In coordination with the respective authorities and in adherence with strict protocols and safety precautions, 12,442 prospective students total took the MedAT entrance exam for a spot in a medical degree program as part of the joint admission procedures. The MedAT examination was held simultaneously in Vienna, Innsbruck, Graz and at the Faculty of Medicine at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz. 17,599 prospective students had originally registered to take the exam.

In lieu of the high risk of a COVID-19 infection, the entrance exams were held at several locations throughout Austria in strict adherence to the outlined safety protocols designed to protect of all of the parties involved. The MedUni Vienna exams were held at the Messe Wien and Messezentrum Salzburg in Salzburg. In Innsbruck, the exam was held at the Messe Innsbruck, in Graz at the Messe Graz, and in Linz at the Design Center Linz as well as at the Messe Wels. The most important safety aspects in order to conduct the admissions tests included wearing a face covering (face mask), maintaining distance, and adhering to strictly regulated procedures when entering and exiting the testing rooms.

At the building entrance, test takers were randomly selected to have their temperatures taken. Additional protocols in place included more temperature checks by experts and a Red Cross triage team. There were no confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases at any of the locations.

Facts & Figures:

- A total of 6,116 prospective students took the entrance exam for admission to the MedUni Vienna; 4,362 in Vienna and 1,754 in Salzburg. 8,620 prospective students had originally signed up to take the test.

- A total of 2,793 prospective students took the test at the Medical University of Innsbruck. By the end of March, 4,008 prospective students had registered online to take the test.

- Out of 3,139 registrations to take the test at the Medical University of Graz, 2,320 actually took the test on Friday.

- In Linz (Faculty of Medicine at the JKU Linz), 1,213 prospective students took the test at (Design Center: 614; Messe Wels: 599).  By the end of the registration deadline in March 2020, 1,832 prospective students had registered to take the test. 

The MedAT-H and MedAT-Z Tests

The admissions test to be admitted to a medical degree program (MedAT-H) is a written examination containing various sections and is divided as follows:

• - Basic knowledge test for medical studies: Testing material taught at school in the areas of biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics.
• - Reading comprehension: Testing reading skills and understanding texts.
• - Cognitive abilities and skills: This part of the exam consists of five groups of tasks (putting figures together, number sequences, word fluency, memory retention and recognizing implications), and measures basic cognitive abilities and skills.
• - Social-emotional skills: This section consists of the task groups to recognize emotions and social decision-making, covering key aspects of social-emotional skills.

The admissions test for dentistry (MedAT-Z) is very similar to the MedAT-H test however, instead of the reading comprehension and recognizing implications sections, a section of the test focuses on manual skills that includes bending wires into certain shapes and mirror forming.

An Additional 60 Students in Linz – A Total of 1,740

A total of 1,740 spots are available in the medical degree programs for human medicine and dentistry for the 2020/2021 academic year. The Medical University of Vienna will accept 740 students, 400 students will be accepted to the Medical University of Innsbruck, 360 at the Medical University of Graz, and 240 at the JKU’s Faculty of Medicine (180 students were accepted in Linz in 2019).  95% of spots in the program are reserved for EU citizens and persons of equal status with regard to access to university studies, and 75% of spots in the program are reserved for Austrian applicants.