The following main types of institutions provide adult education and training (AET): 

• institutions which are part of the school education system: public and non-public schools, continuing education centres, vocational education and training centres and sectoral skills centres; 

• institutions which are part of the higher education and science system: public and non-public higher education institutions, and other research institutions; 

• institutions and organisations operating outside the school education system and the higher education and science system, including, for example: training institutions organising courses in accordance with the legislation on employment and the labour market; entities providing education and training in accordance with the legislation on economic activity; and various other institutions and organisations (for example, culture centres, and non-governmental organisations which administer third-age universities). 

Institutions in the school education system

Schools providing education to adults

The school education system includes the following types of schools:

• primary schools,

• general secondary schools, 

• stage II sectoral vocational schools, 

• post-secondary schools. 

Stage II sectoral vocational schools and post-secondary schools are not classified in the legislation as ‘schools for adults’ but take adult learners. 

Like schools for children and young people, schools for adults/providing education to adults operate in accordance with the the Act of 14 December 2016, The Law on School Education, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 14 grudnia 2016 r., Prawo oświatowe, z późn. zm.), The School Education Act of 7 September 1991, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 7 września 1991 r. o systemie oświaty, z późn. zm.), and detailed regulations of the minister responsible for school education issued on the basis of the two Acts. 

Pursuant to the Law on School Education, organisational arrangements for schools providing education to adults differ from those for schools for children and young people. 

• Primary schools for adults

The legislation describes primary schools for adults as schools which take adults or people who will reach the age of 18 in the calendar year in which they start primary school. The organisational structure of the primary school for adults includes Grades VII and VIII (whereas primary schools for children and young people have Grades I to VIII). 

In the school year 2022/2023, there were 47 primary schools for adults (Source: Polish Central Statistical Office, Education in the school year 2022/2023 (preliminary data); last accessed August 2024). 

• General secondary schools for adults 

General secondary schools for adults (like schools of the same type for young people) provide 4-year programmes which are based on the national core curriculum for general education established in the legislation. 

In the school year 2022/2023, there were 769 general secondary schools for adults (Source: Polish Central Statistical Office, Education in the school year 2022/2023 (preliminary data); last accessed August 2024).

• Stage II sectoral vocational schools 

2-year programmes based on the national core curricula for general and sectoral vocational education are the main type of provision in stage II sectoral vocational schools. For details about this type of school, see Chapter 5.4 ‘Organisation of vocational upper secondary education’. 

Additionally, such schools (like vocational schools for young people and post-secondary schools) can provide vocational qualification courses and vocational skills courses as part of continuing education (for the description of the courses, see Chapter 7.4 ‘Main types of provision’).

In the school year 2022/2023, there were 226 stage II sectoral vocational schools (Source: Polish Central Statistical Office, Education in the school year 2022/2023 (preliminary data); last accessed August 2024).

• Post-secondary schools (post-secondary non-tertiary education)

As their main type of provision, post-secondary schools offer programmes of 1 to 2.5-year duration based on the national core curricula for general and sectoral vocational education. For details about post-secondary schools, see Chapter 5.7 ‘Organisation of post-secondary non-tertiary education’.  

Like stage II sectoral vocational schools and vocational schools for young people, post-secondary schools can also provide vocational qualification courses and vocational skills courses as part of continuing education (for the description of the courses, see Chapter 7.4 ‘Main types of provision’).

In the school year 2022/2023, there were 1,287 post-secondary schools (Source: Polish Central Statistical Office, 2022, Education in the school year 2022/2023 (preliminary data); last accessed August 2024). 

Institutions providing continuing education

The school education system includes continuing education institutions or centres, vocational education and training centres and sectoral skills centres. As stated in the legislation, these are educational institutions which enable learners to acquire or broaden their knowledge and skills, acquire or upgrade their qualifications or retrain for new vocational qualifications. 

Sectoral skills centres (SSCs) are a new type of institution established in accordance with the provisions of the Law on School Education amended in 2023. SSCs are sector-specific institutions, each focusing on one of the vocational or professional fields defined in the legislation. They aim to integrate schools, continuing education institutions, vocational education and training centres, higher education institutions and other entities which are active in a given vocational or professional field. For the types of educational and training activities that SSCs can provide, see the table below. SSCs can also conduct vocational exams (see Chapter 7.5, ‘Validation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes’). 

Public and, to some extent, non-public institutions providing continuing education to adults are governed by the following legislation (last accessed August 2024):

• School Education Act of 7 September 1991, as subsequently amended (Ustawa o systemie oświaty z dnia 7 września 1991 r., z późn. zm.)

• Act of 14 December 2016, The Law on School Education, as subsequently amended (Ustawa z dnia 14 grudnia 2016 r. – Prawo oświatowe, z późn. zm.)

• Regulation of the Minister of Education and Science of 6 October 2023 on continuing education in non-school settings, as subsequently amended (Rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 6 października 2023 r. w sprawie kształcenia ustawicznego w formach pozaszkolnych, z późn. zm.)

• Regulation of the Minister of Education and Science of 28 September 2023 on the outline statutes for public continuing education institutions, public vocational education and training centres and public sectoral skills centres (Rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 28 wześnia 2023 r. w sprawie ramowych statutów: publicznej placówki kształcenia ustawicznego, publicznego centrum kształcenia zawodowego i publicznego centrum umiejętności)

The table below shows the range of activities and the number of the main types of institutions.

*Sectoral vocational training courses are a type of continuing professional development courses for teachers of theoretical vocational subjects and practical vocational training teachers who work in vocational schools, continuing education centres and vocational education and training centres. Therefore, they are described only in Chapter 8.3 ‘Continuing professional development for teachers working in early childhood and school education’. 

Source: Author’s own elaboration based on the Register of Schools and Educational Institutions, School Education Information System (Rejestr Szkół i Placówek Oświatowych, System Informacji Oświatowej, RSPO SIO) (available in Polish); data for September 2024.

Vocational qualification courses and vocational skills courses can also be provided by vocational schools (see above), and vocational qualification courses also by other public and non-public educational institutions and entities. This arrangement has extended the range of institutions involved in education and training activities.

Institutions in the higher education and science system

Higher education institutions and other research institutions

The Act of 20 July 2018, The Law on Higher Education and Science, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 20 lipca 2018 r. – Prawo o szkolnictwie wyższym i nauce, z późn. zm.) does not use the term ‘continuing education’. However, in view of the so-called third mission of higher education (see the table in Chapter 7.1 ‘Distribution of responsibilities’), this type of programme can be considered as part of continuing education.

According to the POL-on/Rad-on information system, in the academic year 2023/2024, there were 342 public and non-public HEIs. 

Pursuant to the Law on Higher Education and Science, higher education institutions (HEIs), research institutes, and institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences provide non-degree postgraduate programmes, and non-university HEIs also offer specialist programmes. For details about the two types of programmes, see Chapter 7.5 ‘Main types of provision’. 

Furthermore, HEIs carry out other educational and training activities, for example, as part of open universities and third-age universities (third-age universities are described below as they are run by various types of institutions). 

Open universities (OU) (uniwersytet otwarty) are a type of commercial activity that HEIs carry out in the area of non-formal education for target groups outside the academic community. They offer opportunities for people from outside the academic community (regardless of their age, educational attainment and vocational or professional qualifications) to attend lectures, courses and workshops conducted by academic staff. Their ‘openness’ is reflected, for example, in the minimum formal requirements for participation (at least 16 years of age), no admission barriers (no entrance exams) and flexibility in provision. UOs cooperate with research centres, other educational institutions, cultural institutions, enterprises and non-governmental organisations working in a given region. Additionally, they conduct educational and cultural activities, organising debates, open lectures, outdoor cinema shows or concerts.

In their missions and aims, Polish UOs highlight the need to promote and put into action the idea of lifelong learning, support the development of local communities, and to provide equal educational opportunities and employment prospects to people of various backgrounds through the adaptation of education programmes to their needs.

Training institutions

Institutions providing training to unemployed people and job seekers

Each institution which is interested to provide training for unemployed people and job seekers in cooperation with the public employment services (as a commissioned and publicly funded activity) should be entered into the Register of Training Institutions (RTI) (Rejestr Instytucji Szkoleniowych) managed by the relevant Regional Labour Office. The RTI operates under the Act of 20 April 2014 on the Promotion of Employment and Labour Market Institutions, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 20 kwietnia 2004 r. o promocji zatrudnienia i instytucjach rynku pracy, z późn. zm.). As institutions are required to register and update their identification data, the RTI is the most comprehensive and reliable source of information on training institutions in Poland which offer courses to unemployed people and job seekers.

Aside from institutions which are part of the school education system or the higher education and science system, the following types of entities can be included in the RTI: natural persons, any employing institution or organisation, associations, foundations, legal persons (including vocational retraining centres,) and other types of entities (for example, civil law companies).

In 2024, the RTI included 16,461 training institutions. The available data indicate that the registered institutions offered 624 vocational training courses for adults, and 81,086 training courses ending with an exam. (RTI; last accessed in August 2024).  

Other training institutions

The market of institutions and companies providing training is very diverse and extends beyond those included in the RTI. Some institutions offer consultancy services in addition to training services. There is, however, no single register or database of all entities offering training services to adults, except for unemployed people and job seekers, and no standardised data on the funding sources for training courses offered by such entities. 

Third-age universities

Third-age universities (TAU) (uniwersytet trzeciego wieku) are entities (not only educational institutions) which aim primarily to provide education, but also to facilitate the integration and encourage engagement of seniors and, thus, to improve the quality of their lives and increase their participation in social life.

In organisational and legal terms, the following types of entities operate as TAUs:

• associations and foundations for which TAU is the main type of activity,

• non-governmental organisations (for example, associations and foundations) for which TAU is one of many types of activity,

• higher education institutions (HEIs),

• continuing education centres,

• culture centres/establishments, libraries,

• social welfare institutions,

• other institutions established by local governments,

• other entities.

In 2021/2022, there were 552 TAUs. More than half of them (52.2%) operated within the organisational structures of associations and foundations, 17% at HEIs and more than 18% at culture centres or establishments. Over 87% of the TAUs organised various seminars and lectures for their learners, and 81.5% offered courses or workshops on a regular basis. Activities or classes included mainly sporting and physical activities (over 51,000 activities), foreign language courses (over 29,500 activities), artistic activities (over 16,000 activities) and ICT classes or courses (over 9,600 activities) (Source: Polish Central Statistical Office, Universities of the third age in the 2021/2022 academic year; last accessed August 2024). 

The organisation bringing together TAUs is the Polish Federation of Third-Age University Associations (Ogólnopolska Federacja Stowarzyszeń Uniwersytetów Trzeciego Wieku; website in Polish), which regularly publishes studies (in Polish) on the activities of its member institutions.