From 2027, pupils taking the Matura will have to meet a new minimum-performance requirement in oral exams. The government also plans to delay distributing school laptops and tablets.
The federal government announced the measures, which also include proposals to make policies to prevent violence and harassment at universities mandatory, but Parliament still needs to approve them.
What is changing with the Matura?
The Matura, officially known as the Reifeprüfung, is Austria's secondary school leaving examination and grants access to universities and other higher education institutions.
One of the main planned changes is to make it a permanent option for pupils at academic secondary schools (AHS) to choose whether to submit a final project as part of their assessment.
The traditional pre-academic thesis, formerly known as Vorwissenschaftliche Arbeit (VWA), has been replaced by a more flexible final project, called Abschließende Arbeit (ABA).
Students can undertake research projects, creative projects or multimedia productions, including podcasts and videos.
Under the transitional rules currently in force, pupils may choose to sit an additional written or oral examination instead of submitting the project. The Ministry of Education's current guidelines guarantee this option until the 2028/29 academic year.
Now, the government wants to make this choice permanent.
According to the Minister for Education, Christoph Wiederkehr, the goal is to make the Matura more predictable while giving students more possibilities to demonstrate their knowledge.
The Local reported the planned changes in May.
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Will it become harder to pass the Matura?
The government is also introducing a minimum-performance requirement for oral exams before pupils' school marks can count towards their Matura results.
Under the Austrian system, marks from the last school year in which a subject was taught are taken into account together with the results of the Matura’s written and oral exams.
However, students must demonstrate a minimum level of knowledge in the exams for their academic-year marks to count toward the final result.
Previously, students with good marks throughout the year could pass an oral exam despite performing poorly, as long as they participated in the assessment.
This will no longer be acceptable.
Unlike other measures in the package, this rule has already been formally approved.
The regulation was published in the Austrian Federal Gazette on September 24th and entered into force the following day. The new requirements will apply from the main Matura examination session in 2027.
READ ALSO:The planned changes to Austria's school-leaving exams
When will pupils receive school laptops and tablets?
The government has also confirmed plans to postpone distributing digital devices subsidised by the Austrian Digitales Lernen programme.
Currently, participating schools provide government-subsidised laptops or tablets to students in the fifth school year, usually when children leave primary school and enter a Mittelschule or the lower cycle of an academic secondary school (AHS-Unterstufe).
Under the proposed system, the devices will only be distributed in the second term of the sixth school year.
The timetable published by the Ministry of Education provides for a gradual transition to the new model, and pupils starting their fifth school year in 2026/27 will still receive the devices under the current rules. But the new system is due to take effect in the 2027/28 school year. So, the first group of pupils covered by the new timetable is expected to receive the devices from February 2029.
According to the ministry, the delay will give children more time to adapt to secondary education and develop social and organisational skills before receiving their own devices.
The compulsory subject Digitale Grundbildung, which focuses on developing digital skills, will keep the same total number of teaching hours. Schools will, however, have more flexibility to organise lessons to align with the new timetable for device distribution.
The State Secretary for Digitalisation, Alexander Pröll, stated that the government wants children to focus first on fundamental skills, such as reading, writing and maths, before expanding their use of technology.
The programme will continue to be subsidised.
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What is changing at Austrian universities?
Universities and other higher education institutions would have to adopt policies and codes of conduct to prevent and respond to violence and harassment.
The Minister for Science, Eva-Maria Holzleitner, has announced an agreement to amend the Higher Education Quality Assurance Act.
These measures are intended to set clearer procedures to support those affected by misconduct and to provide for possible sanctions against those responsible.
According to the government, the changes form part of Austria’s national plan to combat violence against women.
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When will the changes take effect?
Not all the announced measures have become law yet.
The requirement for a minimum score of 30 percent in the Matura oral examinations has already been approved by regulation and is set to apply from the 2027 examination session.
Meanwhile, making the final project permanently optional and changing the timetable for distributing digital equipment are still subject to further stages of the legislative process.
The Ministry of Education has published a proposal to amend Austrian school laws, including a new timetable for digital devices and other reforms. The public consultation period runs until November 4th, 2026.
The new university safety requirements must also go through the legislative process.
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Key vocabulary
Matura / Reifeprüfung – the secondary school leaving examination in Austria.
Abschließende Arbeit (ABA) – a final project that may form part of the assessment for the Matura.
Schulstufe – school year or form.
Digitale Grundbildung – compulsory digital literacy subject in Austrian secondary schools.
Digitales Lernen – an Austrian government programme that provides subsidised digital equipment to pupils.
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