School

Steps

1. Find the school for your catchment area (szkoła rejonowa, the public primary school whose catchment area, obwód, covers your address): your town or municipal office or your city's website will tell you. A child who lives in the catchment area is admitted to year 1 on a simple declaration by the parents; outside the catchment area, the child is admitted depending on free places and criteria set by the municipality.
2. Contact the head teacher: they place your child in the right class, taking into account their age, their foreign school reports and your opinion.
3. Bring the documents (see Documents). Reports and certificates from abroad are enough to enter primary school or secondary school: no official recognition (nostryfikacja) is needed for that.
4. Ask for help with Polish if your child does not speak the language (or not well enough):
   • free extra Polish lessons, organised by the municipality or the district, for 24 months at most;
   • catch-up lessons in other subjects, for 12 months at most;
   • an assistant who speaks your child's language (pomoc nauczyciela), for 12 months at most;
   • a reception class (oddział przygotowawczy), if the municipality has set one up, in principle for one year.
5. Enrol them for the canteen if you wish: since the law, every primary school must offer one hot meal a day, optional and paid.
6. For French education: contact the Lycée français René Goscinny in Warsaw, and if your child is French, an AEFE school grant is possible subject to income conditions, with an online application on the Scolaide platform and registration on the register of French nationals living abroad. For 2026-2027, the deadline for the second period was 25 September 2026 and the embassy states that no application received after that date is accepted: it has therefore passed; a new family submits its application at a compulsory appointment with the embassy's social affairs department, and the next campaign opens between January and March (French Embassy, page updated on 1 September 2026).
7. Secondary school leaving diploma: a diploma from an EU, OECD or EFTA country, or an International Baccalaureate (IB) or European Baccalaureate (EB), is recognised by right in Poland; for other countries, the kurator oświaty (the voivodeship education authority) recognises it by decision. For university entry, the NAWA agency handles it since 1 July 2025.

Documents

• Identity document of the child and of the parents.
• Proof of address (for the catchment-area school); the child's PESEL makes everything easier.
• Latest reports and school attendance certificates from abroad, with a translation if the school asks for one.
• Vaccination record (useful for the school doctor; the school states what it requires).

Costs and timelines

• Public school: free.
• Canteen: paid; the price covers only the food (not salaries or maintenance), set by the head teacher with the municipality. Exemption possible for families in difficulty.
• 2026-2027 calendar: school year starts on 1 September 2026; Christmas break from 23 to 31 December 2026; winter break depending on the voivodeship (18 to 31 January 2027: Lower Silesia, Łódź, Opole, Subcarpathia, Podlaskie, Silesia; 1 to 14 February 2027: Lublin, Masovia, Pomerania, Świętokrzyskie; 15 to 28 February 2027: Kuyavia-Pomerania, Lubusz, Lesser Poland, Warmia-Masuria, Greater Poland, West Pomerania); Easter break from 25 to 30 March 2027; lessons end on 25 June 2027; summer holidays from 26 June to 31 August 2027.
• Exams: the end-of-primary exam (egzamin ósmoklasisty) in year 8, and the school-leaving exam (matura): adjustments are possible, with the favourable opinion of the teachers' council, for pupils who have a poor command of Polish (bilingual dictionary, extra time, adapted papers for the year 8 exam), except for the foreign-language paper.
• French and international schools: tuition fees specific to each school.

Common pitfalls

• Waiting for the September start. A child who arrives during the year is subject to compulsory schooling: enrol them straight away.
• Believing school starts at 6. At 6, it is the compulsory preparation year (in nursery school or in the school's "zero" class); primary school starts in the year the child turns 7 (at 6 at the parents' request).
• Counting on Polish lessons with no limit. A ministry page (January 2025) speaks of lessons with no time limit, but the consolidated text of the Act in force in September 2026 (art. 165 ust. 7) limits them to 24 months: ask the school what applies.
• Confusing a public bilingual school with an international school. Public bilingual classes follow the Polish curriculum and may select pupils at entry.
• For the Lycée français, starting late. Places and grants have their own calendars: the second period of 2026-2027 grants has been closed since 25 September 2026.

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: same rights as Polish citizens, including in public schools for adults and post-secondary schools (with a right of residence); for a post-secondary school (policealna), a Polish certificate of at least level B1 is required (art. 165 ust. 5a).
• British citizens (Scots included): up to age 18 (or the end of secondary school), every foreign child subject to compulsory schooling is admitted free of charge; for public schools for adults and post-secondary schools, third-country nationals without a suitable residence permit may have to pay.
• French citizens: AEFE grants possible at the Lycée français in Warsaw; they cannot be combined with French family allowances (CAF).
• School-leaving diplomas: recognised by right if they come from an EU, OECD or EFTA country (United Kingdom and Switzerland included).