Admission Requirements

To apply to the TISE program, applicants need to fulfil certain requirements. Please read this section as well as the other sections under “For Applicants” as well as the section FAQ carefully.

Applicants to the TISE

  • must hold a first university degree

This should be at least a Bachelor degree issued by a university, quantified as three years of studies corresponding to 180 ECTS (information on ECTS).

Or, if ECTS is not used in the country where first degree was acquired: proof of a successfully completed period of study at higher education level considered comparable with a Bachelor’s degree. The decision on this will be made by the TISE Consortium.

  • show a strong motivation and interest
  • have sufficient knowledge of English for academic purposes

TISE program accepts the following five English language test certificates as proof of proficiency in English:

  1. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) with a minimum score of 92 (Internet-based test) or of 580 (Paper-delivered test, formely known as paper-based test); Note: scores from TOEFL ITP/institutional testing programme are not accepted.
  2. IELTS (Academic), (International English Language Testing System); with a minimum band score of 6.5 with no individual score below 5.5,
  3. PTE (Academic) (Pearson’s Test of Academic English) with a minimum score of 62,
  4. Cambridge English C1 Advanced, formerly known as Cambridge English: Advanced/CAE (test offered by Cambridge Assessment English), with a minimum result of grade C,
  5. Cambridge English C2 Proficiency, formerly known as Cambridge English: Proficiency/CPE (test offered by Cambridge Assessment English), with a minimum result of Level C1.

Due to the Covid 19 pandemics for the ongoing application period we also accept the following online versions of English tests: IELTS indicator test, Toefl iBt.

An English language test certificate you have taken in the past may have expired (usually after two years). We kindly advise you to check on your certificate. If an English language test certificate has expired before TISE Secretariat receives it, we may not be able to validate it and the application may be rejected due to formal reasons.

Applicants may ask for being exempted from the English language test requirement, if they have successfully completed one of the following:

  1. A Bachelor’s degree completed in English in a university or university of applied sciences in any country of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), or other countries, where English is an official language. You must have resided in the country while studying.
  1. A two-year Master’s degree completed in English in a university or university of applied sciences in any country of the European Union (EU) or in the European Economic Area (EEA), or other countries, where English is an official language. You must have resided in the country while studying.
  2. Secondary education completed in English, in any country, where English is an official language.

Please note that TISE consortium can only accept the five English language test certificates listed, and can only grant exemptions on basis of the three cases explained. Letters issued by universities stating the proficiency in English are not accepted

Because of national and institutional requirements of the TISE consortium partners, we cannot make any exceptions from this requirement.

 In addition to submitting proof of an adequate degree or secondary education as described, applicants may also be interviewed before being exempted.

  • Work experience is not an admission requirement. However, work experience can be a strong advantage for an application. To have work experience acknowledged, applicants should clearly state it in their CV and hand in a confirmation of their employer with their electronic application. This confirmation should preferably describe the type of work experience (function and responsibilities) and include a judgement of the applicant’s skills.

We also would like to inform all applicants who submit eligible documents by the given deadline on your right to appeal. The purpose of this appeal is to verify that our rules have been applied correctly and that no error has been made while processing your application. You are therefore asked to state a reason why you think our rules of procedure have NOT been applied correctly in your case. The a ppeal must be provided within 14 days after a rejection letter has been send to you. An appeal has to be formulated according to the requirements of the TISE appeal policy. For the details please contact the TISE Secretariat. (tise@donau-uni.ac.at)