The VWU physics exam is entirely oral; there is no written part. You get about twenty minutes to prepare, then answer for ten to fifteen minutes in front of a three-person commission. You pass only if you answer every single question at least halfway. How many questions you're asked, and from which sections, depends on the bonus items you've collected during the course.1Informationsblatt Physikkurs — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten
Bonus items and the scope of the exam
The physics course runs for two semesters and is split into six sections. Four of them offer a bonus item, marked with a "+": it doesn't count towards your grade, but it reduces the number of questions in the exam.1Informationsblatt Physikkurs — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten
Bonuses and the scope of the physics exam
- 1Elementary mechanicsbonus item
- 2Heatbonus item
- 3Further mechanicsalways examined
- 4Electrostatics and currentbonus item
- 5Magnetism and electrodynamicsbonus item
- 6Electromagnetic radiation and opticsalways examined
- 0–2 bonuses
- whole syllabus, 3 questions
- 3 bonuses
- 3 questions: sections 3, 6, and the section without a “+”
- 4 bonuses
- 2 questions: sections 3 and 6
A section's bonus item is earned in the weekly exercise classes, held in person at the VWU. Anyone who missed them can sit a bonus test for that section on a set date. Bonus items are open only to students enrolled in the VWU physics course. Without the course, the whole syllabus is examined.1Informationsblatt Physikkurs — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten
The formula sheet for the physics exam
The course's official formula sheet is allowed in the exam, and also in the exercise classes and bonus tests. So there's no need to learn formulas by heart. What matters more is knowing which formula fits a given problem and what each quantity in it stands for.2Physik — vwu-info.at
VWU physics formula sheet, 2025
- p. 1
- Physical constants
- The electromagnetic spectrum
- SI prefixes
- p. 2
- Mathematical formulas
- Section 1 Elementary mechanics
- Section 2 Heat
- p. 3
- Section 3 Further mechanics
- Section 4 Electrostatics and current
- p. 4
- Section 5 Magnetism and electrodynamics
- Section 6 Electromagnetic radiation and optics
Some basic laws aren't on the sheet. The ideal gas equation, pV = nRT, is missing, for example, and the balloon problem below is solved with exactly that equation. You need to know laws like this yourself, and along with them, that the temperature T in them is taken in kelvin: add 273 to a Celsius reading.
When you can sit the physics exam
The exam isn't tied to the course: you can learn the material on your own and register for any sitting. There are three sittings a semester: September, November and January in winter, and March, April or May, and June in summer. Each attempt costs €46. You register through the student portal, portal.vwu.at, with the university's admission decision that assigns you physics.1Informationsblatt Physikkurs — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten3Ergänzungsprüfungen — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten
You get five attempts. What happens if you fail the fifth one too, how attempts count against the semester limit, and what to do after a failed attempt is covered in the article on retakes, and what the whole preparatory year costs, in the article on costs. How physics fits into the whole path through the VWU alongside the other exams is covered in the overview of the preparatory course.1Informationsblatt Physikkurs — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten
An example physics problem
Here's a problem from the second section, heat. A helium balloon at 25 °C has a volume of 3 m³ and bursts if its volume exceeds 5 m³. The pressure stays constant. At what temperature does the balloon burst?
A helium balloon being heated
Volume is proportional to temperature in kelvin: the line reaches zero at −273 °C, that is, at 0 K.
- Formula
- V₁ / T₁ = V₂ / T₂, constant pressure
- Substitution
- T₂ = 298.15 K · 5/3 ≈ 496.9 K
- Answer
- 223.8 °C
In the exam, you have to not only solve a problem like this but also explain it to the commission: where the formula comes from and why the quantities are related the way they are. Here, that means explaining why the volume grows in proportion to the absolute temperature, in kelvin. But you still have to calculate it, because the explanation rests on the answer you get.
How to prepare for the physics exam
- Work out your own workload. If you're on the course, you can earn a bonus item in all four sections that offer one: the more you earn, the fewer sections get examined. Without the course there are no bonuses, and you need to prepare the whole syllabus.
- Start with the third and sixth sections, further mechanics and electromagnetic radiation with optics: they're examined no matter how many bonus items you have.
- After solving a problem, explain it out loud, as if to the commission: why this particular formula fits and what each quantity means. Just like in the balloon example above.
- Wherever the explanation doesn't hold up, go back to that section and solve a few more problems of the same type.
Our physics trainer isn't open yet. Until it launches, work through the problems from the course exercises, and look formulas up in the same formula sheet you'll have in the exam.
Sources
· 3 checked 22.09.2026
- Informationsblatt Physikkurs — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten · checked 20.09.2026
- Physik — vwu-info.at · checked 20.09.2026
- Ergänzungsprüfungen — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten · checked 22.09.2026
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