Hey there! Welcome to our Frequently Asked Questions. We hope you will find the answers to your most burning questions. If you cannot find the answers, feel free to drop us an email at info@koodsisu.fi and we will get back to you shortly.
If you’re a Sprinter check your email! We will be sending information about everything regarding the Sprints approximately 3 weeks before the start of the Sprint.
Everyone is welcome to apply. You have to be at least 18 years old and either be a resident or have a permit to live in Finland. No previous knowledge of coding is needed.
The application period is open. The Online Test is accessible on our website. You can apply to become a student through our website. To gain enrollment, you must first pass the Online Test, then register and participate in one of the Selection Sprints. You can choose the Selection Sprint that has available spots and best suits your schedule.
The next Selection Sprint will take place during autumn 2024.
Limited spots are available so you might not be able to take part in a Sprint right now but make sure to stay posted for new Selection Sprints to come!
Selection Sprint is a 3-week full-time test period for the candidates (3 weeks = 2 weeks on-site + 1 week remote). The students learning process will start with fulfilling different topics in our platform. Each week will end with an exam based on what you have learned during the week. During the weekend, there will be group tasks. The goal of this exercise is to strengthen the learning outcomes from the previous week.
If you are accepted to the Selection Sprint, prepare for the most intense but also rewarding 3 weeks of your life. You will make new friends, learn a lot and achieve more than you thought would be possible!
The first two weeks of the Selection Sprints will take place in Microkatu 1, 70120 Kuopio. The third week of the Sprints is remote. More information about the Selection Sprints will be sent to the ones taking part in these closer to the Sprints.
Each topic, group task and exam result will give you points during the Selection Sprint. The people who reach a certain limit of points and demonstrate great soft skills in the Sprint will be accepted to the full program.
If you successfully finished the Online Test, you’ll see the next steps right on the platform. The next step after passing the Online Test is to take part in the Selection Sprint!
Accepted candidates who get an invite to start their educational journey at kood/Sisu, will be informed 2 weeks after their selected Selection Sprint.
The Online Test is a game that will test your logical thinking skills. There is no preparation needed, just make sure that you have up to 1 hour of undivided attention and a good internet connection! You cannot pause the Online Test once you have started it and have to go through it with one go.
Some recommendations:
The results
You will get your results right away from the platform.
Some of you will be thinking about what levels you need to achieve to advance to the next steps. We’ll keep this information for ourselves to keep an element of surprise. If you put in effort, you will have a successful Test. Do your best and make it count!
We offer various discount codes for hotels in Kuopio during the Sprint. These will be sent out to the Sprinters before the Sprints start.
The first batch will start their studies on March 25, 2024.
The program is up to 24-months long and a full-time commitment, but ambitious students are able to complete it even faster thanks to the programs dynamic approach and self-learning approach to studying.
There are no vacation periods planned into the study time.
The platform is designed to guide your learning. In our school you will “learn to learn”. This means you’ll be searching for information, trying out solutions, asking for help from peers and working in teams with other students. Additionally, technical assistants at the school support your progress in studies both on-site and on Discord. Support is provided in both Finnish and English.
The study software has additional instructions and built in mechanism to teach you coding from the very beginning.
You can complete the studies either on-site, remote or a combination of both. The studies are primarily conducted independently online, allowing for fully remote learning. However, we recommend on-site attendance at the school, as it provides opportunities to easily participate in school events and network with other students and companies that might be your future employers!
When applying to our school, 3 weeks Selection Sprint consists of 2 weeks on-site period when students will be required to be present in Kuopio.
Also, the Sisu premises are built for your convenience to give you the best possible study atmosphere. Currently the school is being renovated and it will be ready when the first batch starts. The school is located in Viestikatu 1, 70600 Kuopio. There are multiple events with other students, partners and community planned throughout the year that you do not want to miss.
Completing studies on schedule requires a significant amount of time and personal resources, which is why we do not recommend full-time employment alongside studying. However, there are students who have completed the program while working.
The study program is conducted in English as the coding world works in English, but we offer support also in Finnish. While doing your teamwork, you can choose which language to do it in.
You do not need expert level English to succeed in the program, basic knowledge and understanding is enough. However, we feel that it is very important for you to develop your English language skills to succeed in the digital world and to think globally.
Oh, you wanted to know what coding languages we use? Check out the “What coding languages will I learn?” question.
Yes, you can. But we have events that take place physically in person, where you are highly recommended to be on-site.
kood/Sisu works on self-learning methodology and therefore we highly recommend you to be at the school building as much as possible. Large percentage of the program is teamwork with your colleagues which is so much easier to do together. Working on the same problems in the physical space creates amazing cooperation and will keep you motivated to achieve great results!
There is no tuition fee.
Our goal is for the education to be accessible to everyone, irrespective of your previous education, experience or financial situation.
Students will use their own devices to conduct their studies. If you don’t have a suitable device for studying, such as a working laptop, you may be eligible to receive one for your studies from kood/Sisu. Please check your eligibility with the technical assistants.
The curriculum trains full stack developers. The 24 months of coding are the basis on which everything else is built, once students have gone through it they have developed the capacity to code in any programming environment. The main 2 languages learned are Go and JavaScript. It’s followed by additional experience in a specific field or further developing skills in a new coding language. You will learn other coding languages as well based on the specialization modules you pick.
You will learn through multiple projects how to use JavaScript and Go but also how to navigate C, C++, Ruby-on-Rails, PHP, Python and a lot more.
You have different assignments you need to fulfill in order to move on in the program. All these tasks have a certain time limit when they need to be completed. This means that everything is built upon your own time management skills.
You have no official breaks during the kood/Sisu program but you can do assignments in advance to enjoy a planned vacation. You are your own time manager and we do not set boundaries in how you set up your time and when you complete some kind of quest or assignments as long as you manage to do them in the time window set for them. There are just some overall deadlines that you need to keep in mind to finish within designated timespan.
We have our awesome kood/Sisu team that will make sure you have a well organized and fun experience in our school. This means there will be different events and occasions for all the students to get to know each other and have some fun. If you have some ideas on what you want to organize, let us know and we can try to make it happen.
Yes! In kood/Sisu you will learn everything that is needed in today’s job market. This means that you will be constantly working with our partners to ensure you gain the skills and knowledge needed in the market. Our partners will give you real-world assignments so you have a chance to solve some of the main problems in the field of IT.
You can also choose to undertake a 6-month internship, which will be included within the 24-month study program.
kood/Sisu operates as an Non-Profit Assocation with the mission to help to reduce the lack of software engineers in Finland, offer an innovative addition to regular schools and strengthen the current educational system.
We are not a public sector educational institution. We are run by an association established by a community of companies. This community develops our future-proof curriculum with us, supports employment of our students and finances the operations of kood/Sisu.
Completing the program gives you access to many positions and jobs in the digital world, from startups to worldwide leading companies. In the final 12 months of your studies, you can choose which fields you want to specialize in.
You will receive a Diploma after graduation.
After you complete your studies, you do not receive an accredited degree as this educational model is new in Finland and does not correspond to any traditional definitions. However, this is usually not a problem in the technology sector, given that companies tend to prefer your skills, mind-set and attitude above official degrees. This is also the spirit all our partner companies have.
We have created many partnerships with the best companies in Finland who want to recruit future talents. During your studies, you have options to get to know more about these companies through different events, work with them solving challenges, and create relationships to make sure you have a great position waiting for you when you graduate.
kood/Sisu does not have an official status within the Finnish education system. Therefore, you cannot apply for a student visa based on these studies. You can find more info about studying in Finland here.
Regarding studying on unemployment benefits, we cannot provide specific information as the matter is handled by the service provider, TE–office. You could contact the local TE–Office to clarify the situation with them. Here are some facts about our education:
If any questions arise about financing your studies you can contact info@koodsisu.fi.
