Types of institutions

Post-secondary non-tertiary education is considered part of secondary (post-primary) education in the Polish school education system, but it is classified at Level 4 in ISCED. In accordance with the Polish Qualifications Framework (PQF) (Article 8 of the Act of 22 December 2015 on the Integrated Qualifications System, as subsequently amended / ustawa  dnia 22 grudnia 205 r. o Zintegrowanym Systemie Kwalifikacji, z późn.zm.), a diploma conferring vocational qualifications that learners receive once they have finished a post-secondary school and passed exams for qualifications required for a given occupation confirms the award of a PQF Level IV or V qualification, depending on the level of the PQF to which a given qualification is assigned in the regulations on the Classification of Occupations for Sectoral Vocational Education. 

Post-secondary schools enable pupils who have completed general (upper) secondary education to obtain a vocational diploma upon passing vocational exams. They are administered by central government bodies, local government units, non-governmental and civic or religious organisations, associations and natural persons.

The maximum duration of programmes in post-secondary schools is 2.5 years.

In the school year 2024/2025, most post-secondary schools were administered by private-sector entities (79.5%), and public schools represented 20.5%. 

Post-secondary schools train for occupations comprising one qualification (in most cases) or two qualifications. 

In statistics, the broadly defined post-secondary non-tertiary education sector also includes 3-year colleges of social work (4 colleges in total, with 69 learners, on 1 October 2024). 

Geographical accessibility

Post-secondary schools, which take adult learners, are, as a rule, distributed unevenly across the country. Most of them are located in bigger cities or towns. To improve accessibility, some schools offer boarding services (so-called learners’ homes). In recent years, some schools have also modified modes of learning by introducing distance learning in areas of study where this is possible. 

In the school year 2024/2025, there were 1,200 post-secondary schools (33 less than in the school year 2023/2024), with 245,900 learners (2,700 more than in the previous year). Women represented 70.3% of all learners. (Source: Polish Central Statistical Office, ‘Education in the 2024/2025 school year (preliminary data)’). 

Admission requirements and choice of school

Post-secondary schools take mainly applicants who have completed general or sectoral vocational secondary education. Most of them require only a secondary school leaving certificate, rather than a maturity certificate. However, colleges of social work (classified within the school education system by the national legislation) take only holders of a maturity certificate. Admission rules for public schools are established by 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.)  and related regulations. Non-public schools lay down admission rules in their statutes.

Age levels and grouping of pupils/students

Post-secondary schools take young people who have finished a general secondary school or another type of post-primary school. Thus, learners in the first semester are usually aged at least 19-20/21 years. 

A class (also referred to as ‘division’ in the national legislation) is the basic organisational unit in a post-secondary school. It groups learners at the same level of education who jointly follow the core curriculum under the supervision of teachers. The legislation does not predefine the number of learners in a class; exceptions concern primarily learners with disabilities.

For some subjects (for example, Foreign Language) and for classes which are part of vocational education, learners may be further divided into groups or classes may be organised in a different way, as specified in the statutes of a given school.

Organisation of the school year

Classes in the school year are divided into two semesters:

• the autumn semester lasting from the first day of classes (the first working day of September) till the last Saturday preceding the winter holidays;

• the spring semester from the Monday directly after the winter holidays till the last day of classes (the last Friday in June).

However, the regulations on the organisation of the school year provide for different optional start and end dates of classes in post-secondary schools (as in all types of schools for adults). Classes can begin on the first working day of February and end on the last Friday of January.

The dates of the winter break vary among the provinces. The winter break is scheduled between mid-January and the beginning of March and lasts 2 weeks. The Head of the Regional Education Authorities sets the exact timing of the winter break in agreement with the governor of a given province. Schools also have shorter winter (Christmas) and spring (Easter) breaks.

Regulations on the organisation of the school year, issued by the minister responsible for school education for each school year, set the start and end dates for classes, public/religious holidays and the winter and summer breaks. 

Organisation of the school day and week

Post-secondary schools can offer full-time day, other full-time or part-time programmes. Types of programmes or modes of learning are defined in Art. 4 of the Act of 14 December 2016, The Law on School Education (ustawa z dnia 14 grudnia 2016 r. – Prawo oświatowe, z późn. zm.), and include: 

• full-time day programmes: classes conducted on 5 or 6 days per week; 

• other full-time programmes: classes conducted on 3 or 4 days per week; 

• part-time programmes: classes conducted on 2 days every 2 weeks or, where this is justified, on 2 days every week. 

In accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of National Education of 20 May 2024 on the outline timetables for public schools, as subsequently amended (rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 20 maja 2024 r. w sprawie ramowych planów nauczania dla publicznych szkół, z późn. zm.), the weekly number of teaching/class hours for compulsory classes in post-secondary schools providing 2-year programmes is: 

• 28 hours per school year (in total, 56 hours in the 2-year education cycle) for schools providing full-time day programmes;

• 19 hours per school year (in total, 38 hours in the 2-year education cycle) for schools providing other full-time programmes.

The total number of teaching/class hours for all compulsory classes in part-time programmes is 175 per semester (700 hours in the entire 2-year education cycle).

For a 1-year, 1.5-year or 2.5-year education cycle, the number of hours is proportionally lower or higher.