Exempt from the eighth-grade exam in Poland: how many admission points without a result

The short answer

Admission to a Polish secondary school — liceum (general secondary school), technikum (technical school) or branżowa szkoła I stopnia (first-stage vocational school) — is decided on up to 200 points, 100 of which come from the egzamin ósmoklasisty, the exam pupils sit at the end of grade 8. A pupil who has been exempted from the exam for a valid reason does not lose those points. Instead, the school converts their final grades in Polish, maths and a foreign language from the primary school leaving certificate (świadectwo ukończenia szkoły podstawowej).

The rules are the same throughout Poland. They are set out in § 8 of the Minister of Education’s regulation of 3 April 2025 on admission procedures.

Who can be exempted

The School Education System Act (ustawa o systemie oświaty) lists several situations. The decision is made by the director of the regional examination board (okręgowa komisja egzaminacyjna, OKE), not by the school or the parents.

• a pupil with a statement of special educational needs (orzeczenie o potrzebie kształcenia specjalnego) issued because of multiple disabilities, other than those involving moderate or severe intellectual disability — at the parents’ request, with a positive opinion from the head teacher (Art. 44zw(2));
• a pupil whose particular health condition makes it impossible to sit the exam — at the documented request of the head teacher, made in agreement with the parents (Art. 44zw(4));
• a pupil who, for unforeseen or health reasons, missed a subject in the main session and cannot sit it in the additional session either — an exemption from that subject, by the same procedure (Art. 44zz(2));
• a laureate or finalist of a subject olympiad on the minister’s list, or a laureate of a regional or supra-regional subject competition in an exam subject (Art. 44zx).

How grades become points

In the first three cases, the final grades on the certificate replace the exam result. Polish grades run from 6 (celujący, excellent) down to 2 (dopuszczający, the lowest pass):

• Polish and maths: celujący (6) — 35 points, bardzo dobry (5) — 30, dobry (4) — 25, dostateczny (3) — 15, dopuszczający (2) — 10, for each of the two subjects;
• modern foreign language: celujący — 30 points, bardzo dobry — 25, dobry — 20, dostateczny — 10, dopuszczający — 5;
• if the pupil learns two foreign languages in which the exam is held, the higher grade counts.

Two examples

Exempt from the whole exam: bardzo dobry in Polish (30 points), dobry in maths (25) and celujący in English (30) give 85 out of 100. The usual certificate points come on top: grades in four subjects (up to 72), a certificate with distinction, the so-called red stripe (7), competitions (up to 18) and volunteering (3). Polish and maths grades therefore count twice: once in place of the exam and once as certificate grades.

Exempt from one subject: a pupil scored 70% in Polish (70 × 0.35 = 24.5 points) and 80% in English (80 × 0.3 = 24), was exempted from maths and has dostateczny in it (15). The exam part is worth 63.5 points.

Laureates and finalists: top result and priority

A laureate or finalist of a listed subject olympiad, or a laureate of a regional or supra-regional subject competition, does not sit the exam in that subject, and the exemption counts as the highest result, 100%. That is 35 points in Polish or maths and 30 in a foreign language. The exemption is granted on the basis of a certificate that the pupil hands to the chair of the school’s exam team.

There is more. Under Art. 132 of the Education Law (Prawo oświatowe), laureates and finalists of national subject olympiads and laureates of regional or supra-regional subject competitions are admitted to secondary school first, before points are counted, provided they have the primary school leaving certificate and meet the school’s other conditions (for example, a medical certificate for a technikum).

What to do now

The 2027 eighth-grade exam takes place on 10–12 May, with an additional session on 9–11 June. If your child’s health or disability may make sitting the exam impossible, talk to the head teacher as early as possible: the request to the OKE goes through the school and must be documented.

Gather the statement from the counselling centre (poradnia psychologiczno-pedagogiczna) or medical records. Keep in mind that with an exemption, every final grade in Polish, maths and the foreign language weighs more than usual, because it counts twice. You can work out the total in NaukoMapa’s admission calculator under Tools: enter the points from the table above instead of percentages.