Under the plans approved by the Austrian cabinet this week, students at Allgemeinbildende Höhere Schulen (AHS) – the name for academic high schools in Austria – will not be required to complete a final project as part of their Matura qualification.
The current transitional arrangement, under which students can choose an additional written or oral exam as an alternative, will be made permanent following the decision.
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The move follows the introduction this school year of the new "Final Work" (Abschließende Arbeit or ABA), which replaced the traditional pre-academic thesis known as the VWA.
Students can currently submit projects in formats such as podcasts, video reports or multimedia presentations.
However, Austria's Education Ministry said around half of graduating students chose the alternative written or oral exam route this year, prompting officials to make the thesis permanently optional.
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Changes to oral exams and cheating rules
The Matura – officially known as the Reifeprüfung – is Austria’s secondary school-leaving examination and is required for admission to universities and other higher education institutions.
The exam consists of written examinations, three to four tests lasting for up to five hours each on consecutive mornings of May, and oral examinations, also three to four tests held about one month after the written ones.
The reforms also introduce a stricter standard for oral Matura exams at both AHS and vocational upper secondary schools (BHS).
From next year, students will need to achieve at least 30 percent in oral examinations. Previously, candidates technically only had to "participate" in the exam.
Austrian teacher representatives had criticised the existing system after some students reportedly arrived at oral exams largely unprepared because annual grades already heavily influenced final results.
Furthermore, Austria plans to tighten anti-cheating rules in response to AI and other advanced digital tools. Under the new regulations, simply possessing an unauthorised device during an exam will count as cheating.
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Students with weaker grades will also receive greater flexibility.
From 2027, pupils will also be allowed to sit the main exams even if they have two fail grades (known as 5 in the Austrian system) on their report card. Under the current system, this is only possible with one failing grade.
Aim to reduce bureaucracy
The Austrian government says the package is intended to reduce bureaucracy and modernise leaving systems.
Schools will receive more flexibility over examination schedules, committee structures and administrative procedures.
Requirements for archiving examination documents will also be significantly reduced, from 60 years to just three.
Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr said the reforms would modernise the Matura system and return "the necessary flexibility" to schools.
Conservative and Social Democratic education spokespeople both backed the measures.
Heinrich Himmer, the SPÖ’s education spokesperson, described the changes as a "comprehensive package of measures" to strengthen young people’s education
His ÖVP counterpart, Nico Marchetti, stressed the importance of high academic performance.
"For us, it is clear: hard work must pay off and the Matura must be worth something," he said.
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