Maturity certificates (high school diplomas) recognised in the Republic of Poland for applying for admission to tertiary education are:

• secondary school leaving certificates (high school diplomas) are considered equivalent to the corresponding Polish certificate under international agreements concluded by Poland with other countries. If a given certificate is covered by an international agreement, then there is no need to subject the document to the nostrification procedure. Detailed information on international agreements concluded by Poland can be found on the website of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education,
• all certificates issued in the EU, EFTA and OECD, which entice to undertake higher education in the country of issue, will be recognized by law as documents confirming secondary education and the right to apply for admission to studies in Poland, and these are the following countries:
  • Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Colombia, Costa Rica, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, Hungary, United Kingdom, Italy.
• if in the country of issue the certificate held entitles to undertake studies only in selected fields of study, then these rights are recognized in Poland to a similar extent. Therefore, the right to apply for admission is recognized: for the same fields of study or for fields of study similar due to the curriculum,
• IB (International Baccalaureate) diplomas issued by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva,
• EB (European Baccalaureate) diplomas issued by the European Schools in accordance with the Convention on the Statute of the European Schools, drawn up in Luxembourg on 21 June 1994 (Journal of Laws of 2005 No. 3, item 10),
• certificates issued by European Schools in accordance with the Convention on the Statute of European Schools and those with which Poland has concluded international agreements on the recognition of education (Ukraine - certificate of full secondary education and China - gaozhong biye zhengshu)
• if the certificate is not covered by any international agreement or is covered by it, but does not meet the provisions of a given agreement and has not been issued in the EU, EFTA, OECD countries, where it entitles to apply for admission to higher education, then its equivalence with the relevant Polish certificate can only be established by nostrification.

Nostrification/Recognation of maturity certificates (high school diplomas) concerns:

All certificates issued in countries not listed above for which it must be issued:

• information from the NAWA director (it is an electronic document containing information about the candidate: name, surname, passport number, number and name of the certificate and the rights resulting from it) or
• decision of the Regional Boards of Education (Kuratorium Oświaty).

Important! The deadline for obtaining information from the NAWA Director is up to 2 months (in the case of more complex documents), so we recommend starting the procedure well in advance.

Diplomas of completion of first-cycle studies recognized in the Republic of Poland for applying for admission to second-cycle studies are:

• a diploma awarded by an authorised university operating in the higher education system of a Member State of the European Union, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, confirming the completion of:
  
  1. three-year studies or first-cycle studies lasting at least three years - confirms in the Republic of Poland the possession of higher education at the level of first-cycle studies;
  2. second-cycle studies - confirms in the Republic of Poland the possession of higher education at the level of second-cycle studies;
  3. at least four years of long-cycle studies - confirms in the Republic of Poland the possession of higher education at the level of second-cycle studies, if it is considered equivalent to the diploma of completion of second-cycle studies in the country of issue.
• a diploma confirming completion of studies abroad gives the right to continue education at second-cycle studies or to apply for a doctoral degree in the country in whose higher education system the university that issued it operates, it entitles the Republic of Poland to continue education at second-cycle studies or to apply for a doctoral degree, respectively,
• a foreign diploma may entitle to further education in Poland also on the basis of international agreements (Ukraine, China).

OECD, EFTA, EU countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Colombia, Costa Rica, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, Hungary, United Kingdom, Italy.

Nostrification/Recognation of diplomas concerns:

all other diplomas issued in countries not listed above for which it must be issued:

• information from the NAWA director (this is an electronic document containing information about the candidate: name, surname, passport number, number and name of the diploma and the rights resulting from it).

Information from the Director of NAWA (Individual Recognition Statement):

• is required to obtain enrolment in studies for any foreign diploma issued outside the education systems of the EU, OECD, EFTA, Ukraine, China and not nostrified, regardless of the nationality of the candidate, without which enrolment in studies will not be possible,
• it is issued on the basis of an application that must be submitted in the syrena.nawa.gov.pl system. This application is submitted online and can be submitted before the admission process begins.

Nostrification/Recognation

Nostrification/Recognition proceedings are conducted by an university with a scientific category A+, A or B+ in the discipline to which the application relates.

NOTE: Until the parameterization of the university is carried out, nostrification procedures should be conducted by units authorized to confer the academic degree of doctor of a specific field of science or the degree of doctor of a specific field of art, in the field of scientific or artistic discipline to which the foreign diploma relates.