Recognition of certificates

Recognition/nostrification is the process of recognizing a foreign certificate as equivalent to a Polish one. If your high school diploma was issued outside of Poland, you may need to have it officially recognized by an educational authority in Poland. This confirms that your certificate meets the necessary standards for further studies.

In most cases, recognition is handled by the local Board of Education (Kuratorium Oświaty) in Poland. However, some diplomas are recognized automatically. Process of recognition applies only to candidates for Bachelor studies.

Legal basis: Article 93 and Article 93 a-h of Polish Education Act of 7th September 1991 (Ustawa o systemie oświaty Dz.U. z 2015 r. poz. 2156 z późn. zm) and a Decree of the Minister of National Education (rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 27 marca 2015 roku w sprawie postępowania w celu uznania albo potwierdzenia wykształcenia lub uprawnień do kontynuacji nauki uzyskanych w zagranicznym systemie oświaty (Dz. U. z 2015 poz. 447).

Countries that do not need to recognize certificates

You do not need to go through the recognition (nostrification) process if your certificate was issued by:

certificates or other documents issued by schools operating in educational systems of EU, OECD or EFTA members, 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).
IB diplomas (International Baccalaureate) issued by International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva
EB diplomas (European Baccalaureate) issued by European Schools in accordance with the Convention drawn up in Luxembourg on 21 June 1994;
certificates issued in countries with which Poland has signed bilateral agreements concerning the recognition of education (certificates issued under the agreements which expired will still be recognized on the basis of those agreements) - check list of agreements

More information can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education Recognition of foreign school certificates and diplomas in Poland.

Procedure

Recognition of a certificate or the level of education is done by the Education Superintendent appropriate for the place of residence of the Applicant, and if there is no such place, for the official seat of the institution where the Applicant is going to submit the certificate.
Generally 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 he / she can apply to the same or similar departments.
If the international agreements do not provide otherwise, a certificate issued abroad can be recognised by means of an administrative decision as a document confirming the following levels of education in Poland: primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, basic vocational or the right to continue education, including the right to continue education at higher education institutions taking into consideration the scope of rights appertaining.
The administrative decision and original of documents are sent by the post with the confirmation of acceptance by the address declared in application or these documents could be received in Kuratorium Oświaty by the applicant or by the other people possessed the authorisation. The person who receives the documents is obliged to confirm that in the acts of the case.
In the case, when the documents would be not completed (the lack of the documents determined in point 1-8) the applicant is called to supplement the formal lack of the documents in the determined term. If the applicant will not provide the expected documents, the application will stay without the analysis.
To the end of the nostrification process the party or the attorney is obliged to inform the legal authority about each change of the address. In case, to not realised this obligation the delivery of the document has the legal consequences.
In the case of the lack of the possibility to get or to confirm document expected by the list of attachment to the application, it is obliged to provide the document about refusing its issuing by the legal authority (school or educational institution, education authority where the certificate was issued or was issued but in this system of education or diplomatic representative or consular authority).
The applicant is obliged to send the all questions in legal language of Republic of Poland – polish.

Address

Application should be submit to:

Kancelaria Ogólna Kuratorium Oświaty we Wrocławiu,

pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1,

room 2007, II floor

or sent by post to:

Kuratorium Oświaty we Wrocławiu,

pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1,

50-951 Wrocław/Poland

If you have questions you can contact Kuratorium Oświaty by e-mail: poczta@kuratorium.wroclaw.pl

Required documents

The application signed by the applicant (Appendix no. 1).
Original or duplicate of certificate legalized by:
- consul of Republic of Poland appropriate for the country where the certificate was issued according of internal system of education, or
- authorities of the country where the certificate was issued or the certificate was issued according of internal system of education
- accredited in Republic of Poland or in another Member State of European Union, Member State of EFTA, Party of agreement EOG or Member State of OECD – diplomatic representative or Consular Office of the country where the certificate was issued according of internal system of education
If the certificate was issued by the school or educational institution which is active in the system of education of the country, which is the Party of the Hague Convention, where the obligation of legalisation was abolished (Dz.U. 2005, No. 112, Item 938 and 939)
- the original of certificate or its duplicate with the stamp placed on the document or attached to the document apostille or
- the notarised copy of certificate with the stamp placed on the document or attached to the document apostille
If the certificate doesn’t include the below information, to the application form it is necessary to attached:
- The list of the notes achieved on the graduated exam at the end of the school or educational institution or realised the stage of the education or confirmation that this kind of exam is not expected
- The list of subjects or other classes realised in the range of stage of education with the achieved notes
- Statement (Appendix no. 2) include:
  - the content of education process – issues realised in the range of each subject in education process
  - the scale of notes with indication of the highest and lowest note
  - the information how long takes the education
Statement about obtained rights to continue the education on appropriate level in the country where the certificate was issued, included the rights to apply for adopting on the higher education and the range of these rights (Appendix no. 3).

The documents mentioned in point 4 and 5 should be issued or confirmed by the school or educational institution, which issued the certificate or confirmed by the educational authority of the country where the certificate was issued or was issued but in this system of education.

The translation for polish language the original of certificate after its legalisation/original or notarised copy of certificate with apostille and also other documents prepared in polish language, realised by:
- the sworn translator from the list of Ministry of Justice or
- the person who is registered as the sworn translator in Member State of European Union, in Member State of EFTA, Party of agreement EOG or Member State of OECD or Member State of OECD or
- the Consul of Republic of Poland appropriate for the country where the certificate was issued or was issued but in this system of education
- accredited in Republic of Poland diplomatic representative or Consular Office of the country where the certificate was issued according of internal system of education
The authorisation in the case when the applicant works by the attorney (Appendix no. 4)
The copy of the document which confirm the personal data of the owner of the certificate

If the Applicant:

enjoys the status of a refugee or subsidiary protection or has the residence permit granted as a refugee or person with subsidiary protection, or
suffered as a result of armed conflicts, natural disasters or other humanitarian crises caused by a human being or nature,

and submitting the original certificate or its duplicate encounters obstacles impossible to overcome, the level of education (primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, basic vocational) or the rights to continue education, including the right to apply to higher education institutions, can be confirmed by means of an administrative decision.

In such case the Applicant is obliged to submit:

a statement describing the level of education or the right to continue education and schools completed abroad or other documents on the basis of which it will be directly or indirectly possible to determine the level of education, in particular documents confirming vocational qualifications, employment, apprenticeships or probation periods;
statements or documents confirming the information enlisted in point 3;
translation into Polish of all documents presented in a foreign language done by a person enlisted in point 6;
a document proving the status of a refugee;

If the certificate or other document is not sufficient to recognise or confirm the level of education or the right to continue education, the Education Superintendent can arrange an interview in order to assess the level of education of the applicant. The Education Superintendent determines the scope of the interview. The applicant bears the costs of the interview.

School certificates (from grade to grade) are not subject to the above procedure. They constitute the basis for continuation of education in the Polish educational system. The school headmaster takes the decision to admit the student to school.

Help with procedure - Berelocated

Please be informed that University of Wroclaw signed a co-operation agreement with a Berelocated company that helps with this procedure. Our candidates and students may use service of this company in case of being unable to proceed with this requirement by themselves (for example due to being abroad). This service is avaliable with a fee.