OMPT-B vs OMPT-D: format, syllabus and which one is harder

The B and the D share the most syllabus of any two letters and feel the least alike in the room. Both carry trigonometry, differentiation and integration. One is a sprint with a basic calculator and an optional note; the other is three hours of long-form problems with a scientific calculator and a rubric. Students who prepared for one and got assigned the other tell me afterwards that the shared chapters helped less than they expected. This post explains why.

OMPT-B vs OMPT-D side by side

Read the minutes-per-question row twice; it is the whole character of each test. The B asks for 64 correct final answers at a pace that leaves no time to explore. The D asks for 21 complete solutions, on paper as well as on screen, at a pace that assumes you will have to think. The OMPT-B hub and the OMPT-D hub list the chapters in my teaching order.

What OMPT-D has that OMPT-B does not

On paper the D is only 16 topics longer than the B. The difference is where those topics sit. The D functions chapter grows from 35 topics to 40 by adding limits and asymptotes: the concept of a limit, and horizontal, vertical and diagonal asymptotes. Its standard functions include power functions with rational exponents, the absolute value function, and families of functions with parameters, the phrase behind every "find all values of a for which" question. And the D has a 20-topic geometry chapter the B lacks: lines, circles, parametric curves including Lissajous figures, vectors and dot products, and derivatives of parametric curves.

What the two share is the calculus and trigonometry spine: a 27-topic trigonometry chapter, a 34-topic differentiation chapter and a 23-topic integration chapter, with the volume of a solid of revolution in both. The D marks numbers, algebra, linear equations and systems as prerequisite chapters, assumed rather than asked. On the B the same four chapters are asked directly and carry 23% of the marks.

How the marks are weighted on OMPT-B and OMPT-D

The practical reading: on the B, differentiation is the biggest chapter at 25%, and a student who is fast and clean with the chain rule and quotient rule has a quarter of the test in hand. On the D, the biggest block is functions, equations and inequalities at 30%, which sounds like revision until you see that it covers parameters, absolute values, asymptotes and rational exponents in multi-step form. Geometry at 20% outweighs integration on the D. Trig identities and integration techniques are the shared drills; the geometry has no equivalent on the B.

Which programmes ask for OMPT-B and which for OMPT-D

The split is clean. Econometrics at a business school and applied-science engineering ask for the B. Computer science, mathematics, the life sciences, and econometrics inside a science or economics faculty ask for the D, usually at 60%, which is lower than the SBE benchmark on the B: the one place the harder test comes with the kinder cutoff.

When a programme accepts either letter: my rule

LUT takes the B or the D at 60% for its technology bachelors other than Computational Science and AI, and Absalon takes either for Biotechnology. When the choice is yours, my rule: sit the B unless your free D mock already clears 60% with half an hour to spare. The reasoning: the B is knowledge-level and, per omptest.org, similar to its practice material, so a B mock predicts a B result. The D is harder than its practice material and its note is a second way to lose marks. The B costs €30 less an attempt and €20 less for the mock. And the B's difficulty is pace, which is trainable in four weeks; the D's is multi-topic problem solving, which is not.

The exception is a student with recent Wiskunde B-level maths who writes clean working and hates the clock. For that student, 21 problems at 8.6 minutes each can be the friendlier sitting, and the scientific calculator removes the special-values memorising the B forces on you. If that is you, sit both free mocks, the D mock at 180 minutes and the B at 150, compare each with its own bar, and put the results in the score estimator before you buy an attempt.

I passed OMPT-B. Do I need OMPT-D?

If the programme lists the D, yes. There is no transfer between letters: the university verifies the certificate for the letter it asked for in the OMPT admission portal, and omptest.org says each university decides which tests it accepts for each programme. A B certificate carries no evidence on limits, parametric curves, vectors or functions with parameters, which is exactly what a D-requiring programme cares about. If the programme accepts either, as LUT does, a B pass at 60% is enough. If you hold a D pass and the programme asks for the B, ask admissions in writing; no programme page in my files says a D counts for a B.

A B-prepared student assigned the D is not starting over, but is not nearly finished either. Trig, differentiation and integration transfer. Geometry, limits, parameters and the habit of writing a graded note do not, and together they are most of what makes the D a 120-hour test.

Writing the note on OMPT-D

The D grading guidelines work step by step, in the spirit of the official example "25% of the full grade if this step", and two graders read every note. So a correct answer with no working is a partial score, and a wrong answer with a correct method is also a partial score. On the D the note is the exam. These are the steps I make every D student follow on every problem, including the last one with five minutes left.

1. Open with one line saying what you are finding and how: "area between the curves, so find the intersections then integrate the difference".
2. Write the setup equation or integral in full before you touch the calculator. This is the step the rubric most often pays for on its own.
3. Show the turning points of the algebra, not every line: the factorisation, the substitution, the identity used. A grader wants the decision, not the arithmetic.
4. Give the final answer in exact form (2*sqrt(3), pi/6, -2/17) in the answer field and again at the end of the note, and check the two match.
5. Out of time? Write the method in two lines and move on. A method line earns rubric credit; a blank earns nothing.

Full detail, including how the answer field and the note interact, is in the OMPT-D survival guide. B candidates should read is OMPT-B harder than OMPT-A instead, because their problem is the opposite one: too many questions, not too few.

What to do if the letter and the calendar disagree

If you were assigned the B and have four or more weeks, follow how to prepare for OMPT-B in 4 weeks and treat 100 hours as the budget. If you were assigned the D with a school background that stopped at differentiation, budget the full 120 hours and start with geometry and limits, the chapters nothing in your past covers. If you have a choice and both free mocks come in under their bars, take the B; its gap closes with timed sets, the D's closes with new content. If your deadline is under three weeks away on either letter, schedule at least 72 hours ahead, buy fast grading (€120, 4 business days instead of 8) and test on the last safe day.

Two students, two letters

Student one holds an LUT Mechanical Engineering offer, which accepts the B or the D at 60%, with two attempts. Her free mocks come in at 52% on the B and 35% on the D, with the D geometry questions blank. The B gap is 8 points of pace and a cold integration chapter; the D gap is 25 points and a chapter she has never seen. She takes the B, spends ten days on integration and trig at speed, and books at five weeks with a second mock at 71% behind her.

Student two has a Maastricht Computer Science offer, which asks the D at 60% with two attempts, and finished A-level maths in the summer. His free D mock scores 44%, and his notes are three lines for the whole paper. The note is his main problem, along with parametric curves and limits, which A-level did not cover. He gets eight weeks: two on geometry and limits, two on multi-topic differentiation and integration problems, and four of full 180-minute mocks written out and marked against a step rubric. He sits the first real attempt when a mock clears 70% and keeps the second in reserve.