Admission to the master programme in Psychotherapy

On this website you will find step-by-step instructions and all the information you need about the admission to the master programme in Psychotherapy.

Please note:

  • Generally speaking you must have completed your degree programme when applying for admission. Please merge your transcript of records into one PDF file. Upload this file in your application for admission, so your study progress can be assessed. You must submit the documents proving your completed degree and complete the admission procedure no later than 31 July 2026. 
  • You must hold an eligible higher education degree of at least three years from a post-secondary educational institution.
  • Submit your complete application for admission with easily legible high-quality scans of your documents.
  • The processing of your residence permit (if required) by the Austrian embassy/consulate takes time. 

 Deadlines and overview

  • Application period for the academic year 2026/27: from 2 March to 7 April 2026
  • Available study places: 40
  • Written test: 6 July 2026
  • Administration fee: 80 Euro
  • Test language: German (English for some parts)
  • Test duration: 3 hours
  • Admission period academic year 2026/27: from the announcement of results to 31 July 2026
  • Semester start: 1 October 

The admission to this degree programme is only possible after successfully participating in the selection procedure and if fulfilling all requirements for admission to master programme in Psychotherapy, jointly established by the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna.

Schedule of the academic year

 Required documents

For the registration in u:space

  • your valid passport or personal ID card (front and back) as JPEG or PNG file

for allocation to one of the quotas and the application for admission 

  • Your secondary-school leaving certificate with a sworn translation (if the document was not issued in German or English) 
  • if applicable proof of belonging to a group of persons according to the decree on groups of persons or the proof of having equal status to EU citizens 
  • Higher education degree certificate and transcripts/diploma supplement  
    • with the completed subjects including grades and ECTS/semester hours
    • with the required legalisation according to the issuing country
    • With a sworn translation (if the documents were not issued in German or English) 
    • merged into one PDF file
    • note the info about degrees from non-EU/EEA countries. 
  • Proof of German language proficiency
    For the application for admission you need a proof of German at level A2 (or higher). We recommend at least level B2 for the written test. For admission to the master programme in Psychotherapy you must prove your German language proficiency at level C1. Admission without a proof at level C1 is not possible. 

 Documents from Bangladesh, India or Pakistan?

Prospective students from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan also have to complete a competence check at VFS Global before applying for admission to a degree programme.  

 Your steps in the admission procedure

Step 1: Complete the Online-Self-Assessment (OSA)

The Online-Self-Assessment (OSA, only available in German) is designed to help you assess yourself. You will find out to what extent your chosen degree programme meets your expectations and interests and you will receive detailed feedback. Please allow one to two hours to complete the assessment. The OSA is anonymous, requires no preparation in terms of content, is not graded and does not affect your chances of being offered a place at university.

After having completed the OSA, you receive your OSA code. You will need it in the further procedure. 

Step 2: Prepare the required documents

  1. Scan all required documents and save them in the appropriate format. Make sure that your files are easily readable and provided in high quality. 
  2. Merge multiple pages of the same document into one PDF file using an online tool of your choice (e.g. higher education degree certificate + transcripts/diploma supplement + legalisation + translation).

Prepare all required documents before the beginning of the application period. Thereby, you can apply for admission with complete documents as soon as the application period starts. 

Step 3: Apply for admission

  1. Create your u:account  
    If you have never studied at the University of Vienna, you set up a u:account in our student portal u:space. Make sure you remember your login details, as you will need them for your studies. We will send an activation link to your e-mail address.
  2. Register in u:space
    Log into u:space to complete the registration. At Studies > Apply for admission you can submit your application. 
  3. Allocate yourself to the right quota
  4. Upload all required documents  
    If you have prepared all the documents, it will only take a few minutes to submit your application.
  5. Complete the statistical data 
    Complete the statistical data and select "Continue to application". Make sure that all the details you have entered are correct. 
  6. Pay the administration fee   
    Select “Pay and submit application”. Pay the administration fee of 80 Euro by eps transfer or credit card. Your application has now been submitted. This means that we have received your application and you are registered for the selection procedure for the master programme in Psychotherapy. 

     You will find your registration confirmation with the official electronic signature in u:space Personal matters > My Documents. If necessary, you can present this document to the Austrian representative authority (embassy/consulate) to obtain an entry visa for the written test. 

The status of your application in u:space > Apply for admission > My applications has to be "submitted". 

Step 4: Prepare for the written test

Find out more about the test structure and download the test literature. The test literature is available as a free download: 

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  • Test structure

    The written test consists of four parts. Each part comprises several items. An item is a question or task with several possible answers:

    • Single choice: Only one answer is correct.
    • Multiple choice: One or more answers are correct.
    1. Test section basic knowledge of Psychotherapy Science: 
      This section assesses prior knowledge from the specified test literature on topics relevant to Psychotherapy Science, in particular the fundamentals of research and scientific methodology, psychological and medical-psychiatric fundamentals, the fundamentals of psychotherapy and the fundamentals of psychological diagnostics.
    2. Test section verbal analytical comprehension: 
      This test section assesses text comprehension, verbal analytical comprehension, and verbal assessment and judgement skills.
    3. Test section social-emotional competence: 
      This test section assesses social-emotional reasoning, social sensitivity, and emotion recognition.
    4. Test section English language skills: 
      This test section assesses comprehension of English texts.

    You can find more information about the four test sections here (only available in German).

  • Evaluation

    Correctly answered items are scored with 1 point, while incorrectly answered or unanswered items are scored with 0 points.

    The total score used for ranking is calculated from the weighted sum of the four test subscores and is determined according to the following formula:

    • Test subscore for basic knowledge of psychotherapy science: 70 %
    • Test subscore for verbal analytical comprehension: 15.75 %
    • Test subscore for social-emotional competencies: 9 %
    • Test subscore for English language skills: 5.25 %

    Study places are allocated based on your ranking in the test within your quota.

  • Test literature academic year 2026/27

    Access to the test literature for the written test can be requested via the service email address  uaccess.ub@univie.ac.at.

    The materials provided may only be used for personal use and for the purpose of preparing for the selection procedure. There is no permanent right of use. Distribution of the content is not permitted. 

    • Barnett, J. E. (2019). The Ethical Practice of Psychotherapy: Clearly Within Our Reach. Psychotherapy, 56(4), 431-440. doi.org/10.1037/pst0000272 (Open Access) 
    • Hoyer, J., & Knappe, S. (2020). Klinische Psychologie & Psychotherapie (3. Aufl.). Springer.
      • Kap. 1 Was ist Klinische Psychologie?
      • Kap. 2 Diagnostische Klassifikation psychischer Störungen
      • Kap. 3 Epidemiologische Beiträge zur Klinischen Psychologie
      • Kap. 7 Biopsychologische Grundlagen
      • Kap. 11 Entwicklungspsychologische Grundlagen
      • Kap. 13 Klinisch-psychologische und psychotherapeutische Verfahren
      • Kap. 14 Verhaltenstherapie
      • Kap. 15 Psychodynamische Psychotherapie
      • Kap. 16 Systemische Psychotherapie
      • Kap. 17 Humanistische und experientielle Psychotherapieverfahren
      • Kap. 21 Diagnostische Prozesse in der Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie
      • Kap. 37 Psychische Störungen des Kindes- und Jugendalters
      • Kap. 38 Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-/Hyperaktivitätsstörungen (ADHS)
      • Kap. 39 Störungen im Zusammenhang mit psychotropen Substanzen und abhängigen Verhaltensweisen
      • Kap. 44 Psychotische Störungen und Schizophrenie
      • Kap. 46 Depressive Störungen
      • Kap. 47 Panik und Agoraphobie
      • Kap. 48 Generalisierte Angststörung
      • Kap. 49 Soziale Angststörung
      • Kap. 50 Spezifische Phobien
      • Kap. 51 Posttraumatische Belastungsstörung
      • Kap. 52 Zwangsstörungen
      • Kap. 53 Somatoforme Störungen
      • Kap. 57 Persönlichkeitsstörungen
    • Schmithüsen, F., & Ferring, D. (2015). Allgemeine Psychologie. In F. Schmithüsen (Hrsg.), Lernskript Psychologie: Die Grundlagenfächer kompakt. Springer.
    • Schreier, M., Echterhoff, G., Bauer, J. F., Weydmann, N. & Hussy, W. (2023). Forschungsmethoden in Psychologie und Sozialwissenschaften für Bachelor (3. Aufl.). Springer.
      • Kap. 1 Psychologie und Sozialwissenschaften als empirische Wissenschaften
      • Kap. 2 Quantitative Erhebungsmethoden
      • Kap. 3 Quantitative Forschungsansätze
      • Kap. 4 Quantitative Auswertungsmethoden
      • Kap. 5 Qualitative Forschungsansätze
      • Kap. 6 Qualitative Erhebungsmethoden
      • Kap. 7 Qualitative Analyseverfahren
      • Kap. 9 Mixed-Methods-Forschung

Step 5: Participate in the written test

No later than 14 days before the test date, you will receive information by e-mail about the location, time, permission to attend and procedure for the written test. Participation is not possible without the permission to attend. Keep the entire test day free and, if necessary, arrive the day before.

At the end of the test, you will be informed about the next steps.

Step 6: Wait for your test result and admission letter

Approximately 14 days after the exam, you will receive an e-mail with your results and the next steps. 

You will receive your admission letter via e-mail to the e-mail address you have provided in u:space. Also check your spam folder. You can also find it in u:space > Personal matters > My documents. 

You were successful in the test and have received an admission letter? 

Receipt of the admission letter does not mean that you have already been admitted, but rather that you have been offered a study place at university and that admission to the degree programme you applied for is possible. You have until 31 July 2026 at the latest to accept your place at university and complete first-time admission as described in step 7. If you do not do so, your place will be given to the next person on the waiting list via the succession procedure.

The admission can

  • be granted without any supplementary examinations or 
  • be granted with supplementary examinations from the bachelor programme (max. 30 ECTS), which you have to complete until the end of the second semester in the master programme at the latest. 

You will receive information regarding any supplementary examinations in your admission letter. These compensate fundamental subject-specific differences. You can only complete these "subject-specific" supplementary examinations after you were admitted to the master programme. 

Step 7: Accept your study place and complete the admission procedure

If you have been successful in the selection procedure and have been offered a study place, we will send you your admission letter and inform you about the next steps in the admission procedure by e-mail.