Polish people

Recognition of certificates issued in foreign education systems

Certificates issued in foreign education systems on the basis of which candidates apply for admission to first-cycle studies and long-cycle studies must be recognized as documents confirming secondary education in Poland and the right to apply for admission to higher education. Certificates may be recognized by operation of law or as a result of administrative proceedings of the school superintendent.

LEGAL RECOGNITION – these certificates are not subject to the recognition procedure at the Polish office, thus they can be submitted directly to the university. Recognition under the law applies to certificates entitling to apply for admission to higher education, issued by a school or educational institution operating in the education system of a European Union Member State, a Member State of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a Member State of the European Free Trade Agreement ( EFTA) – parties to the agreement on the European Economic Area.

This applies to documents on education issued in the education systems of the following countries:

AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, BULGARIA, CHILE, CROATIA, CYPRUS, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GREECE, SPAIN, IRELAND, ICELAND, ISRAEL, JAPAN, CANADA, KOREA, LITHTENALSTEIN, LEMBURG, LITHUANIA, LITHUANIA MEXICO, NETHERLANDS (NETHERLANDS), GERMANY, NORWAY, NEW ZEALAND, PORTUGAL, ROMANIA, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA, SWITZERLAND, SWEDEN, TURKEY, USA, HUNGARY, GREAT BRITAIN, ITALY.

In addition, by law it is recognized:

• IB diplomas (International Baccalaureate), issued by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva;
• EB diplomas (European Baccalaureate) issued by the European Schools, in accordance with the Convention on the Statute of the European Schools, done in Luxembourg on June 21, 1994. (Journal of Laws of 2005, No. 3, item 10);
• Certificates entitling to higher education, covered by bilateral agreements concluded by Poland on the mutual recognition of certificates and diplomas. Certificates entitling to apply for admission to higher education in Poland on the basis of international agreements include:

– certificates of secondary general education, diplomas of vocational and technical education, diplomas of secondary specialist education issued in the Republic of Belarus,
– secondary school leaving certificates (gaozhong) issued in the People’s Republic of China,
– certificates of complete secondary education issued in Ukraine.

The full list and texts of the contracts are available on the website of the Ministry of National Education – read more

In the case of certificates issued outside Poland, which do not contain information on the entitlement to continue education at higher education in the country in which the education system was issued, the Admissions Committee may request the submission of a certificate containing the above information. The certificate should be issued by the school or educational institution that issued the certificate, or confirmed by the educational authorities of the country on whose territory or in whose education system the certificate was issued.

RECOGNITION AS A RESULT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES OF THE CURATOR OF EDUCATION – concerns certificates and documents that are not recognized by law, these documents are subject to the recognition procedure, candidates for studies submit an administrative decision on recognition of the certificate issued by the school superintendent.

The procedure for recognition of the certificate is conducted by the school superintendent competent for the applicant’s place of residence or – in the absence of a permanent address of the applicant in Poland, competent for the seat of the university where the certificate will be submitted.

The school board of education competent for the seat of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences is:
Masovian Board of Education
For detailed questions regarding the recognition of certificates, please contact the appropriate school board

Legalization / Apostille

Certificates recognized by an administrative decision of the Education Superintendent require legalization. Legalization is carried out by:

1) a consul of the Republic of Poland, competent for the country on whose territory or in whose education system the certificate was issued, or

2) education authorities of the state on whose territory or in the education system of which the certificate was issued, or

3) accredited in the Republic of Poland or another Member State of the European Union, a Member State of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or a Member State of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) diplomatic representation or consular office of the country where the territory or system of which the certificate was issued.

If the certificate was issued by a school or educational institution operating in the education system of a state that is a party to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, drawn up in The Hague on October 5, 1961. the certificate should be submitted together with that either on or attached to the document Apostille . Check if the country in which the certificate was issued is a party to the Hague Convention:

https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members

Document translations

Documents on education issued in a language other than Polish shall be submitted together with translations into Polish. Translations should be drawn up or certified by:

1) a person entered by the Minister of Justice on the list of sworn translators – the list of sworn translators is available on the website of the Ministry of Justice , or

2) a person registered as a sworn translator in a member state of the European Union, a member state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or a member state of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), or

3) a consul of the Republic of Poland, competent for the country on whose territory or in whose education system the certificate was issued, or

4) accredited in the Republic of Poland diplomatic mission or consular office of the country on whose territory or in whose education system the certificate was issued, or

5) a person registered as a sworn translator in the Republic of Belarus or Ukraine – applies to documents on education issued in the education system of these countries.

The translation into Polish does not apply to the following documents issued in English: EB diploma, IB diploma, diplomas of university graduation).

IB diploma (International Baccalaureate)

This should be understood as the International Baccalaureate Certificate issued by the International Baccalaureat Organization in Geneva, recognized by law as a document confirming secondary education and the right to apply for admission to higher education, pursuant to Art. 93 section 1 of the Act of 7 September 1991 on the education system (Journal of Laws of 2016, item 1943).

Candidates z IB diploma issued by IBO in Geneva, will be qualified on the basis of the results obtained in the matriculation examination in the subjects required for a given field of study. The result obtained on the certificate will be converted into WULS-SGGW points according to the following rules:

EB (European Baccalaureate) diploma

It should be understood as the European Baccalaureate certificate, issued by the European Schools, in accordance with the Convention on the Statute of the European Schools, drawn up in Luxembourg on June 21, 1994. (Journal of Laws of 2005, No. 3, item 10), recognized by operation of law as a document confirming secondary education and the right to apply for admission to higher education, pursuant to Art. 93 section 1 of the Act of 7 September 1991 on the education system (Journal of Laws of 2016, item 1943).

The grades on the certificate for academic progress are given on a scale of 1-10, while the exams are graded on a scale of 1-100, then the result is divided by 10 and written on the certificate on a scale of 1-10. In any case, the minimum passing grade is 6 (source: https://www.gov.pl/web/edukacja/szkoly-europejskie)
Candidates with the EB (European Baccalaureat) diploma issued by the European Schools will be qualified on the basis of the results obtained in the matriculation examination in the subjects required for a given field of study. The result obtained on the certificate will be converted into WULS-SGGW points according to the following rules:

Method of converting grades from certificates issued by schools in Ukraine

Method of converting grades from certificates issued by schools in Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Sweden

Method of converting grades from certificates issued by schools in Belarus

Method of converting grades from certificates issued by schools in Lithuania

Method of converting grades from certificates issued by schools in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia

The way of converting grades expressed on a letter scale – typical for the USA and Great Britain

How Irish schools’ grades are converted

How the grades from school certificates in France are converted

Method for converting grades from certificates issued by schools in Greece

How the grades of school certificates in Spain are converted

Certificates from other countries or with a different rating scale

If the above list does not include the country from which the candidate has the certificate or in the case of a different grading scale, the recruitment committee will individually convert the candidate’s results from the foreign certificate into points from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in accordance with the provisions of the Senate Resolution of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences recruitment for first-cycle studies, uniform master’s studies and second-cycle studies at SGGW for a given academic year. Candidates submit a certificate to the Recruitment Committee in order to convert the obtained results into WULS-SGGW points and add them to the candidate’s account from the administrator’s website. The certificate with a sworn translation into Polish should be attached as a color scan on the candidate’s profile in the Candidate Service System, tab “Attach documents”, before closing the registration at a given stage (on the dates specified in the recruitment calendar).