Secondary School Leaving Certificate recognition in Poland
I - Which diplomas are not subject to recognition?
Recognition of a secondary school leaving certificate/ high school diploma in order to continue education on undergraduate or graduate is not required in case of:
1. Secondary school leaving certificate / high school diploma or other documents issued by schools operating in educational systems within:
- EU member countries
- OECD member countries
- EFTA member countries,
which allow access to higher education institutions in those countries (at present: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Mexico, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, USA, Hungary, Great Britain, Italy).
2. IB diplomas (International Baccalaureate) issued by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva.
3. EB diplomas (European Baccalaureate) issued by European Schools in accordance with the Convention drawn up in Luxembourg on 21 June 1994.
4. Certificates issued in countries which Poland has signed bilateral agreements with concerning the recognition of education (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia). The list of bilateral agreements can be found here.
If a certificate or other document qualifies the holder to apply for admission to only certain departments (in certain fields of study) in the country of issuance, also in Poland they can apply to the same or similar departments.
II - Which diplomas are subject to recognition?
All other diplomas which are not mentioned in points 1-4 above.
III - How does the recognition process look like?
Pursuant to the Act of 12 May 2025 (Journal of Laws 2025, item 622), as of 1 July 2025, the Director of (National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) is being authorised to issue written information = individual recognition statement = regarding eligibility for admission to long-cycle (uniform Master’s) studies in Poland.
Details on how to apply, the user manual, and required documents are available here.
Please pay attention on how to make scans of the documents.
List of certificates requiring NAWA information here.
Applications to be submitted by the candidate. The individual recognition statement will be issued by NAWA and presented to the Candidate within maximum 60 days. The Candidate has to add this decision to the already submitted documents. Final admission to the University will be issued based on the NAWA written information regarding eligibility for admission to long-cycle (uniform Master’s) studies in Poland.