Virtual School in Poland: Silesia, the Regional Cities, and a Rulebook That Runs to Eighteen

By Brendaliz Chelangat, Head of Academics · October 2026 · 10 min read

Most of Poland’s international schools sit in Warsaw, with smaller clusters in Krakow, Wroclaw, the Tricity and Poznan. Outside those cities the picture changes quickly. The Silesian conurbation around Katowice has more than two million people, a business-services and technology sector that has grown fast, and the thinnest international school provision of any major Polish metropolis. Beyond it lie many regional cities where an engineer’s family, a returning household or a teenager with UK university plans has very little English-medium choice. This guide is about those families, and about the one feature of Polish law that shapes their planning more than any other: for a home-educated child, the annual Polish exams continue to eighteen.

Where the gap actually is

Katowice and the surrounding Silesian cities have changed from coal and steel into shared services, IT and advanced manufacturing, and international employment has outpaced international schooling. The same is true, on a smaller scale, of the manufacturing towns of Greater Poland, the Lower Silesian belt beyond Wroclaw, and regional capitals in the east and north. Families there are often internationally minded without being expatriates: a Polish engineer working for a foreign-owned plant, a household back from several years in the UK or Ireland, a parent who works remotely for a company abroad. What they share is a child who would benefit from Cambridge IGCSE or A-Level and no school within reach that teaches it with a full choice of subjects.

Why Poland has no window at fifteen

In many countries compulsory schooling ends around fifteen or sixteen, and full-time international study simply becomes the family’s choice. Poland works differently. Edukacja domowa under art. 37 of the Education Law requires a patron school’s permission and annual egzaminy klasyfikacyjne, in Polish, covering the core curriculum, for as long as the education obligation runs, which is to eighteen. An unexcused absence or a fail means the permission is withdrawn, although retakes are standard. There is also the egzamin ósmoklasisty at the end of primary school. So for a resident child under eighteen there is no point at which Cambridge alone replaces the Polish track. A good plan carries both, and says so from the start.

Two configurations that work outside the big cities

The first is the simplest: the child attends a local primary school or liceum, which carries every legal obligation, and two or three Cambridge subjects run live in the after-school slot. Poland is one to two hours behind Nairobi, so our afternoon classes land in the Polish afternoon. The second is edukacja domowa itself, and here the regional family has a real advantage. Since the July 2021 reform the patron school can be anywhere in Poland, so a family in Opole or Rzeszów can choose an experienced, homeschool-friendly school in another voivodeship. The patron school prepares the Polish exams through its consultations, and the Cambridge track runs alongside with us.

Exams: two calendars, one plan

Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel examinations are sat at authorised exam centres, which families book; the strongest provision is in Warsaw, with further authorised centres in Krakow, which is close to Silesia. Centres are confirmed per family, per session, because external-candidate places vary. The Polish classification exams are sat at the patron school, usually in late spring, while Cambridge sessions run in May and June and in October and November. We plan the year with both calendars on one page, so that a June with a classification exam and two IGCSE papers is busy but never a surprise. If a classification exam and a Cambridge paper fall in the same week, we move the revision, not the exam.

At eighteen: matura, A-Levels, or both

Polish law recognises foreign school-leaving qualifications that give university access in their issuing country, so A-Levels and the IB Diploma are accepted admission credentials, with each university setting programme requirements. Polish-taught degrees need documented Polish proficiency; the growing English-taught offer does not. For a Silesian student, that puts the University of Silesia, AGH University of Krakow and the Jagiellonian University within easy reach, and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology not far beyond. The patron-school enrolment keeps the matura available for families who want it, and UCAS reads A-Levels natively for those looking to the UK. Students aiming at the United States apply through the Common Application, where an examined A-Level record reads clearly.

When the local school is the better answer

A child who is doing well in a good liceum, heading for the matura and a Polish-taught degree, does not need a second track, and adding one makes the year heavier. Younger children often gain more from the local school’s Polish, friendships and routine than from early IGCSE work. Our value in the regions is specific: an English-medium examined track where none is nearby, subjects a small school cannot staff, and continuity for families who may move abroad again. For a teenager whose family may relocate within a few years, that can matter a great deal; for one who will stay in Katowice and study in Polish, much less. Where none of that applies, I would rather say so.

Silesia and Poland’s regional cities have the international employers without the international schools, and Polish law asks home-educated children to keep the Polish track to eighteen. Both are manageable with a plan that carries the Polish exams and the Cambridge subjects together, built around a patron school chosen anywhere in the country. If that sounds like your family, book an assessment and we will map out the years ahead with you.

Frequently asked questions

We live in Silesia. Does our patron school have to be local?

No. Since the July 2021 reform families can choose a patron school anywhere in Poland.

Can our child stop the Polish exams at fifteen and study Cambridge only?

Not while in edukacja domowa. The annual classification exams continue for as long as the education obligation runs, which is to eighteen, so we plan the Polish and Cambridge tracks together.

What times are live classes in Poland?

Poland is two hours behind Nairobi in winter (CET) and one hour behind in summer (CEST), so classes land in the Polish school day and afternoon. Every lesson is recorded.

Where would our child sit Cambridge exams?

At authorised exam centres, which families book. Warsaw has the strongest provision and Krakow has further centres; we confirm a centre per family, per session.

What does it cost?

From USD 423/month (about PLN 1,690/month) for Primary; the fee varies by curriculum and level.

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