Central Matura: What you need to know before you start

Because of the interruption caused by Ascension Day, the exams are taking a particularly long time this time; Latin and Greek will not be completed until May 16th. This time there are changes to the math assessment for BHS high school graduates. Vienna. This time the Central Matura is divided into three calendar weeks. After German and math, English will follow on May 8th, and in the week from May 13th there will be one more day each for French, Italian, Spanish or the minority languages ​​Slovenian, Croatian and Hungarian, as well as for Greek and Latin. The only subject in which the exams are uniform for all participating students is German. In all other subjects there are differences depending on the type of school or, in the case of foreign languages, on the number of years taught.

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It cannot be said in advance how many students will actually take part in this year’s Central Matura. For the subject of German, where the exam is compulsory for all high school graduates, according to the Ministry of Education, almost 19,800 exercise books were ordered from high schools, and around 21,500 from vocational secondary schools (BHS; such as HAK, HTL, Bafep). There were a total of around 40,200 orders for mathematics and applied mathematics and 26,100 for English. There are significantly fewer examinees in the other living foreign languages; for French, for example, there are only around 1,600. At least 2,300 exam booklets were ordered for Latin and just 22 for ancient Greek. In addition, there are those people who are taking the vocational matriculation exam.

Of the simplifications introduced in the wake of the pandemic (longer working hours, voluntary oral Matura, etc.), only one, but probably the most important, change has been adopted into permanent law: Since 2020, the certificate grade for the last class has been included in the Matura grade. If, after taking into account the annual grade, you are exactly between two grades, the exam grade “stands out”. Anyone who had a satisfactory or better grade in their annual report card is largely protected from failure by the regulation. Only if you achieve less than 30 percent of the possible points will you automatically receive a fiver, regardless of your annual grade. This can be repaired during a compensation test on June 3rd or 4th.

Abolition of the Matura? “It’s out of the question”

This year’s round at the BHS brings changes to the assessment in math: At the AHS, the structure of the exam was adjusted from 2020 due to strongly fluctuating math results, and now the BHS is following suit for the exams in “Applied Mathematics”: The The assessment key will be adapted to that of the AHS and the awarding of half points, which according to the ministry has proven successful at high schools, will also be introduced across the board at the BHS. In addition, there are now 42 tasks to solve instead of 48.

Major reforms to the Matura or even its abolition, as was again demanded by the Vienna SPÖ at the end of last year, are out of the question for Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP), as he emphasized to the APA. “It is and remains clear to me that we need to stick to the Matura concept in the future. The abolition of grading using numerical grades is not an issue for me.”

“Heavenly Assistance”

If you don’t want to rely on your own abilities when taking the exam in your subject, you can get “heavenly support” again this year by registering online: As part of the “Be blessed!” campaign. ( www.beblessed.at) a candle is then lit during the Matura and prayed for a good exam. On Matura day, video blessings come via WhatsApp from people such as Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, cathedral priest Toni Faber or the Protestant pastor Julia Schnizlein. The Matura candles are part of the Austria-wide youth initiative “Denk Dich Neu”, through which the Catholic Church in Austria wants to come into contact with 18 to 25 year olds. The written Matura will be followed by the oral Matura from the end of May. Here, too, the certificate grades are included in the Matura grade.