital societies in the world, and e-services are fully embedded into the daily lives of individuals and organisations.

International students will have access to these benefits after obtaining their Estonian identity document, ID card for EU citizens and TRP card for non-EU citizens. Both cards are issued with an envelope that contains the necessary PIN codes for digital use of the card. The envelope will contain three codes: PIN 1 is used for authentication, PIN 2 for digital signature and PUK for unlocking the PIN codes. In order to be able to use the card digitally, you will need to install the necessary software that can be found here. If your device does not have a built-in card reader, you will also need a card reader which can be purchased in all electronics stores and some larger convenience stores.

If having to use the card reader seems inconvenient, you may also opt for Mobile-ID or Smart-ID.

Accommodation and public transport

All students coming to pursue their studies in Estonia are responsible for arranging their own housing. Since it can be difficult at times to find suitable accommodation, we can provide guidance on where to get started.

EKA has a shared dormitory with EAMT in the city centre – Muusa Majutus. Due to the high demand, we recommend registering for a spot as soon as possible. Please note that you are not required to present an acceptance letter, but you will be required to pay a deposit to book a room. According to the regulations, the deposit is non-refundable, but the dormitory also reserves the right to make certain exceptions in case of unexpected and unforeseen circumstances.

If you are unable to secure a spot at Muusa Majutus or would like to look for private housing, you should start your search on real estate websites, such as KV.EE, City24.ee, Rendin.ee, Kinnisvara24 and Uusmaa. If you are interested in renting a room or finding roommates, you can try using Facebook Groups, such as “Expats Tallinn/Estonia” and “International students of EKA”.

EKA is located in the city centre, on the border of Kalamaja and Old Town. While the location is great, it is also the most expensive district in Tallinn, so you may want to consider other districts too.

Tallinn is relatively small and has a good public transportation system which makes it easy to get around. Our city has a network of buses, trolleys and trams that operate daily from 6:00 to 23:00 and you can find the timetables here. Ticket prices and information on how to purchase tickets can be found here.

It is also worth mentioning that EU citizens will be able to use public transport free of charge after obtaining their right of residence and ID card. Non-EU citizens will also be able to use public transport free of charge after obtaining their TRP card and registering their place of residence at the population register. Please note that you will also need to personalise your student card or smartcard to have access to free public transport.

In the meantime, your student card should give you access to discounted QR-tickets (regular price is 2 euros and discount price is 1 euro).

NB! Non-EU citizens will only be able to register their place of residence at the population register after obtaining a TRP.

Banking

You are not required to open a bank account in Estonia, but having an Estonian bank account may be a more convenient way for you to manage your finances and daily life. The largest banks in Estonia are LHV Pank, Swedbank , SEB Pank, Luminor Pank  and Coop Pank. All of them have convenient online banking options and apps.

NB! Opening a debit account is generally free for residents and EU citizens, but may come with a fee for non-EU citizens without a TRP.

Estonian healthcare system

Please find detailed information about healthcare in Estonia here.

Useful information on health insurance for both EU citizens and non-EU citizens can be found here.

In Estonia, the first contact person in case of a health concern is a family physician or nurse. Family physicians can provide treatment for minor illnesses, make home visits and give referrals to visit medical specialists. They can also help if there is a need for a health certificate, prescription medicine, or specialised medical care. You can usually get an appointment in a couple of days, or more quickly in case of an acute condition. So the first thing that you will need to do is choose a family physician.

You can find the list of family physicians who are accepting new patients here. You can also use a new digital platform that has been specifically designed and created by UNIDOC to help international students find healthcare providers.

If you have a health concern and your family physician is not available, you can call the family physician counselling line on 1220 or +372 634 6630. The line is intended to provide advice on minor health conditions, first aid instructions, and information on health management issues. Family physicians and nurses provide assistance in Estonian and Russian 24/7, and counselling in English is available daily from 3pm to 5pm.

You can also get medical advice via video consultations with English-speaking physicians at MinuDoc and Salu.MD.

There are also private clinics that offer a variety of services provided by family physicians and medical experts who are ready to assist you immediately. Here is a list of private clinics:

Valvekliinik

Fertilitas

Qvalitas

Sinu Arst

Confido 

Emergency room

Emergency rooms provide immediate medical attention and unavoidable care. In case of a very serious and dangerous health condition or injury please go to the emergency room at the nearest hospital or call 112.

Safety

While living an active student life, please do not forget about safety. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• It is compulsory to wear a reflector during the darker months in Estonia. You can purchase a reflector at almost any store. The reflector must be visible from all sides and should ideally be worn 50-80 cm from the ground. Please note that you can be fined for not wearing a reflector.
• If a marked crosswalk is closer than 100 meters, pedestrians are required to cross the road at a marked crosswalk. Please note that you can be fined for not following the rules of crossing the road.
• Do not leave your belongings unattended.
• Do not leave your bike unlocked and unattended.
• Do not sign any documents that you do not understand.
• Do not write any of your PINs down anywhere.

If you have any internet safety concerns, you can contact the web constables of the PBGB.

There is only one emergency phone number in Estonia, so please call 112 for emergencies of any nature. The number is accessible 24/7 and is free of charge.

 

Access to the building

You need an EKA student card to have access to the building. We will order your first student card for you so that it will be ready by the time you arrive. Please send your digital photo to kaija.poder@artun.ee by May 15th at the latest. Your photo needs to meet the following requirements:

• it is not older than 3 years;
• it is in .jpg format;
• dimensions are at least 307 x 372 pixels, recommended resolution: min 300 dpi;
• it is a clear image of you facing the camera straight;
• it is showing your whole face, which fills about 80% of the space;
• background is light and neutral, with no shadows, patterns, extraneous objects, or highlights;
• you are not wearing sunglasses, headwear and headphones in the photo.

EKA student card is free of charge, but you will need to pay 3.66 euros for a new card if your card is lost or destroyed during its validity period. If you lose your student card, please notify the information desk immediately at annely.prohorenko@artun.ee and apply for a new card here. If you are unable to order the card online, please submit your request to annely.prohorenko@artun.ee. You will receive an email when the card is ready and you can collect it at the information desk, where you will also be able to pay the fee with a card payment.

Once you are eligible to access free public transport, you will also be able to personalise your student card and use it instead of the smartcard.

NB! EKA student card can be used to prove your student status in Estonia. You may also apply for an ISIC student card (regular or bank) that can be used internationally, but keep in mind that it will not give you access to the building.

Email account and mailing lists

The IT department will create your EKA email account and the format of your email address will be firstname.lastname@artun.ee. This email will be your formal and primary communication channel at EKA. Please connect it to your other email accounts so you don’t miss any important information and deadlines.

Your email address will be added to three mailing lists:

• general student list that contains all students at EKA;
• international student list that contains all international students at EKA;
• study group list that contains only students of a particular programme and year.

Tahvel and timetables

All students are enrolled and registered in our study information system Tahvel on the first day of the fall semester (exact dates can be found in the Academic Calendar). Tahvel is used to store and manage student information. It will contain your personal information, timetables, grades and applications. You will need to log in to access your information on Tahvel. Our IT department will create usernames and passwords for temporary use so all international students will be able to log in to Tahvel before obtaining other types of authentication, such as ID/TRP card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID.

You can view general timetables without logging in to Tahvel by just using the study group codes. However, please keep in mind that timetables will be finalised about a week before the semester starts, so they are to be considered incomplete up to that point. It is also not that uncommon for some changes to take place after timetables have been finalised.

Codes for study groups are created from programme codes and admission years. Here are the code names for international master’s programmes:

MACA – contemporary art

MAN – animation

MCS – craft studies

MGD – graphic design

MIxD – interaction design

MUR – urban studies

Example: study group code for students admitted to the contemporary art programme in 2023 is MACA23.

Curriculum and courses

Curriculum consists of several modules that are either compulsory or elective. Every module has a credit value and consists of a certain set of courses.

Typical curriculum includes compulsory and elective specialty courses, general theory electives, optional courses and final thesis.

• Specialty courses are core courses that are compulsory and need to be completed to meet the curriculum requirements.
• Specialty electives are proposed and offered by departments. The selection of courses is either set by the curriculum or proposed by departments on a rolling basis.
• General theory electives are core courses that can be selected from a defined list of courses set out in the curriculum. All students are required to select general theory electives in the volume set by the curriculum. General theory electives are announced by email at the beginning of every semester.
• Optional courses are non-core courses that are part of the curriculum and do not have to be related to the major. All students are required to select optional courses in the volume set by the curriculum. Optional courses are offered schoolwide at the beginning of every semester.
• Writing and defending a final thesis is one of the requirements for successful completion of the programme.

You can find a detailed overview of your curriculum on Tahvel and please make sure to choose the latest version of the curriculum.

Here are the first letters of course codes to help orient you:

AN – specialty courses for animation

GD – specialty courses for graphic design

ID – specialty courses for interaction design

KU – specialty courses for contemporary art

TS  – specialty courses for craft studies

UR – specialty courses for urban studies

VA – optional courses

ÜT7 – general theory courses for MA level

ESTA – optional Estonian language courses

In order to finish studies within the nominal period of study, you will need to complete 30 ECTS credits every semester. To be considered a full-time student, you will need to complete at least 75% of the full-time study load per year, which is 45 ECTS credits.

NB! Reducing to a part-time study load will result in the revocation of a TRP for non-EU students.

Registrations and cancellations

Your study specialists will be registering you for all your compulsory specialty courses. You will be selecting your specialty electives, general theory electives and optional courses. Specialty electives are coordinated by study specialists of each faculty. General theory electives and optional courses are coordinated by the Centre of General Theory Subjects. Registration for courses usually takes place on Tahvel and occasionally by email. You will receive detailed information and instructions by email before courses are open for registration.

In order to make sure that optional courses are accessible to all students, the groups are divided into the following subgroups:

• students of Estonian language curricula;
• students of international curricula;
• Erasmus+ students;
• waiting list.

There is a limited number of seats reserved for each subgroup, so please make sure to select the correct subgroup when registering for courses. We will be checking all registrations for optional courses and if you select the wrong subgroup, you will be placed on the waiting list instead. If the waiting list is full, you will be removed entirely.

NB! Please keep in mind that attending classes without a registration is not allowed.

Generally you may cancel registrations for optional courses up to 3 days after the first class has taken place. In case of intensive courses that take place over 1-2 weeks, cancelling registrations is only possible until Thursday of the week before the course starts. Please keep in mind that it is not possible to cancel registrations after that. If you are no longer able to cancel a registration and do not participate in the course, you will get a “no appearance” mark, but it will not affect your average grade.

According to our regulations, it is not possible to cancel registrations for compulsory and elective courses. However, we allow for the same flexibility with elective courses.

Applications and certificates

All application forms can be found here. It is preferable to submit applications on Tahvel, but if you are unable to submit your application on Tahvel, you may fill out an appropriate form and send it to Helen Jürgens at helen.jyrgens@artun.ee. The deadlines for submitting applications can be found in the academic calendar and you will also receive information by email at the beginning and end of every semester.

If you need a certificate concerning your studies at EKA, please submit a request on Tahvel and it will be sent to you by email. If you are not sure about the type of certificate you need or are unable to find a suitable request on Tahvel, please contact your study specialist.

Academic leave and extension of studies

Reducing to a part time-study load or taking an academic leave will result in the revocation of TRP for non-EU students.

Extending studies comes at a fee of 500 Euros per semester.

More information on academic leave and extending studies can be found here.

Tuition fees

Tuition fee for the first semester needs to be paid upon admission and the exact date will be announced at the beginning of the admission process. Afterwards the payments need to be made twice a year, by October 30th for the fall semester and by March 30th for the spring semester. Current tuition fees can be found here.

Scholarships

There are two scholarships available to international students. Results-based scholarship granted by EKA and scholarship for international students administered by the Education and Youth Board.

Working while studying

You are allowed to work during your studies in Estonia on the condition that it does not interfere with your studies. EKA does not have a job network, but feel free to search for a job independently.

You can start by searching for information here and also visiting the biggest job search websites in Estonia:

cvkeskus.ee

cv.ee

Counselling

EKA is offering counselling services to all students who are seeking help and support. If you are having personal issues, experiencing any difficulties with studies, or would like to seek guidance on your career path, please don’t hesitate to book an appointment with our psychologist and career counsellor Kaia-Leena Pino at kaialeena.pino@artun.ee.