How to Apply to Universities in Poland (2027): Step by Step

Poland runs a Bologna three-cycle higher education system across more than 130 public and roughly 250 private institutions, with English-taught bachelor's and master's programmes, including medicine, now common at the largest public universities. Non-EU applicants generally register through each university's own online recruitment platform, pay a tuition fee set per programme rather than one national fee table, and enter the country on a national type D visa before converting to a temporary residence permit for the length of the course.

Verified 7 Sep 2026 Sources

Bachelor

Choose a university and programme, and check whether your school-leaving certificate is recognised automatically or requires a university entrance exam or nostrification.
Register on the university's own online recruitment platform (commonly called IRK), enter your academic record and upload certified translations of your certificates.
Sit any required entrance exam or qualification interview, most commonly in mathematics for technical and science fields, or an English-proficiency interview for English-taught programmes.
Pay the application fee for each field of study you apply to, by the platform's own deadline.
Check your qualification result on your recruitment account, then submit the original or certified documents by the stated deadline; missing the document deadline is treated as withdrawing.
Accept the offer, pay the first tuition instalment where required, and request the admission and enrolment documents needed for the visa.
Apply for the Polish national type D visa at the consulate covering your place of residence, then, after arrival, apply for a temporary residence permit for study if the course runs longer than the visa's validity.

Master

Confirm the programme's own entry requirements; a relevant bachelor's degree is required, and a non-Polish degree is generally checked for equivalent academic level rather than through the same route as secondary-school recognition.
Register on the university's recruitment platform, submit transcripts, the degree certificate and, for English-taught programmes, an English test score or equivalent.
Pay the application fee and, where the programme runs one, complete an admission interview or written exam.
Submit required documents once qualified, accept the offer and pay the tuition instalment.
Apply for the national type D visa, then a temporary residence permit for study after arrival if the course runs longer than the visa's validity.