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Maturity certificates

Maturity certificates obtained abroad are deemed equal with a Polish maturity certificate on the basis of international agreements Poland has signed with other countries. Details on international agreements in the field of education can be found on the Ministry of Science and Higher Education website (in Polish only).

If a certificate equivalence is not a subject of any international agreements, its status as an equivalent of a Polish maturity certificate can only be confirmed with a nostrification.

Nostrification of maturity certificates applies to those candidates whose maturity certificates have been obtained outside of Poland, in a country with which Poland has not signed an international agreement or when the agreement signed does not include document equivalence as a subject. International Baccalaureate diploma and European Baccalaureate certificate are accepted by Polish universities without a nostrification.

Maturity certificates are nostrified by Polish voivodeship education offices (Kuratoria Oświaty)
appropriate based on the place of residence of the person applying for a nostrification or based on the
location of the institution for which the document is intended.

The closest voivodeship education office (Kuratorium Oświaty) you will find in Warsaw by address: ul. Aleje Jerozolimskie 32, office hours: 8:00-16:00, from Monday till Friday,
http://www.en.kuratorium.waw.pl/en/index.html

List of required documents for Nostrification:

• Completed application form (in Polish).
• High school diploma with apostille or legalized high school diploma (or any other document confirming graduation abroad).
• The certificate from the Consulate of the home country in Poland (or from the Ministry of Education), confirming that your high school diploma gives you the right to study at the Universities of your country and / or abroad.
• High school diploma supplement.
• Translation of the above listed documents into Polish (high school diploma, its supplement
• and the certificate issued by the Consulate (if it was issued not in Polish)).
• Copy of your passport.
• Other documents requested by the voivodeship education office.

Higher education diploma

If you have received your higher education diploma on an appropriate level in the European Union, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member state, or the diploma you have obtained gives you the right to pursue studies in the country of its issue on the level equivalent to the level in Poland, then you don’t have to go through with the nostrification process. There is also no need to nostrify documents obtained in the countries with which Poland has signed an agreement about mutual recognition of documents (the list of such agreements can be found on the Ministry of Science and Higher Education website (in Polish only)). See below if your country is a member of one of the organisations mentioned above:

European Union (EU) »

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) »

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America

European Free Trade Association (EFTA) »

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland

With the recognition or confirmation of education or the right to continue education are exempt:

Certificates and other documents issued by a school or educational institution operating in the education system of a Member State of the European Union, a member state of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a member state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, entitled to apply for admission to higher studies in these countries: (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States)

Nostrification of a higher education diploma is only necessary if it has been obtained in a country not enlisted above with which Poland has not signed an agreement on mutual document recognition.

Details on recognition of foreign qualifications can be found on the Ministry of Science and Higher Education website.