How points are calculated in the WU entrance test (partial credit)

In the WU Vienna entrance exams (Aufnahmeprüfung, often called Aufnahmetest) for Business and Economics (BBE) and for Business, Economics and Social Sciences (WISO), and in the law part of the Business Law exam, you tick one or more options for every question. WU grades them with a partial-credit system: correct ticks earn part of a question's points, wrong ticks cost part of them, and no question goes below zero.¹

The basic rule has exceptions that are easy to miss. A question with only one correct option is all or nothing: one tick too many and it scores zero. If a question has only one wrong option, ticking that wrong option costs half the maximum.

WU explains the rule itself, in a short document with worked examples for each exam. You can practise it with WU's own practice problems, and with the calculator and the practice questions on this page.

How the WU entrance test calculates partial credit per question

Every question has its own maximum, stated with the question. You only get the full points if you tick all the correct options and none of the wrong ones. When a question has more than one correct option, WU works with the maximum max, the number of correct options c and the number of false ones f (the letters of WU's English document): each correct tick earns max/c points, each wrong tick costs max/f. If the question has only one wrong option, ticking that wrong option costs max/2.¹

Plus and minus are set against each other within the question. If the result is below zero, the question counts as zero, even if you ticked only wrong options. A minus on one question therefore never takes points away from another.¹

At least one option in every question is correct, and all of them can be. The question does not tell you how many: WU's WISO practice problems ask "Welche der folgenden Aussagen ist/sind korrekt?", which statement is or are correct.²

For Business Law the same rule applies, in a separate WU document with the same wording; its heading names the July 2026 exam.³

The BBE document is in English, with the same rules and the same examples.⁴

WU links these documents on its pages for the three 2026 procedures. It says it will publish information on the 2027/28 procedure in mid-November; we will then check whether anything about the scoring changes.⁵

The 2026 dates for all three programmes are on our entrance-test page, and the rest of the WISO test, from registration to the syllabus, is in our guide to the WISO entrance test.

The four question types in the WU entrance test

WU sorts questions by how many of their options are correct. The worked examples in this section are our own, all with a question worth 6 points and five options.

With several correct and several wrong options, the basic rule applies. With two correct options out of five, a correct tick earns 6/2 = 3 points and a wrong one costs 6/3 = 2. One correct and one wrong tick give 3 − 2 = 1 point; one correct and two wrong give −1, which is scored as zero.¹

With three correct options out of five, the balance flips: a correct tick earns 2 points and a wrong one costs 3. All three correct plus one wrong give 2 + 2 + 2 − 3 = 3 points.¹

With only one correct option it is all or nothing. Tick a wrong option as well as the correct one and the question is zero: 0 instead of 6 points.¹

With only one wrong option, ticking that wrong option costs half the maximum, even if you have not ticked all the correct ones. With four correct options, each correct tick earns 1.5 points and the wrong one costs 3: all four plus the wrong one give 6 − 3 = 3 points, three plus the wrong one give 1.5 + 1.5 + 1.5 − 3 = 1.5 points. Under the basic rule the wrong one would cost 6.¹

When all options are correct, each tick earns the maximum divided by the number of options, and nothing can be deducted. Three ticks out of five give 1.2 + 1.2 + 1.2 = 3.6 points.¹

Partial-credit calculator for WU entrance test questions

In the calculator you rebuild a question: how many options it has, how many points it is worth, which options are correct and which you ticked. It shows the points, the calculation and the question type. It starts with a question worth 3 points, with a and b correct and a and c ticked.

Partial-credit calculator

Rebuild a question: how many options it has, how many points it is worth, which options are correct and which you ticked.

Partial-credit calculator

Answer options345678Maximum points12345678910

Optioncorrecttickedvalue of a tick

a)+1.5

b)+1.5

c)−1

d)−1

e)−1

f)

g)

h)

Result

0.5of 3 points

1.5 − 1 = 0.5

Several correct, several wrong

Each correct tick earns 3/2 = 1.5, each wrong tick costs 3/3 = 1. The question never goes below zero.

The calculator does not accept a question without any correct option, because according to WU there is no such question.²

When an uncertain tick pays off in the WU entrance test

This section is our own calculation from WU's rules; WU gives no advice on it. Do not leave a question blank. A single tick on your best guess never scores less than a blank question, because both are worth zero at worst. More generally, an extra tick can cost you at most the points the question already earns without it.

Whether one more tick pays off on average depends on how sure you are, meaning how likely you think it is that the option is correct, and on how many options are correct. Take two correct out of five at 3 points: the tick earns 1.5 if the option is correct and costs 1 if it is wrong. If you are 50 % sure, you gain 0.5 · 1.5 − 0.5 · 1 = 0.25 points on average. The break-even point is 40 %, and it does not depend on the maximum.

Correct out of five	A correct tick earns	A wrong tick costs	Pays off above a certainty of
one	all or nothing	the whole question	special case
two	one half	one third	40 %
three	one third	one half	60 %
four	one quarter	one half	67 %
all five	one fifth	nothing, none is wrong	always

The shares are of the question's maximum, and the thresholds are for questions with five options. That is how many every question in the law part of the Business Law exam has, according to WU, and how many all the examples in its partial-credit documents have.⁶

In the exam you do not know how many options are correct. So read the table as a rule of thumb: above two thirds certainty an extra tick pays off whether two, three, four or all five options are correct. Below 40 % it pays off only if all five are correct. In between it depends on how many correct options you suspect.

The exception is the question with a single correct option. If you have already ticked it, any further tick turns the whole question to zero. If you are below 40 % on every further option, stay with that one tick: by our calculation, an extra tick below 40 % pays off in no question type that has at least one wrong option.

Every threshold in this section holds as long as the question would not drop below zero even with a wrong tick. Otherwise a wrong tick costs less, and the threshold is lower.

Three practice questions in the WU entrance test format, with points for every combination

The three questions are our own, written in the exam format, and cover the three question types where ticks can cost points. Decide what you would tick first, then open the solution: it lists the points of each of the 32 possible combinations.

Practice question 1max. 3 points

Which of the following equations has/have x = 2 as a solution?

1. a)3x − 6 = 0
2. b)x² = 4
3. c)2ˣ = 4
4. d)x + 2 = 0
5. e)x / 2 = 2

Solution and points for all 32 combinations+

a, b and c are correct: substitute 2 and all three hold. The solution of d is −2, that of e is 4.

Several correct, several wrong. Each correct tick earns 3/3 = 1, each wrong tick costs 3/2 = 1.5. The question never goes below zero.

3 pts

abc

2 pts

abacbc

1.5 pts

abcdabce

1 pt

abc

0.5 pts

abdabeacdacebcdbce

0 pts

nonedeadaebdbecdcedeadebdecdeabdeacdebcdeabcde

Each box is one combination: the letters ticked. pts = points.

Practice question 2max. 3 points

A price is raised by 10 % and then cut by 10 %. Which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. a)The price ends where it started.
2. b)The price ends 1 % below where it started.
3. c)In the reverse order, cutting first and then raising, the final price would be different.
4. d)The cut is the same amount in euros as the rise.
5. e)The price ends 2 % below where it started.

Solution and points for all 32 combinations+

Only b is correct: 1.1 · 0.9 = 0.99, so the price ends 1 % below the start. c is wrong because 0.9 · 1.1 gives the same; d is wrong because the cut is 10 % of the higher price, so it is larger than the rise.

Exactly one correct: all or nothing. The 3 points are awarded only if the correct option is ticked on its own. Any extra tick makes the question zero.

3 pts

b

0 pts

noneacdeabacadaebcbdbecdcedeabcabdabeacdaceadebcdbcebdecdeabcdabceabdeacdebcdeabcde

Each box is one combination: the letters ticked. pts = points.

Practice question 3max. 4 points

Which of the following statements about the function f(x) = 2x + 4 is/are correct?

1. a)Its graph is a straight line with slope 2.
2. b)f(0) = 4
3. c)Its zero is x = −2.
4. d)f(1) = 6
5. e)f is strictly decreasing.

Solution and points for all 32 combinations+

a to d are true. Only e is false: the slope 2 is positive, so f is increasing.

Exactly one wrong. Each correct tick earns 4/4 = 1. Ticking the one wrong option costs half the maximum, 2. The question never goes below zero.

4 pts

abcd

3 pts

abcabdacdbcd

2 pts

abacadbcbdcdabcde

1 pt

abcdabceabdeacdebcde

0 pts

noneeaebecedeabeaceadebcebdecde

Each box is one combination: the letters ticked. pts = points.

The second question shows the exception most clearly: only one of the 32 combinations scores anything. In the third, ticking the false statement e together with all the true ones still earns half, 2 of 4 points.

Total points in the WU entrance test: what WU publishes

The partial-credit documents only settle how a single question is scored. How many questions the WISO test has, how many points each area carries and whether there is a minimum score is not on WU's WISO procedure page. Figures on this that circulate online do not appear in any WU publication we have found. According to WU, you get your result by e-mail and in the registration tool no later than ten days after the exam.⁵

For Business Law, WU says more. The law part has 35 multiple-choice questions worth 2 points each, with partial credit, and counts 70 % of the overall result. The language part has 20 single-choice questions with exactly one correct option, worth 1.5 points each, and counts 30 %.⁶

For BBE, WU tells you within 10 days of the exam whether you are among the first 240 applicants and invited to admission. How many sat the exam for those places in 2026 is on our page on the WU admission rate.⁷

How to practise for WU's partial-credit scoring

1. Work through WU's practice problems and score every question yourself by the partial-credit rule, using the calculator on this page.
2. For every uncertain tick, write down how sure you were. After scoring, note where you lost points: missing ticks, wrong ticks, or a second tick on a question with only one correct option.
3. Compare your estimates with the results. If options you were two-thirds sure of turn out right much less often, tick more cautiously; if more often, more boldly.
4. Practise the kind of mistake that cost you most with new graded questions, for WISO maths for example with our example tasks, then score again. From March 2027 you can do that at unipass: questions on every topic and full mock exams, graded with WU's partial-credit system.

Sources

1. 1Informationen zum gemischten Teilpunktesystem, Aufnahmeprüfung WISO (PDF)WU Wien · document dated 8 May 2026 · checked on 26 September 2026
2. 2Übungsbeispiele Mathematik WISO 2026/27 (PDF)WU Wien · document dated 18 May 2026 · checked on 26 September 2026
3. 3Informationen zum gemischten Teilpunktesystem, Aufnahmeprüfung Wirtschaftsrecht (PDF)WU Wien · document dated 27 February 2026 · checked on 26 September 2026
4. 4Information on the partial-credit system, BBE entrance exam (PDF)WU Vienna · document dated 8 May 2026 · checked on 26 September 2026
5. 5Aufnahmeverfahren Bachelorstudium Wirtschafts- und SozialwissenschaftenWU Wien · undated page · checked on 26 September 2026
6. 6Aufnahmeverfahren Bachelorstudium WirtschaftsrechtWU Wien · undated page · checked on 26 September 2026
7. 7Selection procedure, Bachelor’s Program in Business and EconomicsWU Vienna · undated page · checked on 26 September 2026