The EPM maths exam

The EPM is a maths exam that Vienna's universities require from applicants with a foreign school certificate: until you pass it, you can't enrol. It's assigned to you individually, for the programme you're applying to, and named in your admission decision, the Zulassungsbescheid.

The topics come from the senior-school curriculum: trigonometry, derivatives, integrals, exponential growth, solid geometry, probability. If your school never covered integrals, you'll have to learn them from scratch. The German wording and the shape of the tasks will feel unfamiliar too, but you can see the format without spending an attempt: every past exam is open.

You can prepare on the Vorstudienlehrgang (VWU) course or on your own. You can register for the exam without studying anywhere: VWU administers it either way.

When to sit the EPM and how to register

If it's your last exam, it's better not to finish at the November or April sitting: you can no longer move into the regular programme that same semester. If you're enrolled in a VWU course, the Vorstudienlehrgang itself advises against finishing at these sittings. There's more on planning your last exam in the article on retakes. Dates sometimes move, so check the Vorstudienlehrgang page before you register.¹

Registration runs through the student portal portal.vwu.at and closes at 12:00 on the last day of the window. The fee is €66 per attempt, and you get five attempts in total: the first try plus up to four retakes. You can withdraw from the written or oral part no later than a week before it starts.¹

How the EPM written part works

The written part lasts 180 minutes and splits into two halves, graded separately. Score 90% on the first half and 45% on the second, and you still fail: the regulation requires at least 50% of the possible points in each half. There's no overall threshold at all; the combined percentage only decides your grade, and 50% earns you the lowest passing grade, a 4.²

You have to write out the full solution on paper, with every intermediate step. A correct answer with no working gets marked "Nicht Beurteilt": that paper isn't graded at all, because it's treated as dishonestly obtained.²

Which topics come up on the EPM

We went through all 23 papers in the archive, 219 tasks, and three topics turned up in every one: integration, exponential growth and decay, and the law of cosines. Start there if you're short on time. Topics that appeared in only two or three of the 23 papers are worth leaving for the end of your prep: you might not see them on the exam at all.

The EPM oral part and the bonus

Only those who passed the written part are admitted to the oral. You get two questions and about twenty minutes to prepare, then you present your solutions to the commission. You pass the oral part only if both answers are marked positive.²

You earn the bonus through the exercises in VWU's maths course, so there's no getting it without the course. The exercises carry four grades, two from each of VWU's two maths courses, Mathematik 1 and Mathematik 2. With three of those four positive, there's no oral exam: instead, the average of the four grades goes straight into your final grade, and a missing one counts as "Nicht genügend", the lowest of the five grades. With fewer than three positive, you sit the oral part like everyone else.²

Formula collection and calculator on the EPM

You bring two things with you: a formula collection (Formelsammlung) and a non-programmable calculator.

The formula collection can't have any handwritten additions. That's checked during the exam itself, not at the door, and if your calculator or formula collection doesn't comply, it's taken away without stopping the exam: you finish the remaining tasks by hand. So a few days before the exam, flip through your formula collection for stray notes and make sure your calculator isn't programmable.²

How to prepare for the EPM

1. Take a recent exam and work through it in full, with paper and a calculator, in the same 180 minutes.
2. Check which half fell short of 50% and which topics cost you points.
3. Work through those topics one at a time: the trainer has the same tasks sorted by topic, with your answer checked right away. Short on time? Start with integration, exponential growth, and the law of cosines.
4. Solve the next exam and compare.

Why you were assigned this exam in the first place is covered in the overview of the preparatory course.

Sources

· 2 checked 18.09.2026

1. 1Ergänzungsprüfungen — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten
2. 2Unterrichtsorganisation und Prüfungsregelung in Mathematik (WS 2026) · dated 13.09.2026