Apply to Emergency Care Systems Development and Leadership

Emergency Care Systems Development and Leadership is a collaboration between Arcada and LAB University of Applied Sciences. The application to the programme is aimed at you who have

• a suitable educational background
• two years of work experience gained after bachelor degree
• sufficient English language skills.

The application is open 7–21 January 2026 and studies begin in August 2026. There is a total of 15 study places.

Use the quick links on this page to navigate smoothly between the different sections.

Learn more about the content of the programme on our Emergency Care Systems Development and Leadership page. Note that students coming from outside the EU/EEA have to pay tuition fees and an application fee. Read more about fees and Arcada's early-bird offer on our Tuition fees page.

Eligibility

Before starting your master's application process to Arcada, please make sure that you are an eligible applicant, i.e. that you have a suitable educational background and two years of work experience. All applicants must also meet the English language proficiency requirement.

Educational background 

To be eligible to apply to Emergency Care Systems Development and Leadership, you must have a suitable bachelor's degree in emergency care, nursing, public health nursing, physiotherapy, or social care. 

Two years of work experience

All applicants must, in addition to the requirements listed above, have a minimum of two years (24 months) of relevant work experience gained after the completion of the bachelor's degree in order to meet the eligibility criteria.

Work experience is only counted from the date of the bachelor's degree diploma/certificate, and needs to be proven by a work certificate. CVs are not accepted on their own. Work experience gained before or during your bachelor studies cannot be counted towards the work experience minimum requirement. An exception is only made for applicants who have completed a Finnish vocational college diploma or higher vocational diploma (opistotutkinto tai ammatillisen korkea-asteen tutkinto) before the completion of their higher education degree, as they may also take into account work experience gained before the higher education degree. Work experience can be counted up to 31 July 2026.

Part-time work is converted to full-time work so that 150 hours or 20 full-time working days (a minimum of seven hours per day) are equal to a month. The work experience does not have to be continuous or from the same employer. Practical training or on-the-job learning is not counted as work experience if it forms a part of the degree used for applying.

Work certificates need to be attached to application by 28 January 2026. 

English language proficiency

A language test is not required when you have completed an upper secondary degree or a higher education degree i.e. at least a bachelor's degree level degree in English at an institution located in the following countries: an EU or EEA country, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, South Africa or the United States, excluding online degrees and offshore campuses.

A language test is also not required when you have completed a higher education degree i.e. at least a bachelor's degree completed at a university or university of applied sciences in the EU/EEA.

In all other cases you must demonstrate your proficiency in English through one of the language tests (including the minimum score requirements) mentioned below. The language test results are valid for two years from the test date if not otherwise specified and your test result must be valid on the first day of the application period.

• Cambridge ESOL’s tests
  • B2 First
    • minimum score 170
  • International IGCSE: First language English
    • Syllabus 0500 and 0990
  • C1 Advanced
    • minimum score level C
  • C2 Proficiency
    • minimum score level C
• Pearson Test of English Academic or Academic online:
  • minimum score 58
• IELTS  Academic or IELTS online :
  • minimum overall band score 6.0 (writing score minimum 5.5)
  • one skill retake test is accepted
• TOEFL iBT/iBT Home Edition/iBT Paper Edition/iBT Enhancements
  • minimum score 80 (writing score minimum 20)
• Oxford ELLT Global :
  • from 1 July 2023 onwards: minimi score 6.0 (Test sections: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking)
• SAT test
  • Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: Minimum score 600
  • Send your SAT to Arcada using the code 7151
• Gre test
  • Analytical writing 4,0
  • Send your GRE test to Arcada using the code 2523.

Arcada strives to accept electronic copies of language certificates submitted directly from the testing organisation. Please request your score report to be submitted to Arcada when you register for the Cambridge, Pearson or TOEFL tests. Also, IELTS test takers can request the result to be sent to Arcada directly but as results can be verified online, a copy of the test result attached to the application form is accepted. 

Language certificates must be Arcada at hand and verifiable in the respective test database by 28 January 2026.

Student selection through video task

Students to this master's programme are selected through a video assignment, worth maximum 40 points.

The video should address the following:

• Shortly present who you are and where you are currently working. (max. 10 p)
• Through your own reflections, describe what quality is, or could be, in an emergency care context. (max. 10 p)
• Read the article below and suggest how you would use its findings to develop effectiveness in emergency care. (max. 20 p) Make your suggestion according to the PICOS (population, index system, comparator system, outcome, and study design) model described in the article.  

Article (open access): Antti Malmivaara (2016) System impact research – increasing public health and health care system performance, Annals of Medicine, 48:4, 211-215. Access the article through this link.

Please ensure that you are visible to the camera. The submitted video may, but does not have to, include a slideshow (e.g. created with PowerPoint or Canva). The video must not be produced using AI tools (such as Google NotebookLM). To receive maximum points for your video, make sure you respond to all of the requested items. The maximum number of points is 40. To be eligible for the program, you must achieve at least 20 points.  

Upload the video assignment to your application in studyinfo by 13 February 2026 at 3 p.m. (UTC+2).

Also note the following:

• Ensure you review the corresponding instructions
• Make sure you have a working web camera
• The maximum file size is 1.0 GB
• The return can technically also be a link in a document. If you return the video assignment as a link, please make sure that the link works and that the link redirects to the open video file.
• If you use file sharing platforms for your video (YouTube or similar) make sure you have set your video to unlisted and that it is viewable only through the link shared.
• Maximum length of the video is six minutes.

Eligibility is checked only for an applicant who has attached their video assignment to their application in Studyinfo. Applicants are admitted based on the score for the video and the applicant must achieve at least 20 points to be considered. In case several applicants score the same points, all such applicants will be admitted. Result of application will be given in April 2026 at the latest.