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Education in Poland

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Primary school

Education in Poland is compulsory from the age of six up to eighteen.

Education in Poland starts at the age of six when children must go to so called ‘zero’ grade at kindergarten or at primary school. Education in primary school starts at the age of seven, and lasts 6 years (Polish szkoła podstawowa).

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Primary school

Polish education system was reformed in 1999. Primary school was shortened from 8 to 6 years, and high school was changed from 4 year liceum into 3 year gymnasium and 3 year liceum.

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Gymnasium

Next is the lower secondary level consisting of three years in gymnasium (gimnazjum, pronounced gheem-nah-sium), starting at the age of 13. Gymnasium ends with an exam.

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Upper Secondary Level & Upper Education

This is followed by upper secondary school, which has several alternatives, the most common being the three years in a general secondary (lyceum ogólnokształcące) or specialised secondary school (lyceum profilowane – this type of school is being closed) or four years in a technical secondary school (technikum). Both end with a maturity examination (matura, quite similar to French baccalauréat, can also be compared to English A level), and may be followed by several forms of upper education. leading to licencjat or inżynier (the Polish Bologna Process first cycle qualification, Bachelor of Arts), magister (the Polish Bologna Process second cycle qualification, Master of Arts) and eventually to a doctorate (doktor the Polish Bologna Process third cycle qualification).

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There is also third type of post-gymnasium school: basic vocational secondary school (zasadnicza szkoła zawodowa) where students are trained in practical skills. This type of school ends with a state practical examination. This school graduates are required to take a year-long course in supplementary technical secondary school or longer course in supplementary general secondary school (both of them ending in maturity examination) to be abl;e to continue education on university level

Upper Secondary Level & Upper Education

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Grading

In the early 1990s the evaluation system was extended by introducing new grades, 1 and 6.

1 (niedostateczny, insufficient)2 (initially mierny, poor, later renamed for dopuszczający,

passing)3 (dostateczny, sufficient)4 (dobry, good)5 (bardzo dobry, very good)6 (celujący, excellent)In the new system, 1 is the failing grade, 2 to 5 are normal

passing grades, and 6 means that the student exceeded the expectations (originally this grade was meant for winners of education contests). The system is used like the old one. Adding minuses to a 6 is extremely uncommon. The performance that is better than 5 but does not deserve a 6 is usually graded 5+