ASEP written exam versus points-based hiring: the real difference

“ASEP” gets used as shorthand for a whole range of processes that are structurally different from each other. The two candidates most often confuse are the Panhellenic Written Exam and the older points-based proclamation system, sometimes called moriodotisi hiring. They share the same conducting body and both end in a ranked list, but the path to that list, and what you should be doing to prepare, is not the same at all.

The core mechanical difference

The Panhellenic Written Exam requires candidates to sit two multiple choice tests on the same day: a Knowledge Test and a Skills and Work Efficiency Test. Your score on those two tests, weighted equally, is what determines your rank, subject to a minimum of 55 out of 100 on each test to be counted as successful at all. There is no exam day in a points-based proclamation. Instead, ASEP evaluates the documentation you submit against a published scoring table: your qualifications, work experience, family circumstances and similar factors each convert into a fixed number of points, and the sum determines your rank. Nothing about your performance on any given day matters; what matters is what you can document.

Which post categories use which system

Under Law 4765/2021, the Panhellenic Written Exam applies mainly to PE (university education) and TE (technological education) posts. Points-based proclamations remain the standard route for most DE (secondary education) and YE (no formal qualification) posts. This is not a universal rule for every single proclamation, and category boundaries can shift with new legislation, so the specific proclamation you are looking at is the authority on which mechanism applies to it, not a general assumption based on your qualification level.

Why the confusion happens

Both mechanisms are commonly referred to using the word moriodotisi, because the Panhellenic Written Exam also applies extra scoring criteria at Stage B, on top of the written result, once specific posts start being filled. That extra scoring, covering things like postgraduate degrees, experience, military service status and family circumstances, looks similar in form to the pure points-based system, which is where the confusion tends to start. See how ASEP scoring actually works across both systems for a fuller breakdown of that extra layer, and what Stage B does with a written exam ranking for how the two connect for PE and TE candidates specifically.

How to prepare differently for each

If your target post runs through the written exam, your preparation time goes into subject knowledge and the reasoning-skills format of the second test, because the exam is a gate you cannot pass around. If your target post runs through a points-based proclamation, your preparation time goes into getting every certificate, transcript and proof of experience assembled correctly before the documentation deadline, because there is no exam performance to fall back on if your paperwork is incomplete. Reading the proclamation’s own wording, rather than assuming based on your qualification level, is the only reliable way to know which category of preparation applies to you; see public sector hiring that bypasses both mechanisms for the smaller set of posts where neither applies.

Frequently asked questions

Is one system harder than the other? They are hard in different ways. The written exam rewards preparation for a specific test format; points-based hiring rewards a documented history that often took years to build, and cannot be improved quickly before a deadline.

Can the same person be eligible for both systems? Yes, for different job categories. A PE-qualified candidate competing for a written-exam post and a DE-level administrative post scored on points are entirely separate applications.

Does a strong written exam score help in a points-based proclamation? No. The two ranking lists are independent of each other. A Panhellenic Written Exam score has no bearing on a points-based proclamation’s scoring.

How do I know which system a specific job uses? Read the proclamation itself. It will either specify an exam date and format, meaning the written exam applies, or a documentation deadline with a published scoring table, meaning points-based hiring applies.