Overview

Last update: 26 June 2025

Key features of the Education System

Since the political transformation (the collapse of the communist regime) in 1989, the Polish education system has undergone profound changes in nearly all of its aspects including the structure, organization, management and the core curriculum. As a result it has developed some specific features which can be described as follows:

Combination of centralized governance (i.e. laws/ regulations for which the Minister of National Education and the Minister of Science and Higher Education are responsible) and decentralized school administration (for which local authorities are responsible);
System of external examinations, which are carried out at the end of compulsory education (on completion of a single-structure 8-year primary school (ISCED 1 and 2) and on completion of general and vocational secondary schools (ISCED 3). The examintations are high stake ones having influence on the choice of student’s educational and/or vocational path, they are prepared and evaluated by external body/ evaluators. The examination concluding compulsory education is obligatory for all students, while the secondary examination is taken only by the students who either want to continue their education at the tertiary level (egzamin maturalny), or want to obtain/ confirm a vocational qualification (vocational exams);
Specific definition of the status of teachers. The teaching profession is regulated by separate legislation (the Teacher’s Charter) which defines rules of admission, duties, remuneration and dismissal of teachers and their career path;
Domination of the public education sector over private. In school education the number of public schools and students attending them greatly outweighs the number of non-public schools and their pupils. In higher education system the majority of students is also enrolled in public HEIs.

The mainstream school education system in Poland includes:

8-year primary school
4-year general secondary school
5-year technical secondary school
3-year Stage I sectoral vocational school
2-year Stage II sectoral vocational school
Post-secondary school.

Compulsory education

Full-time compulsory education lasts for 12 years. It comprises the last year of pre-school education, 8 years of primary school education and is continued up to the age of 18 either in school settings (a student attends secondary school) or in non-school settings (e.g. a student follows vocational training offered by employers).

Stages of the Education System

ECEC

Institutions for children aged 0-3 years:

crèche (żłobek)
kids club (klub dziecięcy).

Attending a crèche is not obligatory, crèches are not part of education system as they are supervised by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy.

Institutions for children aged 3-6 years:

nursery school (przedszkole)
pre-school class in a primary school (oddział przedszkolny w szkole podstawowej)
pre-school unit (zespół wychowania przedszkolnego)
pre-school centre (punkt przedszkolny).

Pre-school education is optional for 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children and obligatory for 6-year-olds. Every 3-, 4- and 5-year-old has an entitlement to a place in a pre-primary setting in his/her community.

Compulsory education in grade one of primary school starts at the age of 7. All 6-year-olds have to attend a pre-school institution for one year in order to acquire basic skills before they start school.

Primary education

Single structure education (ISCED 1 and 2)

8-year primary school (single structure education) is compulsory for all pupils who are usually aged 7-15.

It includes two stages:

grades 1-3 (early school education)
grades 4-8 (teaching by subject).

At the end of grade 8 of primary school pupils take a compulsory external examination. The results of the exam together with end of school learning outcomes influence admission to secondary schools.

Secondary education (ISCED 3)

Although this stage of education is not compulsory (or in fact compulsory up to the age of 18) a vast majority of students continues education in secondary schools.

The structure of secondary education (ISCED 3) includes the following types of mainstream schools:

4-year general secondary school (liceum ogólnokształcące)
5-year technical secondary school (technikum)
3-year Stage I sectoral vocational school (branżowa szkoła I stopnia)
2-year Stage II sectoral vocational school (branżowa szkoła II stopnia).

Examinations

Graduates of general secondary schools and technical secondary schools may take the external secondary school leaving examination (egzamin maturalny) to obtain the Matura certificate (świadectwo dojrzałości), which gives access to higher education. This possibility is also open to graduates of the Stage II sectoral vocational school.

Students of vocational schools - sectoral vocational schools and technical secondary schools - may take vocational examinations (different formulas) in a given occupation during the course of study or upon completion of school to receive a vocational diploma.

Post-secondary non-tertiary education

In the Polish legislation post-secondary education (ISCED 4) is considered a part of secondary education. Post-secondary schools (szkoła policealna) are intended for graduates of general secondary schools who wish to obtain a vocational diploma.

The schools offer courses lasting from 1 to 2.5 years. The students of post-secondary schools and students of sectoral vocational schools and technical secondary schools take vocational exams of the same type.

Higher education

There are two types of Higher Education Institutions:

university-type (uczelnia akademicka)
non-university-type (uczelnia zawodowa).

They both offer first- and second-cycle programmes as well as long-cycle Master’s degree programmes while only university-type HEIs can offer third-cycle programmes (doctoral studies) and are authorized to award doctoral degrees. Non-university-type HEIs, on the other hand, offer specialist, practical type of training programmes.

Studies are organised in the form of full-time (studia stacjonarne) or part-time (studia niestacjonarne) programmes.

First-cycle programmes lead to two types of degrees:

licencjat (equivalent of Bachelor’s degree) - 3-4 year programmes
inżynier (equivalent of Bachelor’s degree) - 3.5-4 year programmes (in applied science and technologies).

Holders of the Bachelor’s degree can enter second-cycle programmes, which take 1.5-2 years depending on the area of study.

Only several fields of study offer long-cycle Master’s degree programmes that last for 4-6 years. First-cycle, second-cycle and long-cycle Master’s programmes end with a diploma examination and students who have passed it are granted a relevant degree.

The Master’s degree (magister or its equivalent) entitles its holder to practice a given profession and provides access to third-cycle studies. They are organised in HEIs or research and development institutions other than HEIs and last for 3-4 years.

Adult education

Adult education is open to adults who wish to complete school education at primary and secondary level or acquire new vocational qualifications and skills for professional or personal reasons.

It is organised, in school and non-school settings, by:

schools for adults
continuing education and practical training institutions
in-service training centres
sectoral vocational skills centres
higher education and research institutions
other organisations (e.g. open universities, third age universities, NGOs).

Further information on the Polish education system may be found in particular chapters of Eurypedia (Poland) as well as on the websites (see Useful links below)

Structure of the National Education System

Please refer to the Eurydice Data and Visuals for a display of the Structure of the National Education System

Eurydice

Poland

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