The first state certificate examinations in Polish as a foreign language were held in 2004. This event of great importance for the promotion of the Polish language was the culmination of many years of work by a team of specialists - representatives of academic centres involved in the education of foreigners in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that time, the general framework for official certification of knowledge of the Polish language and the issuance of certificates was set out in the Act of 11 April 2003 (Act amending the Act on the Polish language - Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 73 of 30 April 2003). Two detailed provisions (Regulations of the Minister of National Education and Sport on the State Commission for the Certification of Proficiency in Polish as a Foreign Language and on the Polish Language as a Foreign Language Examinations of 15 October 2003 - Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 191 of 12 November 2003) to this Act, issued in the same year, specified the tasks and rules of operation of the State Commission for the Certification of Proficiency in Polish as a Foreign Language and the State Examination Boards, as well as detailed conditions for holding examinations and issuing certificates called certificates of proficiency in Polish, and standards of requirements for particular proficiency levels. The aforementioned legal acts were the basis for holding examinations for adults at three proficiency levels: B1, B2 and C2 for 11 years (2004-2015). During this period, 10,029 people took the Polish language exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A reform of the system was launched in 2015. The basic legal acts on which the current system is based are the Polish Language Act (see below) and two regulations governing the functioning of the State Commission for the Certification of Proficiency in Polish as a Foreign Language (see below) and the rules for the organisation of examinations (see below). The mentioned legal acts provide for examinations at 6 language proficiency levels: A1 - C2 in the group adapted to adults and A1 - B2 in the group adapted to children and adolescents. The Ordinance on examinations also sets out the rules for issuing certificates without passing an exam, which can be applied for by graduates of Polish upper secondary schools, secondary schools and higher education institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polish Language Act of 12 June 2015 amending the Polish Language Act<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n