Applying to Polish universities for 2027/28: timeline and steps for international candidates

• No central system: each university runs its own admissions
• What is already confirmed for 2027/2028
• Step 1: check whether your school certificate is recognised
• Step 2: prepare a language certificate
• Step 3: expect an entrance exam or test
• Step 4: plan your visa early
• Key points

⇑No central system: each university runs its own admissions

Poland has no single national application portal. Every university sets its own rules, publishes its own schedule and runs its own online registration system. In practice this means you apply separately to each institution that interests you, create an account in its system, upload scans of your documents and pay a registration fee. A short overview of the process is available in our guide to studying in Poland.

Rules for a given intake are adopted by the university senate months in advance, while detailed per-programme schedules usually follow later. That is the stage the 2027/2028 cycle has reached at the time of writing (6 November 2026).

⇑What is already confirmed for 2027/2028

The University of Warsaw adopted Senate Resolution No. 278 of 20 May 2026 on admissions for 2027/2028. According to the university’s admissions documents:

• the admission procedure starts no earlier than 2 February 2027 and lasts no longer than 30 September 2027;
• the detailed schedule for individual programmes will be set out in an ordinance of the Rector;
• candidates register in the IRK online system and pay a fee set in that ordinance;
• topics for entrance examinations, oral exams and interviews are to be published in IRK by 31 March 2027.

Kozminski University (Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego) in Warsaw states on its English-taught bachelor’s and master’s programme pages that admission starts on 1 February 2027. Closing dates for the 2027/2028 intakes are not yet listed there, so it is worth checking the pages again in the new year.

⇑Step 1: check whether your school certificate is recognised

To start first-cycle (bachelor’s) or long-cycle master’s studies, you need a secondary school certificate that is recognised in Poland. According to NAWA, the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, certificates from EU, OECD and EFTA countries, from countries covered by recognition agreements, and IB and EB diplomas are recognised without an additional procedure. For other certificates, an individual recognition statement from the NAWA Director is required.

That statement is requested online through NAWA’s SYRENA system, with scanned documents. Because processing takes time, candidates who need it should not leave it until the registration period opens.

⇑Step 2: prepare a language certificate

Under rules introduced by a Polish law of 4 April 2025, many international candidates with foreign documents must prove knowledge of the language of instruction at least at B2 level. At the University of Warsaw, candidates covered by these rules upload the certificate to IRK during registration for 2027/2028; without it, they receive zero points in the whole qualification procedure. For English-taught programmes, the UW resolution lists accepted certificates, for example IELTS with a score of at least 5.5.

Other universities publish their own lists of accepted certificates and minimum scores, so check the programme page of every institution you apply to.

⇑Step 3: expect an entrance exam or test

Some candidates will face an extra stage. At the University of Warsaw, first-cycle admission for candidates covered by the 2025 rules has two stages: results from school-leaving exams are converted into points, and then an entrance examination checks knowledge or aptitude for the chosen programme. Kozminski University asks candidates with documents issued outside the EU, EFTA, OECD, Ukraine or China to pass an online knowledge test before they enter the admission process.

⇑Step 4: plan your visa early

Candidates from outside the EU usually need a national (type D) study visa, and the consulate will ask for a letter of admission from the university. Visa applications are reviewed within up to 15 days, but some cases take longer, so plan your travel with a margin. The official portal study.gov.pl, run by NAWA, explains the procedure step by step.

⇑Key points

The 2027/2028 admission season opens in early February 2027: no earlier than 2 February 2027 at the University of Warsaw and from 1 February 2027 at Kozminski University. Before then, check whether your school certificate needs NAWA recognition, get a B2 language certificate, find out whether your programme includes an entrance exam and watch the universities’ pages for detailed schedules.