8th-grade exam 2027 in Poland: dates and help for foreign pupils
Short answer: The 2027 eighth-grade exam is on 10, 11 and 12 May. A foreign pupil with limited Polish can get up to 195 minutes for Polish and a bilingual dictionary if the school council agrees.
If your child is in the last year of a Polish primary school, the eighth-grade exam (egzamin ósmoklasisty) is the main event of the school year. For a pupil who is still learning Polish, the exam rules include some specific adjustments. This guide uses two official documents of the Central Examination Board (CKE): the notice on the 2027 exam timetable dated 20 August 2026 (published on gov.pl) and the notice on exam adjustments for the 2026/2027 school year (on the CKE public information site). We read both on 18 October 2026. Exam rules are set by notices that change every year, so confirm the details with your child's school.
When the exam takes place in 2027
For schools for children and young people, the CKE timetable gives these dates for the main term:
* Polish language: Monday 10 May 2027, 9:00, * mathematics: Tuesday 11 May 2027, 9:00, * modern foreign language: Wednesday 12 May 2027, 9:00.
The additional term for people who could not take the exam, or missed part of it, is 9 June (Polish), 10 June (mathematics) and 11 June 2027 (foreign language), also at 9:00. Results are announced on 6 July 2027, according to the notice. The notice also mentions a January sitting for adult schools whose teaching ends in the autumn semester. The table for it is hard to read in the document, so check the January dates with the school if it applies to you. The weekdays above were checked against a calendar.
Standard exam length
The standard sheets give 150 minutes for Polish, 125 for mathematics and 110 for the foreign language.
What changes for pupils who are foreigners
The adjustments notice has a separate group: pupils covered by Article 165(1) of the Education Law who are foreigners and whose limited knowledge of Polish makes it hard to understand a text they read. The adjustments are not automatic. The notice lists a positive opinion of the teachers' council (rada pedagogiczna) as the basis. If it is granted, the possible adjustments are:
* a special exam sheet for Polish and mathematics, marked O*-C00, and a foreign language sheet marked OJ**-100, * longer working time: up to 195 minutes for Polish and up to 165 minutes for mathematics, while the foreign language exam stays at 110 minutes, * sitting the exam in a separate room, * a teacher reading aloud, once, the longer texts of 250 words or more that the Polish tasks are based on. This is possible only if serious difficulty with longer texts was named in the teachers' council opinion, * using a bilingual dictionary, paper or electronic, of the language the pupil speaks. In a foreign language exam, the dictionary cannot be of the language being tested. An electronic dictionary must be on a device with no internet access, and the school or pupil provides it.
The school director marks the chosen adjustments in the exam system (SIOEO). For a pupil under 18, the notice says the adjustments must be accepted by a parent or legal guardian. An adult pupil accepts them personally.
Other groups listed
The same notice also lists adjustments for pupils with disabilities, with dyslexia and related difficulties, for those who are ill, in a crisis or traumatic situation, and for pupils with adaptation difficulties linked to earlier schooling abroad. If any of these might apply, ask the school which document is needed.
Deadlines
The notice sets 15 October 2026 as the deadline to give the school director a health certificate or a psychological-educational counselling opinion for some groups, with exceptions for emergencies. The notice does not give a deadline for the teachers' council opinion for foreign pupils in the parts we read, so ask the school at once, since that date may already be close.
* Photos: the Regional Examination Board in Wrocław (cover) and a primary school in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Frequently asked questions
Does my child get extra time because they are a foreigner?
Possibly. The notice allows up to 195 minutes for Polish and 165 for mathematics for a pupil with limited Polish, but only with a positive opinion from the school's teachers' council.
Can my child use a dictionary?
Yes, a bilingual dictionary of the language they speak is among the listed adjustments. It cannot be of the language being tested in the foreign language exam.
Is the exam compulsory for foreign pupils?
The documents we read do not answer this, so ask the school and the regional examination board.
