Medicine in Poland: Do You Need an Entrance Exam?

In short. It depends on the school, and on where your school certificate is from. Gdańsk and PUMS set a written science exam. Lublin sets a short online test and an interview for everyone. Silesia usually goes by your grades alone. Szczecin sets a 10-minute quiz, but only for some certificates.

What you sit, school by school

Find where your school certificate is from. Then find your school.

With a certificate from the EU, the OECD or EFTA

This includes UK and Irish certificates.

School	What you sit
Gdańsk	A grades check, then a written exam and an interview
PUMS	A written exam and an interview
Silesia	Usually no exam: your grades become points
Lublin	Your grades, plus a short online test and an interview
Szczecin	No quiz

With an IB or EB diploma

School	What you sit
Gdańsk	A grades check, then a written exam and an interview
PUMS	A written exam and an interview
Silesia	Usually no exam: the IB and the EB have their own points rules
Lublin	The test and the interview. Lublin has an IB points table
Szczecin	No quiz

With any other certificate

School	What you sit
Gdańsk	A grades check, then a written exam and an interview
PUMS	A written exam and an interview
Silesia	A fallback exam
Lublin	Usually your grades, plus the test and the interview. A subject exam only if your certificate does not let you apply to university
Szczecin	A 10-minute quiz

What the groups mean:

• The EU: the countries of the European Union.
• The OECD: a group of countries that includes the UK, the US, Canada and Australia.
• EFTA: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Some countries have a recognition agreement with Poland. At Silesia, Lublin and Szczecin, their certificates count like EU ones. Szczecin names China and Ukraine as examples.

Each section gives the year of its rules. The 2027/28 rules are not published yet.

Gdańsk: a written exam after a grades check

• What you sit: first, Gdańsk checks your final or expected school grades. If they pass, you sit an online exam in biology and chemistry. A 20-minute interview on Zoom follows.
• How long: 60 questions in 90 minutes. Questions 1 to 30 are biology, and 31 to 60 are chemistry.
• Score you need: below about 60% usually means no interview. At the interview, you need 6 of 10.
• Cost to sit: 100 PLN to apply. There is no exam fee (2026/27).
• English: a B2 certificate, such as IELTS 5.5 or TOEFL iBT 80 (as of 2026).

The numbers come from the 2023 exam manual, the one the university links today. A wrong answer costs nothing, so never leave a blank.^[1] Read the full Gdańsk exam guide.

PUMS (Poznan): a written exam in person

• What you sit: one written paper in biology, chemistry and physics, in person. Then an interview with professors, on the same topic list.
• How long: 60 questions in 60 minutes (2026). The interview takes about 20 to 40 minutes.
• Score you need: PUMS publishes no pass mark. It also looks at your motivation, volunteering and English.
• Cost to sit: 685 PLN, as PUMS listed its fees in 2026. That is 85 PLN to apply, plus 600 PLN for the exam and interview.
• English: IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL iBT 94 (as of 2026).

To start in September 2027, apply by 20 July 2027.^[2] See all 39 PUMS topics.

Silesia (Katowice): usually your grades, no exam

• What you sit: usually nothing. With a certificate from Poland, the EU, the OECD, EFTA or an agreement country, your grades become points.
• Which grades: biology, plus chemistry, physics or maths. Both must be at the higher level.
• When you do sit an exam: if those grades are missing, or your certificate is from elsewhere. It is a fallback exam, marked from 0 to 100 per subject. The university sets its date and format each year.
• Score you need: 100 points from the two subjects, with at least 40 in biology. Places go by ranking, so aim higher.
• Cost to sit: the minister sets the fee to apply. The university shows it on its site.
• English: B2, such as IELTS 5.5 or TOEFL iBT 72 (as of 2026).

US citizens and residents must also send an MCAT score.^[3] Work out your points in the Silesia guide.

Lublin: grades, then a short online test and an interview

• What you sit: everyone sits a 20-question test online, in English. A 5 to 10-minute interview on Zoom follows straight after.
• How long: 20 questions in 20 minutes. They test words used in science and maths.
• How the points work: you get up to 500. Your grades give up to 300, and the test and the interview give 100 each.
• Score you need: 60% in each part. In a supplementary round, it is 50%.
• Cost to sit: 100 PLN to apply (2026/27).
• English: B2, from Poland's national list (July 2025).

Other foreign certificates also count on their grades. If your certificate does not give you the right to apply to university in Poland, a subject exam replaces your grades. Ask Lublin whether yours does.^[4] See the grade tables in the Lublin guide.

Szczecin: a quiz for some certificates only

• Who sits it: only holders of a certificate from outside the EU, the OECD and EFTA. IB and EB holders skip it, and so do agreement countries.
• What you sit: a 10-minute online quiz, recorded. It has 10 biology and 10 chemistry questions.
• How long: each subject has 8 multiple-choice questions at 20 seconds each. It also has 2 spoken answers at 70 seconds each.
• Score you need: 10 of 20 points, and you get one try. A link you never open counts as a fail.
• Cost: EUR 85 to apply (2026/27). If you get a place, you also pay EUR 600 for the pre-courses.
• English: B2 from Szczecin's own list (as of 2026). A passport does not count, and neither does an English grade on a school certificate.

The quiz has no fixed date. The link comes in the last days of registration, and it works for 48 hours.^[5] Read the Szczecin guide.

How fast each exam goes

The chart at the top of this page shows the same numbers. The seconds are the minutes divided by the questions. Szczecin times each question.

Exam	Questions in minutes	Seconds each
Gdańsk (2023 manual)	60 in 90	90
PUMS (2026)	60 in 60	60
Lublin test (2026/27)	20 in 20	60
Szczecin quiz (rules as of 2026)	16 + 4 in 10	20, or 70 to speak

Silesia has no fixed exam format. If you sit its fallback exam, the university sets the format each year.

When to apply

Only PUMS has published its dates for a September 2027 start: apply by 20 July 2027. Classes start on 6 September 2027.

Silesia also has a 2026/27 round from 12 October 2026 to 10 January 2027. It is for a start in the second semester, in 2027.

For the others, here is what happened in 2026:

• Gdańsk: registration ran from 18 March to 15 July 2026. Admission Office exams ran from 14 May to 30 July 2026. Recruitment agencies that work with the university ran others.
• Lublin: the 2026/27 registration window is 17 April to 7 October 2026 at the latest.
• Silesia, October start: the round ran from 1 April to 30 September 2026.
• Szczecin: if you sit the quiz, the link comes in the last days of registration.

Gdańsk or PUMS? Get the free pack

Gdańsk and PUMS each set a written science paper of 60 questions. Gdańsk gives 90 minutes (2023 manual), and PUMS gives 60 (2026). We sell practice for both: see the plans and when practice opens.

Applying to Silesia, Lublin or Szczecin? You may not need us. The free pack has the A-level and IB tables for Silesia and Lublin.

Sources: the admission pages of Gdańsk, PUMS, Silesia (PDF), Lublin and Szczecin. PolandMedPrep is independent, and we are not linked to any of these universities. If our page and theirs differ, theirs is right.