OMPT vs Traditional Math Entrance Exams: Format, Fees, Retakes (2026)

If your programme lets you prove your maths level in more than one way, the choice is rarely about which exam is harder. It is about format, calendar and grading rules, and those differ a lot between the OMPT, a written entrance exam sat on campus, and the Dutch CCVX or VWO Wiskunde B route. This post puts the three side by side in one table and then tells you which one fits your situation. For what the OMPT itself is, start with the complete OMPT guide.

The comparison table

Format and scheduling

The OMPT is taken on your own computer with a live proctor watching through ProctorU. You need a government-issued photo ID in the Latin alphabet, a webcam that shows the door behind you, and a bare desk. Because slots run all year and can be booked with 72 hours' notice, a student who fails in March can sit again in April.

A written on-campus exam is the opposite: one date, one room, one chance per intake, and a trip to the campus if you live abroad. Maastricht's Data Science and Computer Science bachelors, for instance, list an on-site entrance exam next to the OMPT-D as alternatives. CCVX exams are written too, sat only in Utrecht, three times per subject per year, with registration closing 10 days before the sitting. The full breakdown of that route, including Boswell-Bèta and AP Calculus, is in OMPT vs CCVX vs VWO Math B.

Grading: the difference that changes how you prepare

On the OMPT, every answer is checked by a computer-algebra system and then reviewed by a mathematician. Your answer must be mathematically correct and unambiguous; a right method with a wrong final answer earns nothing on that question. A written exam usually awards method marks, so a slip in the last line costs one point, not the whole question.

That single rule reshapes preparation. On the OMPT, checking your final answer is worth more than showing elegant working, and a dropped minus sign is expensive. The desk rules add to it: only the on-screen OMPT calculator is allowed, you may have up to three blank A4 sheets and pencils (no pens), and you tear up the sheets on camera at the end. The exact procedure is in the proctoring rules post.

Retakes, fees and results

Most programmes accept up to three OMPT attempts, but every attempt costs the full fee: €240 for OMPT-A, B, C, E and G, €270 for OMPT-D and F. Three attempts at OMPT-D therefore cost €810. Some programmes count only the first attempt, including Erasmus School of Economics' IBEB and Econometrics bachelors, and Tilburg caps attempts at two. Check your programme page before you treat the first booking as a practice run.

Results arrive within 8 business days. For a written exam the timeline is set by the programme and is not always published. CCVX has a different cost profile: the exam fee is lower than an OMPT attempt, but a failed sitting means waiting for the next of the three yearly dates, which can push you into the following intake.

Which route fits you

• International diploma without VWO Wiskunde B, applying from abroad: the OMPT. It is the only route that needs no travel and the only one you can book on 72 hours' notice.
• Dutch diploma missing Wiskunde B, with several months to spare: CCVX or a VWO B course. The certificate is accepted almost everywhere in the Netherlands, so it also keeps other programmes open.
• Deadline in under six weeks: the OMPT. A CCVX date may not fall inside your window, and the 8-business-day result fits a tight timeline.
• Programme that counts the first attempt only: prepare as if for a written exam with no resit, and book the OMPT only once a timed mock puts you above the minimum.
• Thin maths foundation rather than a paperwork gap: a taught VWO B course builds the material; a placement test only measures it.

What the seven OMPT modules mean for your choice

A written entrance exam is written by one programme for itself. The OMPT comes in seven modules, and the university tells you which one to sit. The module fixes the syllabus, the question count and the time limit, so the same OMPT can mean a 30-question basic-algebra test or a 21-question calculus test.

Economics and business programmes mostly ask for OMPT-A (Maastricht SBE at 75%, Erasmus IBEB at 70%); econometrics and computer science programmes ask for OMPT-D. Read the topic list for your module on the syllabus pages and check the exact module and minimum in the full partner list. The test provider reports that students who prepared scored 76% on average on their first attempt, against 40% for those who did not, so the module you are assigned should also set your study calendar: roughly 40 hours for OMPT-C, 120 for OMPT-D.

Before you book

Take a full-length OMPT mock for your module, Examify's paid one or the provider's official one: same question count, same time limit, same final-answer grading. Examify's free OMPT practice test is a shorter preview of the same format, two of the harder questions per module in the real answer box with the solution after each. If you clear your programme's minimum with margin, book a slot. If you fall short by more than 10 points, the €240 of a second attempt is better spent on a few more weeks of preparation. Examify is an independent preparation provider and is not affiliated with the OMPT, SOWISO, CCVX or any university.