The education system in Poland
Structure of the national education system 2011/12
The education system in Poland is centrally managed by the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
Full-time compulsory education (to be received in school) covers
children and young people aged 6-16 years, whereas part-time compulsory
education (to be received in school or non-school settings) concerns
young people aged 16-18 years. Compulsory education includes the final
year of pre-primary education, 6-year primary education and 3-year lower
secondary education. Nursery schools (przedszkole), primary schools (szkoła podstawowa) and lower secondary schools (gimnazjum) are administered by commune (gmina) authorities. Upper secondary schools,
which are not compulsory, are attended by the vast majority of the
population in the age group 16-19/20 years and are administered by
district (powiat) authorities. Autonomoushigher education institutions
offer mainly first-, second- and third-cycle programmes (long-cycle
Master's degree programmes are available only in a few fields of study).
Adult education is provided by continuing education centres, practical training centres and further and in-service training centres.
For a brief description of the different levels of the education
system and other related topics such as the teaching profession and
special needs education, please refer to the Eurydice National System Overview.
While Eurypedia provides comprehensive and comparable information
on the Polish education system, further information may also be found
on the websites of the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Central Statistical Office (statistical data).
More information at:
More information at:
