How to Improve Your OMPT Score in 30 Days: An 80-Hour OMPT-A Plan

Thirty days is enough to move an OMPT-A score from the mid-50s to a passing 70%, provided you spend about 80 hours on the right chapters in the right order. The test provider reports that students who worked through its learning materials scored 76% on average on their first attempt; students who did not scored 40%.

This plan is built for OMPT-A: 52 questions in 120 minutes, 176 topics in 8 chapters, and a suggested 80 hours of preparation. A later section adapts it to OMPT-B, OMPT-E and OMPT-D. Examify is an independent prep provider and is not affiliated with the OMPT, SOWISO or any university.

Where the 80 hours should go

The official OMPT-A syllabus lists topic counts per chapter, and they are far from equal. Functions has 35 topics and Differentiation 34; together that is 69 of the 176 topics, roughly 40% of the syllabus. Numbers (17), Linear formulas and equations (17) and Systems of linear equations (10) are small chapters that most students already half know.

So the plan gives Functions and Differentiation about 32 of the 80 hours, spends the first ten days on the foundation chapters every later question depends on, and reserves 9 hours for three full-length mocks (chapter list: OMPT-A syllabus).

The 30-day OMPT-A plan

That is 79 hours, or 2.5 to 3 hours on a study day. 120 minutes for 52 questions is about 2.3 minutes per question, so every drill set after day 1 runs against a visible timer at that pace.

For every wrong answer in your error log, note the chapter, the topic name from the syllabus and one of two labels: "method unknown" or "slip". Method-unknown entries decide what you study next; slips decide what you check in the final week.

Three tracks, depending on your day-1 score

• Starting around 40%, target 60%. Your diagnostic will show method-unknown errors in Algebra and Quadratic equations, not just in Differentiation. Stretch the plan to 3 to 3.5 hours a day (90 to 100 hours): add 4 hours to Numbers and Algebra, 3 hours to Quadratic equations, keep the Differentiation block but stop at tangent lines and extrema, and skip the last fractional-function topics (quotient functions, perforation) unless mock 2 shows you have time. 60% is about 31 correct answers out of 52, so accuracy on the foundation chapters is worth more than coverage of the hardest topics.
• Starting around 55%, target 70%. The table as written, about 80 hours. If the diagnostic shows 80% or better on Numbers, compress days 2 to 4 into two days and move the 3 hours saved into Functions II. 70% is about 37 correct answers out of 52.
• Starting around 65%, target 75%. Cut Numbers, Linear formulas and Systems of linear equations entirely unless your error log says otherwise; that frees about 10 hours, so the month comes to 60 to 65 hours at roughly 2 hours a day. Spend days 2 to 7 on Quadratic equations and Functions, days 8 to 24 alternating Functions, Exponential functions and logarithms and Differentiation in timed sets, and add a fourth mock on day 21. At this level most lost points are slips, so redo every wrong answer from scratch the next day instead of reading the solution.

Mocks on day 1, 15 and 27

Day 1: sit a full-length OMPT-A mock (52 questions, 120 minutes) before you study anything. Examify's free preview shows two of the harder generation-1 questions with the real answer box; use it to learn the input rules, then take the full generation-1 mock or the test provider's own mock. Score it per chapter, start the error log and rank the eight chapters from weakest to strongest.

Day 15: a second full-length mock under the same conditions: timer on, no notes, answers typed. Compare per chapter with day 1. Any chapter still under 50% gets 2 to 3 extra hours, taken from the chapter that improved most. If your total is not at least 8 to 10 points above day 1, the problem is usually pace, and the days 25 to 27 drills should run at 2 minutes per question instead of 2.3.

Day 27: the last mock, and the decision point. The OMPT has to be booked at least 72 hours before the slot, so if day 27 lands more than 10 points below target, move the exam rather than spend an attempt you may not be allowed to repeat. No new material after day 27; the last three days are error log, formula sheet and sleep.

Set the target before you start

Erasmus School of Economics asks IBEB applicants for 70% on OMPT-A and counts only the first attempt; other programmes accept 60% or allow three attempts. The full list is in OMPT pass marks by university and on each university page.

Aim for 10 to 15 points above your programme's minimum on mock 3. Mock scores move 5 to 10 points between sittings, and the real exam adds a proctor, an ID check and a room scan. A 70% minimum means an 80 to 85% mock 3. If the minimum is not published, check the programme page and plan for 75%.

Adapting the plan to OMPT-B, OMPT-E and OMPT-D

• OMPT-B (64 questions, 150 minutes, 226 topics, about 100 hours) adds Trigonometry and Integration to the OMPT-A chapters. Keep the OMPT-A part of the plan at 60 hours by trimming Numbers, Linear formulas and Systems to one day each, and give Trigonometry and Integration 40 hours between days 16 and 26. That is 3.3 hours a day; at 2.5 hours a day plan 40 days instead. Chapter list: OMPT-B syllabus.
• OMPT-E (40 questions, 120 minutes, 161 topics, about 120 hours) drops Differentiation and adds five statistics chapters: descriptive statistics, probability, combinatorics, random variables and common probability distributions. Give that track the Differentiation block plus days 25 and 26, about 22 hours, and expect 4 hours a day to reach the recommended 120 hours. Chapter list: OMPT-E syllabus.
• OMPT-D (21 questions, 180 minutes, 242 topics, about 120 hours) covers all 11 chapters including Trigonometry, Geometry and Integration, with about 8.5 minutes per question and questions that chain several topics. Thirty days works only from a 55% diagnostic or higher at 4 hours a day; below that, plan 6 to 8 weeks. Chapter list: OMPT-D syllabus.

Booking, grading and the deadline

Book the slot at least 72 hours in advance; the exam is proctored via ProctorU with an ID check and a room scan. Results arrive within 8 business days, so the test date has to sit at least two weeks before the admission deadline.

Every attempt costs €240 for OMPT-A (€270 for OMPT-D) and is bought separately. Most programmes allow up to three attempts, but some count only the first, so check your programme page before spending an early attempt.

Answers are checked by a computer-algebra system and reviewed by a mathematician. There is no partial credit for a wrong final answer, so the answer has to be mathematically correct and entered unambiguously. Practise typing answers exactly as you would on the exam from the first mock on.