Recognition / nostrification of foreign school certificate/diploma for the purpose of the application for the first or second cycle studies in Poland is required in the admission process in case of some of the certificates/diplomas.
In case those certificates, diplomas or other documents obtained abroad are subject to recognition in Poland by the decision of the Superintendent's Office / an individual recognition statement issued by NAWA / nostrification procedure carried out by a given faculty of university, the foreigner is obliged to present the decision / individual recognition statement / certificate confirming equivalence with the relevant Polish secondary school-leaving certificate, higher education diploma or diploma awarding a doctoral degree by the end of the application period for studies.
Recognition of a foreign secondary school certificate as equal to a Polish one occurs:
1) by law - that is, without certifying by other institutions or bodies in Poland;
2) on the basis of the decision of the Superintendent's Office or from 1 July 2025 on the basis of an individual recognition statement issued by NAWA;
3) on the basis of international agreements.
Types of certificates that are recognized in Poland by law:
- Secondary school certificate obtained in the education systems in Ukraine and China (gaozhong biye zhengshu);
- Secondary school certificate obtained in the education systems of a member state of the European Union (EU), European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which gives one right to apply for higher education institutions in the country where it was issued.
This applies to the school certificates obtained in the following OECD member states countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia (from April 28, 2020), Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Canada, Korea, Liechtenstein Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, the USA, Hungary, Great Britain, Italy. - IB Diploma (International Baccalaureate) issued by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva;
- EB Diploma (European Baccalaureate) issued by the European Schools, in accordance with the Convention on the Statute of the European Schools, signed in Luxembourg on 21 June 1994.
Certificates not listed above must be recognized as equivalent to the corresponding Polish school certificate by the Superintendent's Office or NAWA has to issue the Individual Recognition Statement.
Secondary school certificates, till June 30, 2025 can be recognized in the Superintendent's Office:
Kuratorium Oświaty in Łódź,
Address: ul. Więckowskiego 33,
90-734 Łódź,
tel.: (+48) tel. 42 637 70 55
Make sure to have all the required documents!
Secondary school certificates, from July 1, 2025, can be recognized in an online procedure on the NAWA's website.
Recognition of secondary school certificates by NAWA is explained here.
Recognition of a foreign diploma as equal to a Polish one occurs in case of:
- First-cycle diploma obtained in the education system of Ukraine and China (xueshi);
- First-cycle diploma obtained in the education systems of the countries of the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which entitle to apply for admission to second-cycle studies in the country in whose education system they were issued and were issued by a school or educational institution recognised by the country in whose territory or in whose education system the school or institution operates.
Diplomas not listed above must have an individual recognition statement issued by NAWA.
How to get the Individual Recognition for your diploma?
Degree diplomas, from July 1, 2025, can be recognized in an online procedure on the NAWA's website.
Recognition of first-cycle degree certificates is explained here.
NOSTRIFICATION
Your diploma does not give you the right to continue your studies in the country where it was issued?
Let us advise you what to do! Read the information below.
If a Bachelor’s or Master’s Diplomas give a foreigner the right to continue education on higher levels in the country where they were issued, they give them the same right in Poland. If the Diplomas do not give the right, but a foreigner still wants to continue education in Poland, they can be recognized in the procedure of nostrification.
Nostrification is a procedure whereby a foreign educational qualification is compared to its Polish equivalent and their equivalence determined. The competent authorities to conduct the nostrification procedure are:
- with regard to secondary school and maturity certificates – local educational authorities having jurisdiction over the applicant’s place of residence and, in case the applicant has no such place of residence, the local educational authorities having jurisdiction over the head office of the institution where the applicant applies for admission.
- with regard to higher education diplomas (university degrees) – organizational unit of a higher education institution authorized to confer an academic degree of a doktor (doctor) in a given field of science or in a given field of art providing education in an area corresponding to a field of study completed abroad.
- with regard to academic degrees – Council of the organizational unit authorized to confer an academic degree of doktor habilitowany (doctor habilitatus) in a given academic field or in a given field of art within the scope of a given academic discipline or of a given artistic discipline concerned with the academic degree.