On Thursday, May 4, the final matura exam in high schools, technical schools, and vocational schools of the second degree will begin. Approximately 272,400 high school graduates from this year will take the exams, along with graduates from previous years.
The first exam will be the Polish language test at the basic level
Among this year’s graduates will be the first year of graduates from four-year high schools who studied according to the new general education curriculum and will take the exam in a new format (known as Formula 2023). According to the Central Examination Board, about 158,400 high school graduates are expected to participate.
This year’s technical school graduates are the final class completing the four-year technical school program under the old curriculum. They will take the exam in the old format (known as Formula 2015). Along with them, this year’s vocational school graduates will also take the exam in the old format. In total, approximately 114,000 technical school and vocational school graduates have declared their intention to take the exam.
Technical school graduates will take the new exam format for the first time in the spring of 2024. That will be the first year of graduates from five-year technical schools.
As in previous years, graduates from earlier years have also declared their intention to take the exam this year. Among them will be people who have decided to take the exam or exams they failed in previous years, take the exam in a new subject, or retake a previously taken exam to improve their score.
153 Ukrainian citizens who arrived in Poland after February 24, 2023, after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, have also declared their intention to take the Polish high school exam.
The high school exam, like last year and two years ago, will be conducted based on examination requirements. These requirements represent a narrowed catalog of requirements (by 20-30%, depending on the subject) specified in the general education curriculum, which served as the basis for conducting exams in previous years.
Separate examination requirements have been developed for four-year high school graduates, four-year technical school graduates, vocational school graduates, and graduates from previous years.
High school graduates (regardless of whether they take the old or new exam format) must take three mandatory written exams at the basic level: in Polish, mathematics, and a foreign language. Graduates from schools or classes with a language of instruction for national minorities also have a mandatory written exam in their native language at the basic level.
High school graduates must also take one mandatory written exam at the advanced level (in the case of modern foreign languages at the advanced or bilingual level), i.e., an exam in an additional or elective subject. Enthusiasts can also take up to five exams at the advanced level.
The elective subjects are biology, chemistry, geography, history, physics, and astronomy.