Often not one exam

2000 students failed to achieve the minimum performance

In total, almost 43,000 new courses were started in the winter semester 2022, meaning that the minimum study performance was not achieved in just under five percent of cases.(Bild: APA/dpa/Fabian Stratenschulte)

After the summer semester 2024, almost 2,000 students were unable to meet the minimum study performance requirement for first-year students, which has been in force for two years, and therefore lost admission to their respective subject. The University of Vienna was particularly affected, with over 1100 students failing to meet the requirement. 

However, according to the Ministry of Education, there was not a single case at ten of the 21 universities affected. Overall, the regulation led to increased examination activity.

• In the 2022/23 academic year, a minimum study performance requirement was introduced for first-year students in bachelor's and diploma programs. Students who do not complete at least 16 ECTS credits in the first two years of study will lose their admission to this university in the relevant subject. It can be reapplied for after a period of two years.

• Completing a Bachelor's degree course with the usual 180 ECTS credits would take 22.5 years at this rate, whereas the minimum period of study is only three years. 

• In winter semester 2022, a total of almost 43,000 new courses were started, meaning that just under five percent did not meet the minimum study requirements. Theoretically, one person could have failed to achieve the minimum study performance in several courses.

Not a single case at ten universities
At the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), 277 students failed to meet the minimum study requirements, at the University of Innsbruck it was 163, at the University of Linz 128 and at the Vienna University of Technology (TU) 110.

At the University of Salzburg 65 studies were affected and at the University of Klagenfurt 48. At all other universities there were only isolated cases, at the six universities of the arts, the medical universities of Vienna and Innsbruck, the University of Veterinary Medicine and Graz University of Technology not a single one.

Most cases at the University of Vienna
Precise data on the structure of failed minimum study achievements is available at the University of Vienna: of the approximately 1,150 studies affected, almost half (524) did not pass a single examination and in around 330 cases the studies were terminated of their own accord.

In 185 cases, study achievements of between one and eleven ECTS points were registered. The specified target was only narrowly missed (12-15 ECTS) in 61 studies.