Grades and study results

Schools in secondary education use the grades 1 to 6, where 2 is the lowest passing grade. Often they only give a description and not a grade.

Maturity exam

When students sit the maturity exam (egzamin maturalny) they do:

• oral exams; and
• written exams.

Oral exams

The school carries out the oral exams. The subjects are:

• Polish ( basic level i );
• a foreign language (basic level); and
• an elective subject, for example a minority language or an additional language (basic level or extended level).

Written exams

The Centralna Komisja Egzaminacyjna (Central Examination Board) organises the written exams all over the country. Students take written exams in the following subjects:

• Polish (basic level);
• mathematics (basic level);
• a foreign language (basic level); and
• an elective subject (extended level).

In addition to these 4 compulsory written exams, students can take exams in up to 5 optional subjects at advanced level. They often take extra subjects to improve their chances of getting a place at certain study programmes or educational institutions in Poland

Maturity exam grades

The grades of the maturity exam have their own system: the results vary from 0 to 100%. Students must achieve a result of at least 30% for all subjects to pass. This applies to all written and oral exams.

Secondary school diplomas always look the same. This also applies to diplomas from private schools.

After completing secondary education, students receive:

• the school certificate with the list of grades;
• the maturity certificate or a certificate of the vocational qualification if this has been obtained.

The maturity certificate is issued by the Regional Examination Commission (Okręgowa Komisja Egzaminacyjna). An example of the maturity certificate can be found on the NAWA website.

The higher education institutions may choose how to assess study results. Usually, the institutions use the grades 2 to 5, where 3 is the lowest passing grade. Sometimes they make a subdivision:

• 2, 3, 3½, 4, 4½ and 5; or
• 2, 3, 3+, 4, 4+ and 5.

After completing a higher education course, students receive:

• A diploma. Graduates receive the diploma in Polish and in another language.
• A Diploma Supplement. In the vast majority of cases, graduates receive the Diploma Supplement in 2 languages.

Fixed data on the diploma

In higher education, diplomas also looked the same until 2013. After that, the fixed layout was dropped. However, there are strict rules about the information that must be included on a diploma. You can find these rules in a PDF on the NAWA website:
Necessary elements of a diploma of graduation of first-, second-, or long-cycle studies.

Logo with PRK level

The newer diplomas always have a logo with the PRK level:

• The Roman numbers stand for full qualifications (diplomas). For example: PRK-VI is a bachelor (qualification level 6).
• The Arabic numbers stand for partial qualifications, such as certificates of postgraduate courses or company courses. For example PRK-6.

The website of the Polish Ministry also offers information about the Qualifications Framework in English, please see: Polish Qualifications Framework (PQF) and European Qualifications Framework (EQF).

Diploma Supplement

In Poland, the Diploma Supplement has been compulsory for bachelor’s, master’s and integrated master’s programmes since 2005. An example of the Polish Diploma Supplement is available on the NAWA website:
Suplement do dyplomu.

You can find more information on the Diploma Supplement (DS) on the Europass website, including examples of Diploma Supplements.