Admission with an International Secondary School-Leaving Certificate
Source: https://www.tuwien.at/en/studies/admission/bachelors-programmes/admission-with-an-international-school-leaving-certificate
Admission to a bachelor's programme is conditional on possession of the general university entrance qualification. This qualification shall be certified by an Austrian secondary school-leaving certificate or a international certificate which is equivalent to an Austrian secondary-school leaving certificate.
In any case, you need to submit an application for admission and send it via post to the Admission Office.
Please note that for all bachelor's Programmes at TU Wien there is either an entrance exam procedure with a limited number of places (Computer Science, Architecture and Spatial Planning), or a study preparation and reflection phase (Programme-PRe-Phase) for self-orientation (non-limiting) to be completed along with the application for admission and prior to personal enrolment at the Admission Office.
Information on the admission procedures and the Programme-PRe-phase can be found in the description of the study programme and at entrance exam and aptitude procedures.
NOTE!\ The pre-registration including the Programme-PRe-phase must be completed at the lastest by September 5th for the winter semester and February 5th for the summer semester! Otherwise admission is not possible (see admission deadlines).
Application for Admission
When do I submit my application?
Personal enrolment with a letter of admission is possible until October 31st (winter semester) or until March 31st (summer semester). \ A complete overview of the admission periods can be found in the Academic Calender. \ \ Therefore, please send the documents in good time!\ Due to the high number of applications, processing may take 10-12 weeks. Please understand that the Admissions Office cannot provide any information (neither by phone nor by email) about the processing status of your application before this processing time has expired.
In order to obtain admission for the semester applied for we recommend submitting complete applications within the following periods:
- winter semester:
- EU/EEA citizens: begin of February until end of July
- non-EU/EEA citizens: January 16th until July 15th
- summer semester:
- EU/EEA citizens: begin of August until end of January
- non-EU/EEA citizens: July 16th until January 15th
For incomplete applications or applications received by the Admissions Office after this time, admission for the desired semester cannot be guaranteed due to the above-mentioned processing time. In this case, admission is only possible for the following semester.
NOTE!\ If you are required to take supplementary examinations, which you can take as part of the university preparation programme, please also mind the registration deadlines of the VWU.
Please initially check whether an application for admission may be omitted due to equivalence to the Austrian secondary-school leaving certificate.
If an application for admission is required, please submit the following documents at the Admission Office:
- duly signed application form
- provide a valid email-address in the respective field of the application form
- secondary school-leaving certificate (officially legalised copy with official translation)
- For countries with national university entrance examination: confirmation in officially legalised copy (e.g. Iran (Konkour), Kasachstan, South Korea, Turkey (YKS/YÖS))
- proof of German language level A2 or/and C1 (officially legalised copy)
- passport copy
- for non-EU/EEA citizens with Austrian home addresses: confirmation of registration ("Meldebestätigung")
Applications sent in electronically will not be considered.
Please note that because of repeated customs payment demands, mail sent via express shipment companies from a non-EU/EEA country may not be accepted by the admission office!Please also refrain from giving our e-mail address to the courier services as we have no use for shipment updates.
NOTE!
Documents issued in countries other than Austria are subject to legalisation regulations. All documents that are not originally issued in German or English must also be officially translated and remain inseparably attached to the original document. Always have translations carried out after any (diplomatic) certification. This is because domestic certification marks (stamps, seals, etc.) must also be translated if they are not in German or English.
For administrative reasons a maximum of 2 applications for admission per person are allowed!
Processing the application
Formal document verification
Once the Admission Office has received your documents, we verify whether they are complete, accurate and authentic. If there are any formal irregularities in the documents, the Admission Office will inform you by post or e-mail.
If missing documents, translations, etc. are not submitted on time, your application will be rejected and you will cannot be admitted to TU Wien. Please follow the instructions of the Admissions Office carefully!
Content-related examination of the education
If there are no significant differences to the Austrian Reifeprüfung, admission without supplementary examinations is possible (see also equivalent school-leaving certificates).
Admission with supplementary examinations
A substantial difference exists if
- the certificate is not used to gain access to all sectors of higher education institutions in the country of origin (in this case, admission is not possible under any circumstances, e.g. Fachhochschulreife from Germany)
- the duration of schooling is not at least 12 years (can be compensated by supplementary examinations) and
- the general education contents do not predominate: six general education subjects (two languages, mathematics, one science subject, one humanities subject and one further general education subject) must be proven in secondary level II (at most one missing subject can be compensated by supplementary examinations).
If there is a significant difference (duration of schooling and/or too inadequate general education content), supplementary examinations (mathematics, chemistry and/or physics) are prescribed in the admission letter. If proof of German language skills at level C1 is also missing, the supplementary examination German must be taken in addition.
Prescribed supplementary examinations like German, Mathematics, Chemistry or Physics must be completed at the University Preparation Programme ("Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten - VWU"). For this you will be enrolled as non-degree-student.
NOTE!\ Applicants, who have to pass supplementary examinations, have to additionally mind the deadlines for course-registration to the University Preparation Programme! Read the relevant information on the Homepage of the University Preparation Programme very carefully!
Supplementary examination Descriptive Geometry
For the following bachelor programmes, at least 4 hours per week of Descriptive Geometry after the 8th school year must be proven in accordance with the University Entrance Qualification Decree ("Universitätsberechtigungsverordnung" – UBVO):
- Architecture
- Chemical and Process Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Geodesy and Geoinformation
- Mechanical Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering - Management
Descriptive Geometry cannot be replaced by ‘Geometric Drawing’!
If sufficient proof of Descriptive Geometry cannot be provided, the additional examination must be taken during the bachelor programme, at the latest before the final bachelor's examination. TU Wien offers corresponding courses for this purpose.
Issuance of the admission letter
After completing the evaluation of your application by the Admission Office (duration 10 to 12 weeks), you will receive by post mail an admission letter from TU Wien. You will be also notified by post mail if the admission is not possible.
NOTE!\ Notify us of a change in address in a timely manner. Read all received documents from TU Wien very carefully as they contain all of the necessary information!
Admission letter received, what now?
Visa requirements (non-EU/EEA citizens only)
Should you be subject to visa requirements, you can apply for residence authorisation with the Austrian diplomatic authorities (embassy, consulate) in your country of origin, exhibiting your admission letter.
NOTE! \ The Admission Office cannot provide you with any information or or assistance in visa requirements. Newly-admitted international degree-seeking students should visit the website of the International Welcome and Engagement Center (IWEC) for information about the visa application process and advising services.
Pre-Registration
Independent of the application for admission you will also have to complete either the entrance exam or the programme-PRe-phase, which can be done via the pre-registration.
The pre-registration must be completed before the personal enrolment at the university. At the end of the process, an appointment for the first-time admission must be booked (this only applies to the winter semester).
Personal Enrolment
After completion of the pre-registration you have to come to the Admission Office in person.\ Please ensure to bring the following documents with you:
- your admission letter,
- your admission code (from the pre-registration),
- for students of the preparatory programme: confirmation of registration and payment from the VWU,
- your valid passport and
- your valid residence permit (non-EU-citizens only!) if available.
If you have never been admitted to a degree programme at another Austrian university, you will receive an eight-digit student ID number and your student ID card (TUcard) when you enrol in person at the Admissions Office.
NOTE!\ If supplementary examinations have been prescribed, you have to register for the University Preparation Programme latest by August 25th (winter semester) or January 23rd (summer semester). Otherwise, attendance of the University Preparation Programme is not possible.
Admission Office
For general inquiries, please use our Contact form.\ Specific inquiries regarding TU account logins can be found in the JIRA online portal.
Front office hours
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday\ 9:30 to 12:00
Wednesday\ 13:30 to 16:00
Availability by telephone
Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 12:00 and \ Monday to Thursday from 13:00 to 16:00
Phone number: +43 1 58801 41188
Please note: For data protection reasons, no information on personal data can be given over the phone.
Address of the Admission Office
Karlsplatz 13\ Stiege 1, EG\ 1040 Wien
Quickinfo
Application form for Admission to a Bachelor's Programme
Admission Period Academic Year 2025/26
Winter semester 2025/26:
7 July to 31 October 2025
Sommer semester 2026:
7 January to 31 March 2026
Admission Office
For general inquiries, please use our Contact form.\ Specific inquiries regarding TU account logins can be found in the JIRA online portal.
Front office hours
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday\ 9:30 to 12:00
Wednesday\ 13:30 to 16:00
Availability by telephone
Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 12:00 and \ Monday to Thursday from 13:00 to 16:00
Phone number: +43 1 58801 41188
Please note: For data protection reasons, no information on personal data can be given over the phone.
Address of the Admission Office
Karlsplatz 13\ Stiege 1, EG\ 1040 Wien
Quickinfo
Application form for Admission to a Bachelor's Programme
Admission Period Academic Year 2025/26
Winter semester 2025/26:
7 July to 31 October 2025
Sommer semester 2026:
7 January to 31 March 2026