Admission to the bachelor programme in Political Science

Detailed information on the entrance exam procedure and the admission procedure for applicants with

  • secondary-school leaving certificate from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland and
  • German language level B2 or higher

If you are in your final school year and do not have your secondary-school leaving certificate yet, you can already apply for admission and register for the entrance exam procedure. As soon as you receive the document, upload it in u:space.

No later than at the time of admission to the degree programme, you will need a secondary-school leaving certificate and a proof of German language proficiency at level C1 (or higher). You do not yet need these proofs on the day of the entrance exam. 

The entrance exam procedure takes place once per academic year (before the winter semester) and is valid for two semesters.

Academic year 2024/25

The application period for the academic year 2024/25 is already over. You can only be admitted to this degree programme if you have submitted your application in time and meet all requirements for admission.

The application and admission period for the academic year 2025/26 has not been announced yet. This information will be published around January/February 2025. 

Detailed information regarding the academic year 2025/26 (required documents, etc.) will be continually added to this page from the beginning of the year 2025 onwards.

 Deadlines and overview

  • Application and registration period: from 4 March to 5 June 2024
  • Administration fee: 50 Euro
  • Available university places: 570
  • Entrance exam: the writen exam does not take place
  • Test language: German (knowledge of English required for individual parts of the exam)
  • Test duration: 2 hours
  • Admission period winter semester 2024/25: from 11 July until 31 October 2024
  • Admission period summer semester 2025: from 7 January to 31 March 2025
  • Semester start: 1 October (winter semester), 1 March (summer semester)

The admission to the degree programme is only possible after having successfully passed the entrance exam procedure, provided you fulfil all requirements for the admission to a bachelor programme at the University of Vienna.

Schedule of the academic year

 Required documents

for the registration in u:space

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

for the application for admission

  • all pages (!) of your original secondary-school leaving certificate 
    • together with a sworn translation (if not issued in German or English)
    • merged into one PDF file
    The application is even possible before your secondary-school leaving certificate is issued.
  • proof of German language proficiency at level C1 or higher (not needed if you have a secondary-school leaving certificate from a German-speaking country) merged into one PDF file
  • if necessary, proof of any additional exams merged into one PDF file

 Your steps in the admission procedure

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

The Online-Self-Assessment (OSA) is the first step of the entrance exam procedure and serves as a guide for choosing a degree programme. You will find out to what extent the chosen degree programme corresponds to your expectations and interests. You will also receive detailed feedback. Allow one to two hours to do this. The OSA requires no specific preparation, is not evaluated and does not affect the ranking for the allocation of study places.

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 proper format. Make sure that your files are easily readable and scanned in high quality. 
  2. Merge several pages of the same document (e.g. front and back of the secondary-school leaving certificate plus translation) into one PDF file by means of an online tool of your choice.

Step 3: Apply for admission and register

  1. Activate your u:account in u:space within the application period. Make sure you remember the login data, because you will further need the u:account during your studies.
  2. Log in to u:space, complete the registration and select the degree programme of your choice. Upload the required documents.
    • If you do not have your secondary-school leaving certificate yet, enter the relevant information. You can already register for the entrance exam procedure and upload your secondary-school leaving certificate later.
    • If needed, select “Yes, my German knowledge is sufficient. I want to participate in the entrance exam procedure for the coming academic year.”
  3. Enter the OSA code.
  4. Click on "continue to submission" and check the summary to see if the data you entered (especially your e-mail address) is correct.
  5. Then, click on "pay and submit application" and pay the administration fee of 50 Euro by credit card or by eps online transfer (only possible from an Austrian bank account).

Check the status of your application in u:space:

a) You have already uploaded a secondary-school leaving certificate. The status of your application is "submitted".

b) You have not uploaded any secondary-school leaving certificate yet. The status of your application is "amend" and the status of your secondary-school leaving certificate is "deficient!". This means you can upload your secondary-school leaving certificate later on.

Now you are registered for the entrance exam procedure. Your confirmation of registration is available in u:space. Several days after the application deadline, you will be informed by e-mail about whether a written exam will take place or not. Also check the spam folder of your mailbox.

Step 4: Download the literature and prepare for the test with sample exercises

The literature and further information are available as a free download:

Step 5: Written entrance exam

At least 14 days before the exam date, you will receive an e-mail with information on the place, time and procedure of the written exam as well as the link to your permission to attend ("Einlassbestätigung"). Without the permission to attend a participation in the written exam is not possible. Make sure you are free on the day of the exam and travel to Vienna a day earlier, if necessary.

At the end of the exam you will be informed of the further steps. 

Step 6: Admission to the degree programme

Approximately 14 days after the exam, you will receive an e-mail with your results and the next steps. After the announcement of results, an admission to the degree programme is possible if you have passed the entrance exam procedure successfully and meet the requirements for an admission to a bachelor programme at the University of Vienna.

This is how you complete the admission procedure: 

  1. Book an appointment for online first-time admission by using our appointment-booking tool.
    Detailed information on how to book an appointment
    As your identity needs to be verified, you have to complete this step in person. Representation by third parties is not possible. 
  2. Pay the tuition fee/Students' Union fee after your appointment. The admission is completed as soon as the prescribed fee is received in u:space > Financial matters > Tuition fee/Students' Union fee.

Step 7: Order the u:card and create your semester schedule

As soon as the tuition fee/Students' Union fee is received, you can order your student ID card, the u:card.

Furthermore, you can print out your student documents (student record sheet and confirmation of enrolment) in u:space > Personal matters > My documents.

After the admission, you can create your semester schedule and register for courses. The registration deadlines are available in the course directory in u:find as well as in u:space.