Pupil assessment

The assessment system for all types of secondary schools is based on the School Education Act of 7 September 1991, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 7 września 1991 r. o systemie oświaty, z późn. zm.). It comprises internal and external (summative) assessment. 

Internal assessment

Internal assessment covers learning achievements and behaviour (conduct). It is mainly a formative type of assessment.

Internal assessment of pupils' learning achievements involves assessing the level of knowledge and skills and the progress made in relation to the learning requirements based on the curricula. 

Internal assessment aims to:

• inform pupils about their learning achievements and behaviour, and their progress in this respect;

• support pupils in learning through feedback provided to them on where they have performed well and how they should continue to learn;

• support pupils in the individual planning of their development;

• motivate pupils to make further progress in learning and behaviour;

• provide parents (legal guardians) and teachers with the information on pupils' progress or learning difficulties, behaviour and special aptitudes;

• enable teachers to improve organisational approaches and methods used in their educational activities.

Internal assessment includes:

• defining educational requirements for pupils to obtain individual mid-year (end-of-semester) and end-of-year marks for compulsory and additional subjects/classes;

• setting criteria for the assessment of behaviour;

• conducting ongoing or coursework assessment, and giving mid- and end-of-year marks for compulsory and additional subjects/classes, and mid- and end-of-year marks for behaviour according to the scale and in the forms approved in a given school;

• conducting so-called qualifying exams; 

• defining conditions and procedures for pupils wishing to improve their expected end-of-year and end-of-semester marks for compulsory and additional subjects/classes, and their end-of-year marks for behaviour;

• defining conditions and procedures for pupils wishing to improve their expected end-of-year and (in a post-secondary school) end-of-semester marks for subjects/classes and end-of-year marks for behaviour;

• defining conditions and procedures for informing parents (legal guardians) about pupils' progress and learning difficulties.

Teachers assess pupils separately in each subject. Subject marks are given by teachers of individual subjects. There is ongoing or coursework assessment and so-called ‘classification’ (mid-year, end-of-year and final) assessment. Single or coursework and mid-year marks provide the basis for the end-of-year marks for classes (subjects). 

Teachers use the following marking scale to assess pupils’ learning achievements: 6 – excellent, 5 - very good, 4 – good, 3 – satisfactory, 2 – acceptable, 1 – unsatisfactory. When giving marks in Physical Education, teachers should consider, in particular, the pupil’s efforts to fulfil specific requirements of the subject. School marks and marking criteria should be made available to pupils and their parents.

Where this is provided for in the school statutes, teachers in post-primary schools can use descriptive assessment as single, mid-year and end-of-year marks in all or selected compulsory or optional subjects.

Pupils receive marks for their behaviour according to the following scale: excellent, very good, good, acceptable, unacceptable, and inadmissible. In principle, mid-year and end-of-year ‘classification’ marks for behaviour have no influence on ‘classification’ marks for classes, the promotion to a higher grade or the completion of the education cycle. However, the school's teaching council may decide that the pupil will not be promoted to the next grade or finish the school if they have received the inadmissible mark for behaviour at the end of two consecutive school years in a given school.

Pupils may take a so-called verification exam if they or their parents consider that the mid-year or end-of-year mark given by the teacher is too low.

External assessment/summative assessment

The maturity exam is not compulsory. It is the decision of pupils finishing the school to take the exam. 

The maturity exam is conducted for pupils who finish general secondary schools for young people, technical secondary schools, stage II sectoral vocational schools and general secondary schools for adults. The arrangements for the exam are laid down in the School Education Act (Articles 44zzb to 44zzp) and the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Science of 1 August 2022 on the maturity examination, as subsequently amended (rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 1 sierpnia w sprawie egzaminu maturalnego, z późn. zm.) (based on Article 44zzza of the School Education Act). The exam is based on the requirements set in the core curriculum.

The maturity exam is conducted in a school. It consists of two parts: the oral part, which is assessed by subject teams, and the written part, which is conducted in the presence of a supervision team, on examination sheets prepared by the Central Examination Board (Centralna Komisja Egzaminacyjna) and assessed by examiners listed on the Registers of Examiners of the Regional Examination Boards (Okręgowa Komisja Egzaminacyjna).

The compulsory oral part of the exam covers the Polish Language, a Modern Foreign Language (English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish), and a National Minority Language (only for pupils who have finished a school or class with this language as the language of tuition). The level (basic or advanced) is not defined for subjects taken in oral exams.

The compulsory written part covers the following compulsory subjects: the Polish Language, Mathematics, a Modern Foreign Language and a National Minority Language. An exam in the National Minority Language as a compulsory subject is taken only by pupils who have finished a school or class with a national minority language as the language of tuition. Pupils take written exams in all these compulsory subjects at the basic level. They must also take an exam in one additional subject at the advanced level; pupils who have finished a bilingual school or class must take the exam in a Modern Foreign Language at the bilingual level. 

In addition to one compulsory exam in an additional subject at the advanced level, pupils can take up to 5 exams in additional subjects; those who have finished a bilingual school or class must take the exam in a Modern Foreign Language at the bilingual level. Pupils can choose additional subjects from among, for example, the following ones: 

• written exams: Biology; Chemistry; Philosophy; Physics; Geography; History; History of Music; History of Art; Computer Science/Information Technology; Modern Foreign Language; Latin; a Minority Language (ethnic or national); Regional Language; Polish Language; Mathematics; Civic education.

• oral exams:  Modeen Foreign language (English, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish); National Minority Language (Belarussian, German, Lemko-Rusyn, Lithuanian, Ukrainian); Regional Language (Kashubian). 

To pass the maturity exam, pupils must: 

• score at least 30% of the points available for the exam in each compulsory subject, in both the written and oral parts; and 

• take an exam in one additional subject at the advanced level or – in the case of a Modern Foreign Language – at the advanced or bilingual level. 

Results of the maturity exam are, in principle, final and may not be challenged in a court of justice. However, pupils may file an appeal with the Examination Arbitration Committee (Kolegium Arbitrażu Egzaminacyjnego) in case they have checked out their marked examination paper and their request to the Director of the relevant Regional Examination Board to verify the scores given has been refused. They may also improve their results by re-taking the relevant part of the exam; detailed arrangements are laid down in the School Education Act.

Progression of pupils / students

Pupils are promoted to a higher grade if they have received ‘acceptable’ (2) or higher marks for all compulsory subjects at the end of the school year. Pupils who have received one ‘unsatisfactory’ (1) mark can take a resit exam in the subject concerned. A pupil who has not passed the exam is required to repeat a year.

The school's teaching council may promote conditionally a pupil who has received mark 1 (unsatisfactory) in only one subject. A pupil can be conditionally promoted to the next grade only once during the entire education cycle in a given type of post-primary school.

If pupils did not attend more than 50% of compulsory classes and, thus, there is no basis for assessment, they can take a so-called qualifying exam on an agreed date.

Certification

All public post-primary schools, and those non-public schools which comply with the requirements set for public schools, award standardised certificates (the legislation lays down the layout of these documents and rules for filling them in).

Upon finishing a general secondary school, graduates receive a school leaving certificate (świadectwo ukończenia liceum ogólnokształcącego), based on end-of-year marks for all subjects in the final grade. The certificate provides access to a post-secondary (non-tertiary) school or the maturity exam.

General secondary school graduates who have passed the maturity exam receive a maturity certificate (świadectwo dojrzałości). The certificate includes the results of the written and oral parts of the exam. Those who have re-taken the exam and improved their results in one or more subjects (or have taken the exam in additional subjects) receive an annex to the certificate. The certificate and its annexes are issued by the Regional Examination Boards. The maturity certificate provides access to higher education.

Graduates who have not passed the maturity exam receive information (statement) on the exam results from by the competent Regional Examination Board.