Polish grading system
In Poland, university grades run from 5.0 (best) to 2.0, and 3.0 is the lowest pass. School grades: 6 to 1, lowest pass 2.
Example · Credit-weighted average of 3 courses
Between 4.5 and 5.0
dobry plus (good plus) or bardzo dobry (very good): your institution’s rule on rounding decides which grade goes on your record. 3.0 is the lowest pass.
3 courses, 15 credits.
University grades: 5.0 to 2.0
Bachelor's and master's courses at Polish universities. Each university sets its scale in its study regulations; most use these six grades.
| Grade | On the transcript | Meaning | Pass? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | bardzo dobry | very good | Pass |
| 4.5 | dobry plus | good plus | Pass |
| 4.0 | dobry | good | Pass |
| 3.5 | dostateczny plus | satisfactory plus | Pass |
| 3.0 | dostateczny | satisfactory | Pass |
| 2.0 | niedostateczny | unsatisfactory | Fail |
School grades: 6 to 1
Primary schools from year 4 and secondary schools. Teachers add + and − to marks during the year, but end-of-year grades are whole numbers.
| Grade | On the transcript | Meaning | Pass? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | celujący | excellent | Pass |
| 5 | bardzo dobry | very good | Pass |
| 4 | dobry | good | Pass |
| 3 | dostateczny | satisfactory | Pass |
| 2 | dopuszczający | acceptable | Pass |
| 1 | niedostateczny | unsatisfactory | Fail |
Polish grades and a US GPA
This page gives no US equivalents for Polish grades: we found no table for them on Wikipedia or from an official source, and we do not make one up. A US university reads a foreign transcript itself or through the credential evaluation service it names, and its conversion is the one that counts.
Send your grades as they are, with the scale above. When a form asks for your average, give it on your own scale and say which scale it is: the converter’s average does exactly that, weighted by credits when you enter them.
What to know about grades in Poland
- At university, the share of marks needed for each grade differs between institutions and courses, but the lowest pass (3.0) usually needs 50% or 51%.
- Courses that only require attendance, such as physical education, are marked zal. (zaliczony, passed) or nzal. (niezaliczony, not passed) instead of a grade.
- A school 6 (celujący) is rare: as a final grade it usually rewards achievement beyond the syllabus.
- A school certificate with distinction (świadectwo z wyróżnieniem), printed with a red-and-white stripe, needs an average of at least 4.75 in compulsory subjects and at least a very good mark for behaviour.
- The matura school-leaving exam is reported in percentages, and passing it needs at least 30% in each compulsory subject.
Sources: Wikipedia, Grading systems by country: Poland; Polish Wikipedia, Szkolna skala ocen; Polish Wikipedia, Świadectwo szkolne; Polish Wikipedia, Egzamin maturalny.