After graduating from secondary school and passing the final exam, called the matura, one can pursue a higher education at a university, college, etc.

[7] Children typically start attending primary school (szkoła podstawowa, also known colloquially as podstawówka) at the age of seven.

During the first three years, children typically only study a handful of subjects: Polish, math, a foreign language (usually English), physical education (wychowanie fizyczne, often abbreviated as WF), and optional Religion (religia) classes.

In the next five years, students also learn some additional subjects, such as Biology, Physics, Geography, History, Art, Technique, Chemistry, Music, education for safety (edukacja dla bezpieczeństwa) and a second foreign language (German, Spanish, Russian being the most popular).

[8] At the end of the curriculum, pupils were evaluated based on their cinuing results and on an examination in humanities, science and foreign languages.

[8] Profiled general secondary schools (liceum profilowane) provide a vocational education in four years, but only in fields described by the Polish Classification of Activities (PKD).

[10] In addition, mentally and/or physically handicapped students can join special schools (szkoła specjalna) which prepare them for the Matura in three years.

[8] Vocational education is handled by post-secondary school (szkoła policealna) with programmes lasting two and a half years.

In 2005/06, the fractions of students studying foreign languages in Polish schools included: English – 67.9%, German – 33.3%, French – 13.3%, Spanish – 10.2%, Russian – 6.1%, Italian – 4.3%, Latin – 0.6%.

The library catalog of the Cathedral Chapter of Kraków dating back to 1110 shows that in the early 12th-century Polish intellectuals had access to European literature.

Casimir III realized that the nation needed a class of educated people, especially lawyers, who could codify the country's laws and administer the courts and offices.

His efforts to found an institution of higher learning in Poland were finally rewarded when Pope Urban V granted him permission to open the University of Kraków.

At the beginning, however, the newly created Polish state faced several problems of implementation – a lack of qualified teachers, buildings and funds.

[7] The reform increased time spent on core subjects and delayed vocational study (lyceum) by one year.

[9] The PiS government of Poland introduced a major 2017 Polish education system reform [pl], for successive implementation over the three school years starting with 2017/2018.

[citation needed] According to history teacher Anna Dzierzgowska, the reform inherits the Polish-centred and Eurocentric focuses of the previous history syllabus, removes the Non-Aligned Movement from the syllabus, and focuses on political and military leaders and the nobility, neglecting the historical role of lower social classes.

[13] The term communism was removed from teaching about the nineteenth century, during which it is called socialism, and only appears later in association with the Polish People's Republic.

Dzierzgowska argues that the notion of nationalism historically dates only back to the nineteenth century, but is used much too frequently in the new curriculum, giving pupils insufficient geographical context.

[14] Under this plan, teachers would have the legal status of civil servants, making violent crimes against them punishable by higher penalties.

Head teachers will be, in theory, able to send aggressive pupils to perform community service and these students' parents may also be fined.