The system of higher education in Poland is presented by state and non-state, so called private universities. Both of them have the same standard system of educational process. The type of university does not have an influence on quality of education or prestige of diploma.
Universities of Poland propose higher educational degrees which are listed below:
I degree – education lasts 3-4 years and finishes with obtaining Bachelor degree or engineer; to entry at this level of education it is required to complete secondary education.
II degree – education lasts 1,5-2 years and finishes with obtaining Master’s degree; to entry at this level of education it is required to complete I degree.
I+II degree – education lasts 4,5-6 years and finishes with obtaining Master- engineer’s degree; to entry at this level of education it is required to complete secondary education.
III degree – education finishes with obtaining doctoral research degree; for admission to this level of education it is necessary to complete the master’s degree.
Postgraduate studies – education lasts 1-2 years and finishes with obtaining postgraduate certificate.
Forms of education:
Full-time – studying from Monday to Friday. Days-off: Saturday and Sunday and one day in the middle of the week, which is given for self-studying;
Distant learning form – studying on Saturday and Sunday two times per month;
Evening learning form – studying from Monday to Friday after 16.00
Academic year:
In the universities of Poland academic year is divided into two semesters: autumn-winter (from 1 October to 15 February) and spring-summer (from 15 February to 30 June). Educational process includes lectures, workshops, seminars, laboratory sessions and conferences. Each semester ends with the examinations session. There is a five point scale to asses student’s learning. Students have an opportunity to retake the exam twice. If the student does not have credited session then raises the question of his contributions. Under certain conditions, the student has the right to resume.
Bologna System
In 1999, Poland joined the Bologna process, developing two-tier educational system and ECTS points system. ECTS is a unit of student workload which is required for learning modules or blocks of modules. Every subject, which student learns during the studying at university, has predefined number of points ECTS. This system was introduced to facilitate the procedure of comparing the level of education according to educational spheres.
Quality assurance
Polish State Accreditation Committee (Państwowa Komisja Akredytacyjna) operates in Poland since 2002. It checks and controls standards of education at the universities of Poland and also serves to guarantee educational standards. State Accreditation Committee develops close cooperation with accreditation committees in other countries. Polish system, which assurances quality of education, meets the requirements of ENQA.
After finishing Polish university, student gets European standard diploma, recognized by most of all countries in the world, including Ukraine, Russia etc.