Austria qualifications exempt from assessment

At a glance

Austria has a list of qualifications that are exempt from the International Qualifications Assessment (IQA) when applying under the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC). Applicants holding these qualifications from specified institutions can claim the indicated points if the qualification was awarded within the stated date ranges. [A-austria]

Definition

The exemption list for Austria specifies academic qualification titles, their abbreviations, NZQF levels, and the corresponding SMC points. To qualify for exemption, all five conditions must be met: the qualification must be listed in the Academic Qualifications Table, the awarding institution must be listed in the Awarding Institutions Table with the correct abbreviation, the qualification must have been awarded within the specified year range, and it must not be excluded by notes (e.g., all qualifications awarded after 2018 must be assessed by NZQA). [A-austria]

Application in decisions

When an SMC applicant claims points for a recognised qualification, INZ checks the exemption list. If the qualification meets all criteria, the applicant receives the points indicated (50 points for level 7 Bachelor's, 70 points for level 9 Master's or Diplom-Ingenieur/Ingenieurin, and 70 points for level 10 doctorate). If any condition is not met, the applicant must obtain an IQA from NZQA to confirm the qualification's NZQF level for points allocation. [A-austria]

Academic Qualifications Table [A-austria]

Qualification	Abbreviation	Level in NZQF terms	Points under SMC
Bachelor of Arts	BA	7	50
Bachelor of Science	BS	7	50
Diplom-Ingenieur / Diplom-Ingenieurin	DI	9	70
Magister / Magistra	—	Requires assessment by NZQA	—
Master of Arts	MA	9	70
Master of Science	MS	9	70
Master of Social Sciences	MSS	9	70
Doktor / Doktorin	D	10	70
Doctor of Philosophy / PhD	PhD	10	70

Abbreviations are for the purpose of this list only. Specialities will be stated on award certificates. PhD may also be awarded as Doktor der Philosophie. [A-austria]

Awarding Institutions Table [A-austria]

This table lists the Austrian institutions recognised for exemption, including previous names and the date ranges within which specific qualifications are considered exempt. Qualifications awarded outside the stated periods, or from institutions not listed, require an NZQA assessment.

Institution	Previous names and relevant dates	Qualification(s) and valid award dates
Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien	—	MA: 2008; D and PhD: 2009
Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt	Universität Klagenfurt (1993–2004)	BA and BS: 2009; DI, MA and MS: 2008; D: 1993
Medizinische Universität Graz	—	MS: 2008; D: 2004–2009; PhD: 2009
Medizinische Universität Innsbruck	—	BS and PhD: 2009; MS: 2008
Medizinische Universität Wien	—	MS: 2008; D: 2004; PhD: 2009
Die Montauniversität Leoben	—	BS: 2009; DI: 2008; D: 1990; PhD: 2009
Die Technische Universität Graz	—	BS: 2009; DI and MS: 2008; D: 1990
Technische Universität Wien	—	BS: 2009; DI: 2008; D: 1990
Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien	—	BA and D: 2009; MA: 2008
Universität für Bodenkultur Wien	—	BS and PhD: 2009; DI and MS: 2008; D: 1990
Die Universität für Künstlerische und Industrielle Gestaltung Linz / Kunstuniversität Linz	—	BA and PhD: 2009; DI and MA: 2008
Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz / Kunstuniversität Graz	—	BA: 2009; DI and MA: 2008; D: 2002; PhD: 2013
Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien	—	BA, MA and PhD: 2009
Universität Graz / Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz	—	BA and BS: 2009; DI, MA and MS: 2008; D: 1990; PhD: 2017
Universität Innsbruck / Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck	—	BA, BS and PhD: 2009; DI, MA and MS: 2008; D: 1990
Universität Linz / Johannes Kepler Universität Linz	—	BA, BS and PhD: 2009; DI, MA, MS and MSS: 2008; D: 1990
Universität Mozarteum Salzburg	—	BA, MA, D and PhD: 2009
Universität Salzburg	—	BA and BS: 2009; DI, MA and MS: 2008; D: 1990
Universität Wien	—	BA, BS and PhD: 2009; MA and MS: 2008; D: 1990
Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien / University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna	—	BS and PhD: 2009; MS: 2008
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien / Vienna University of Economics and Business	—	BS: 2009; MS: 2008; D: 2009–2015; PhD: 2015

Interpretation & edge cases

• Qualification level dispute: If an applicant believes their qualification may be higher than the level stated in the table, they must apply to NZQA for an IQA. INZ will not accept the exemption list as evidence of a higher level. [A-austria]
• Award certificates: Original language certificates must be provided. Translations should not be used to determine the degree name; the original language name governs whether it matches the list. [A-austria]
• Mandatory NZQA referrals: The following must always be referred to NZQA for an IQA, even if the qualification and institution appear in the tables:
  • All honorary degrees. [A-austria]
  • Qualifications where study was completed at any institution outside Austria, including overseas campuses of a listed awarding institution. [A-austria]
  • Qualifications containing cross-credited courses or papers. [A-austria]
  • All initial teacher training degrees. [A-austria]
  • All qualifications awarded after 2018. [A-austria]
• Date cut-offs: The awarding institution table includes specific years from which each qualification type is recognised. For example, a PhD from Universität Graz is only recognised if awarded from 2017 onward; a D (Doktor) awarded earlier than 1990 would not be exempt. Similarly, D from Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien is only exempt for 2009–2015; after 2015, the PhD designation applies. [A-austria]

Citations

• A-austria — Austria