1. A method for determining a position of a structure element on a mask, comprising the following steps: predefining a region on the mask which comprises at least the structure element, determining a phase image of the region, wherein the phase image comprises in a spatially resolved manner the phase of the imaging of the mask by the illumination radiation, and determining the position of the structure element within the phase image; wherein, for determining the phase image, at least two aerial images of the region of the mask are recorded, wherein the at least two aerial images are recorded under diversified conditions determining the positioning error of the structure element as distance of the position of the structure element from a set point position of the structure element in the phase image.