Recognition of foreign school certificates and diplomas in Poland

Recognition of foreign school certificates and diplomas in Poland

Foreign school certificates, diplomas or other educational documents may be recognized in Poland automatically (see: I. AUTOMATIC RECOGNITION) or in result of an administrative recognition procedure done by a province education superintendent (see: II. RECOGNITION PROCEDURE).

I. AUTOMATIC RECOGNITION – WITHOUT ADDITIONAL PROCEEDINGS

Certificates, diplomas or other educational documents that confirm the completion of secondary education in the European Union, European Economic Area (EEA) or OECD member states as well as the right to apply for higher education programs in the country of issue shall be recognized in Poland by operation of law (i.e. automatically). The owners of such documents have a right to apply for studies at a Polish university or HE institution. Such regulation has been valid from 31 March 2015.

The recognition by operation of law (automatic recognition) means that the owners of certificates, diplomas or other documents that are recognized in Poland by operation of law may be filed directly with a university, HE institution or employer without being asked by a Polish authority for an additional recognition confirmation or proceedings.

Attention! Foreign certificates and diplomas  should be authenticated, that is, stamped with the apostille seal or legalized by the authorities of the state in the education system of which were issued.

Certificates may be legalized or receive an apostille by:

– the consul of the Republic of Poland having jurisdiction with respect to the state in the territory of which, or in the education system of which, the given certificate was issued, or

– the educational authorities of the state in the territory of which, or in the education system of which, the given certificate was issued, or

– a diplomatic representation or consular office of the state in the territory of which, or in the education system of which, the given certificate was issued, accredited in the Republic of Poland or in any EU, OECD or EEA member state, where the said certificates or documents confer an entitlement to apply for admission to a higher education program in the states in question.

DOCUMENTS RECOGNISED BY OPERATION OF LAW IN POLAND

1. Each certificate, diploma or other document issued within the education system of one of EU, EEA or OECD member states that entitles one to apply for admission to a higher education program in the state of issuance. This rule concerns the following states:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA.

2. IB (International Baccalaureate) diplomas issued by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva.
3. EB (European Baccalaureate) diplomas issued by the European Schools in accordance with the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools drawn up in Luxembourg on June 21, 1994. (Dz. U. [the Journal of Laws] for 2005, No. 3, item 10).
4. Certificates, diplomas and other documents issued abroad by schools or educational institutions in accordance with the principles laid down in bilateral agreements on mutual diploma recognition
5. If a certificate or other document entitles to apply for admission only to specific higher education programs in the state of issuance, it shall be recognized as a document giving a right to apply for admission to such higher education programs in Poland which are identical or similar in terms of curriculum.

II. RECOGNITION PROCEEDINGS BY PROVINCE EDUCATION SUPERINTENDENTS

IIA RECOGNITION OF SCHOOL CERTIFICATES/DIPLOMAS

The body competent with respect to the proceedings for the recognition of a school certificate or other document issued abroad – that is not recognized by operation of law – is the education superintendent (kurator oświaty), having jurisdiction:

• over the place of residence of the applicant or
• over the registered office of the institution to which the applicant intends to submit the application or other document issued abroad (if the applicant does not have a place of residence within the territory of the Republic of Poland).

The education superintendent may:

• recognize a foreign school certificate or other document by way of an administrative decision as a document which confirms the completion of primary, lower secondary, basic vocational or upper secondary education and
• confirm the entitlement to continue one’s education, including the entitlement to apply for admission to a higher education program, taking into account the scope of rights granted in the state of issuance of the certificate or other document.

Foreign school certificates or documents may be recognized in Poland only if they are recognized by the state within the territory of which or in the education system of which such a school operates.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED in the recognition proceedings

1. Application for recognition
2. Certificate – with apostille or legalized:

a) original of the certificate or its duplicate or notarized copy with apostille placed on or attached to the document, if the certificate was issued by a state which is a party to the Hague Convention or

b) legalised original of the certificate or its duplicate – if the certificate was issued by a state which is not a party to the Hague Convention (the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, drawn up in the Hague on October 5, 1961).

3. Documents to be appended if the certificate does not contain information about the course of education:

a) a list of grades received in the course of examinations required for completing the school or educational institution or the given stage of the educational program;

b) a list of subjects and other classes completed in the course of the given stage of education, along with the grades received;

c) information on the completed curriculum pertaining to the contents thereof, the planned duration of tuition as well as the grade scale applied;

d) information on the conferred entitlements to continue education at an appropriate level in the state in the education system of which the given certificate was issued, including the entitlements to apply for admission to a higher education program as well as on the scope of the entitlements in question.

4. The documents mentioned in 3 a-d should be issued or confirmed by the school or educational institution which issued the certificate or by educational authorities of the state on whose territory or in whose educational system the certificate was issued.

5. The translation into Polish of documents, attached to the application, shall be done or confirmed by:

a) a person entered on the list of sworn translators by the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Poland, or

b) a person registered as a sworn translator in any EU, OECD or EEA member state, or

c) the consul of the Republic of Poland having jurisdiction with respect to the state in the territory of which, or in the education system of which, the given certificate was issued, or

d) a diplomatic representative or consular office of the state in the territory of which, or in the education system of which, the given certificate was issued, accredited in the Republic of Poland.

e) If the translation of the documents into Polish causes substantial difficulties, the education superintendent may agree for the applicant to present a translation performed by another entity, provided that the credibility of such entity is beyond reproach.

6. The decision may be appealed against to the Minister of National Education through the education superintendent within 14 days from receipt.

7. In the proceedings the provisions of the Act of 14 June 1960 – Code of Administrative Procedure (Dz. U. [the Journal of Laws] 2014, Item 283, as amended) have to be applied.

Place for Document Submission

Kuratorium Oświaty w Poznaniu,Wydział Nauczycieli i Sieci Szkół, ul. Tadeusza Kościuszki 93, 61-716 Poznań.

The Kuratorium Oświaty in Poznań does not return the original documents submitted for the case – once the proceedings are completed, the documents must be collected in person or by an authorized representative at the Wydział Nauczycieli i Sieci Szkół/Department of Teachers and School Network.

You may contact Kuratorium Oświaty in Poznań at sekretariat.wko@ko.poznan.pl

IIB RECOGNITION OF DIPLOMAS WHEN APPLYING FOR ADMISSION TO SECOND CYCLE STUDIES

If your degree gives access to the next level of higher education or entitles you to apply for a doctoral degree in the country of issue, also in Poland it gives the right to access education at the corresponding level (second-cycle studies, doctoral school) or to start proceedings which lead to obtaining a Polish academic degree.

NOTE:

Diplomas confirming the completion of higher education abroad do not give access to further studies in Poland if:

1. institutions which issued them or institutions in which the education was provided:
   1. were not accredited higher education institutions on the date of issuing the diploma or implemented a study programme which did not have accreditation on the date of issuing the diploma or
   2. do not operate within a higher education system of any country or
2. a higher education programme or its part was implemented against provisions of the country in which the education was provided.

Legal basis:  

• Article 326.2 in the Act of 20 July 2018 – Law on Higher Education and Science (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1571)
• international agreements

If you need a recognition statement, e.g. to present it to a Polish university, you can use the KWALIFIKATOR system, or apply for an individual statement to NAWA.

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Application to Kuratorim Oswiaty can be downloaded here.