EPD in your Zulassungsbescheid: what now? The Ergänzungsprüfung Deutsch at the VWU step by step

If your Zulassungsbescheid, the admission decision from a Vienna university, lists the Ergänzungsprüfung Deutsch (EPD), the university has not yet accepted your German. You take this exam at the VWU, the preparatory programme of the Vienna universities, and only after passing it are you admitted to regular degree studies. You do not have to attend a VWU course for this: you can register for the exam without one and prepare on your own. If you fail, you can retake the exam four times.^1·2

Step 1. What to check in your Zulassungsbescheid about the EPD

Find the list of Ergänzungsprüfungen in the decision. Which exams it holds depends on the country that issued your school-leaving certificate and on the programme you chose, so besides German it may list maths, English, or history/geography. You have to pass all of them before you are admitted to regular studies. If history/geography is prescribed, you choose one of the two subjects. You have at most four semesters at the VWU to pass all of them. Keep the document itself: without a valid Zulassungsbescheid that prescribes the EPD, you cannot register for the exam.^1–3

Step 2. Does a certificate replace the EPD?

The EPD is prescribed when you did not upload proof of German at level C1 with your application. The University of Vienna only accepts the proofs on its list, and certificates must be no older than three years on the day you apply: ÖSD Zertifikat C1, Goethe-Zertifikat C1, telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule, DSH 2, DSD II, TestDaF with at least TDN 4 in every part, a C1/2 course with a passed exam at the University of Vienna's Sprachenzentrum, and the ÖIF test at C1.⁴

You may learn German outside the VWU and show C1 at enrolment. Once you have been admitted to attend the VWU, though, only the VWU's EPD counts: you can no longer leave the VWU and take the German exam elsewhere, and doing so can affect your residence permit. Any other proof of German must be shown before you register at the VWU, and a prescribed exam can only be struck off before you are admitted to attend the VWU. The page does not say whether registering for a single exam already counts as registering at the VWU. So if you take C1 elsewhere, send the certificate to the admissions office (Studienzulassung) of your university first and register for the EPD only after that.^3·4

Step 3. How to register for the EPD without a course

Registration is online only, through the VWU student portal at portal.vwu.at, and only during your sitting's registration window, which closes at noon Vienna time on its last day. If you have never attended a VWU course or registered for an exam there, create an account and choose "Möglichkeit 2 – Anmeldung zu einer einzelnen Ergänzungsprüfung". You pay the €70 fee for each exam in the same portal, under Prüfungen. You can withdraw from the written part up to one week before the first day of the written exams.²

Step 4. The next EPD sittings

Each semester has three sittings: September, November and January in winter, March, April or May, and June in summer. If you pass your last exam in November or April, you cannot move to regular studies in the same semester, because those sittings fall outside the admission period (Zulassungsfrist) for regular studies. If you want to start right away, pick another one. What happens on the day, when results arrive and what to bring are covered in the article on EPD sittings.²

Step 5. Where to find the official EPD sample

The VWU's official sample, "Modell Ergänzungsprüfung Deutsch", is on vwu-info.at, in the version with a listening section that applies from June 2026. The sample comes without an audio file; only a transcript of the recordings is printed at the end. The written exam takes 180 minutes and has four parts. You pass it with the minimum in each part (reading 10 of 20, listening 5 of 15, structures and vocabulary 7 of 15, writing 12 of 25) and at least 45 of 75 points in total. Dictionaries and electronic aids are not allowed in the written part. Only those who pass it are admitted to the oral, where you may use a monolingual VWU dictionary while you prepare. Every part is shown on a real task with its solution in the article on the EPD sample exam.⁵

Step 6. Take a timed EPD mock exam

The sample shows you the format. How much margin you have only shows once you write a whole paper in 180 minutes. In our EPD practice exams, two of the three papers follow the format used since June 2026, with recordings for the listening part. The tasks are open without registration, and every task with a right answer has an answer key. To write a whole paper against a 180-minute clock, use the EPD trainer, which needs trainer access. See in which part you stayed below the minimum and practise that part there.

Sources

· 5 checked 28.10.2026

1. 1Der Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten (VWU), Universität Wien
2. 2Ergänzungsprüfungen — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten
3. 3Ich will in den VWU: häufige Fragen, Universität Wien
4. 4Deutschkenntnisse, Universität Wien
5. 5Informationen zu den Fächern und Modelle der EPD und EPE, vwu-info.at