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Upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education
Poland

Poland

5.Upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education

Last update: 8 December 2025
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Types of schools

The stage of lower secondary education is not formally separated within the Polish school system. The system is based on the 8-year primary school, which covers two levels: ISCED 1 (primary education) and ISCED 2 (lower secondary education). Education in the primary school ends with the eighth-grader exam. 

Post-primary or secondary education (ISCED 3) is Stage III of education in the Polish school education system. 

Upper secondary (or post-primary) schools  include: 

  • 3-year stage I sectoral vocational schools (szkoła branżowa I stopnia), where pupils receive a vocational diploma once they have obtained a vocational qualification certificate for a qualification identified within a given occupation in accordance with the Classification of Occupations for Sectoral Vocational Education, and have finished the school (and obtained a school leaving certificate). They can continue education either in a stage II sectoral vocational school which trains for an occupation that embraces a qualification common to the occupation for which pupils are trained in stage I and stage II schools, or in Grade II of a general secondary school for adults. 

  • 4-year general (upper) secondary schools (liceum ogólnokształcące), where pupils who have finished the school can take the maturity exam leading to a maturity certificate which provides access to higher education. 

  • 5-year technical (upper) secondary schools (technikum), where pupils receive a vocational diploma once they have finished the school (and have obtained a school leaving certificate) and have obtained vocational qualification certificates for all qualifications identified within a given occupation in accordance with the Classification of Occupations for Sectoral Vocational Education.  Pupils who have finished the school can also take the maturity exam and obtain a maturity certificate which provides access to higher education. 

  • 2-year stage II sectoral vocational schools (szkoła branżowa II stopnia), where pupils/learners receive a vocational diploma once they have finished the school (and have received a school leaving certificate) and have obtained vocational qualification certificates for all qualifications identified within a given occupation in accordance with the Classification of Occupations for Sectoral Vocational Education. Pupils/learners who have finished the school can also take the maturity exam and obtain a maturity certificate which provides access to higher education. 

  • 3-year special schools preparing for employment (szkoły specjalne przysposabiające do pracy) which take pupils with a moderate or severe intellectual disability and pupils with multiple disabilities, and award a diploma confirming preparation for employment (see also Chapter 11 ‘Educational support and guidance’).

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

Post-secondary schools (szkoła policealna) for learners who have finished an (upper) secondary school, which offer vocational programmes lasting for 1 to 2.5 years and award a vocational diploma to those who have passed vocational exams. 

Art schools

Art schools in Poland form a separate structure in organisational terms. They are supervised by the minister responsible for culture and national heritage. See also Chapter 4.4 ‘Organisational variations and alternative structures in single structure education’.

Core curriculum for general education in post-primary schools

The core curriculum for general education is one of the key legal instruments for the management of the school education system in Poland. 

The following legislative acts, which implement the provisions of 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.), govern general education in secondary schools:

Vocational education in various types of schools (sectoral vocational schools, 5-year technical secondary schools and post-secondary schools) is governed by the Regulation of the Minister of National Education of 16 May 2019 on the core curricula for sectoral vocational education and additional vocational skills for selected occupations identified within sectoral vocational education, as subsequently amended (rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 16 maja 2019 r. w sprawie podstaw programowych kształcenia w zawodach szkolnictwa branżowego oraz dodatkowych umiejętności zawodowych w zakresie wybranych zawodów szkolnictwa branżowego, z późn. zm.). 

As indicated in the 2017 core curriculum, general education in stage I sectoral vocational schools aims to prepare pupils to acquire vocational qualifications and, as for the other types of schools, for work and life in the contemporary world. General education in a stage I sectoral vocational school initiates the process of lifelong learning. In addition to vocational training, a stage I sectoral vocational school should provide pupils with a body of general knowledge which lays the foundation of education, enabling learners further on to acquire various vocational qualifications and continue education in a stage II sectoral vocational school and, subsequently, enhance and adapt knowledge. General education in a stage I sectoral vocational school aims to enable pupils to (1) acquire a body of knowledge covering facts, rules, theories and practices; (2) acquire the ability to use the knowledge gained to carry out tasks and solve problems; (3) develop attitudes which are necessary for efficient and responsible functioning in the contemporary world.

Separate annexes to the afore-mentioned Regulation of 30 January 2018 lay down the core curricula for general education in:

  • 4-year general secondary schools and 5-year technical secondary schools;

  • stage II sectoral vocational schools for learners who have finished lower secondary schools existing before the recent school education reform;

  • stage II sectoral vocational schools for learners who have finished post-reform 8-year primary schools.

The core curriculum for the 4-year general secondary school and the 5-year technical secondary school (as established by the aforementioned Regulation of 30 January 2018) considers general education in a post-primary school as a coherent whole in curricular terms. It lays foundations for education, enabling pupils to acquire various qualifications for future employment and, subsequently, to upgrade or modify them, thus initiating the lifelong learning process. General education in general and technical secondary schools aims to:

  • treat structured and systematic knowledge as the basis for skills development;

  • improve thinking and language skills such as reading comprehension; creative writing; formulating questions and problems; using criteria; substantiating judgements; explaining; classifying; reasoning; defining; using examples, etc.;

  • develop personal interests and integrate subject-area knowledge gained in various disciplines;

  • develop skills to formulate independent and considered judgments, and substantiate one’s own and other people’s judgments in the process of dialogue within a community of enquiry;

  • combine critical and logical thinking skills with imagination and creativity skills;

  • develop social, moral and aesthetic sensitivity;

  • develop thinking tools which enable pupils to commune with, and understand, culture;

  • develop pupils’ respect for knowledge, arouse their passion for exploring the world, and encourage them to apply in practice the knowledge gained.   

The list of skills to be acquired by pupils in upper secondary schools comprises, for example, ICT skills, including respect for copyrights and safety in cyberspace; skills necessary to independently retrieve, select, combine and judge the value of information, and use sources in a reliable way; and skills for communication in the national language and foreign languages, including both speaking and writing skills.

Based on the arrangements in place since 1 September 2019, external examination boards assess the level of competences to be acquired by the end of an education stage, as set out in the core curriculum, through the maturity exam at the end of education at a general secondary school, technical secondary school or stage II sectoral vocational school (Stage III of education). 

Vocational education and training (VET) system

Pupils who have finished the 8-year primary school can choose the following educational paths within the vocational education and examination system: 

  • pupils who have finished the primary school can continue education in a stage I sectoral vocational school, where they obtain a vocational diploma and a basic (sectoral) vocational education qualification (and thus are qualified to take up employment); 

  • if interested, pupils who have finished a stage I sectoral vocational school can continue education in a stage II sectoral vocational school, obtain a vocational diploma of Technician once they have finished the school and passed vocational exams for the qualifications identified within a given occupation, and can also take the maturity exam. 

The VET system is based on the following basic principles: 

  • Close link between the core curricula for vocational education established by the legislation and the Classification of Occupations for Sectoral Vocational Education: this provides a clear structure for regulations implementing 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 prevents a situation where there are no up-to-date core curricula for newly created occupations.  

  • Cooperation between schools and employers and their organisations: schools and employers can conclude agreements and establish so-called patronage classes where pupils are trained for a given occupation or specialism to meet the needs of a particular enterprise. 

  • By 1 February each year, the Ministry of National Education publishes an in-demand occupation forecast in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Poland. The forecast indicates the demand for workforce in the sectoral vocational education occupations at the national level and for each province. Local administration bodies (regional labour market councils) regularly monitor and assess demand for education to be provided in vocational schools; this is necessary to assess the relevance of any new education programmes to be established for specific occupations, and to maintain education programmes in existing schools.  

  • Compulsory vocational exams: since 1 January 2022, to finish a sectoral vocational school, a technical secondary school or a post-secondary school, pupils/learners have been required to take a vocational exam. 

Legislation

The main legislative act for secondary education is 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, for a limited range of matters, the Act of 14 December 2016, The Provisions Introducing the Law on School Education (ustawa z dnia 14 grudnia 2016 r. – przepisy wprowadzające Prawo oświatowe). It is supplemented by the provisions of the School Education Act of 7 September 1991, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 7 września 1991 r. o systemie oświaty, z późn. zm.), which are still in force.

Regulations issued by the minister responsible for school education lay down detailed arrangements. These include, in particular, the following legislative acts: 

The following regulations, based on the Law on School Education, apply to schools providing vocational education: