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The 2023 school-leaving exam and the university recruitment policies

Secondary-school graduates will take their school-leaving exam (the matura exam) in a modified form in 2023. It establishes that each examinee will be obliged to sit three written exams (at the basic level): Polish language, modern foreign language and mathematics, and one written exam in a subject of their choosing (at the extended level). Two oral exams: Polish language and foreign language (no level determined) are mandatory as well. We have been receiving plenty of questions because of this modification from future university candidates, such as whether the university recruitment policies are modified too. Today, we intend to put you at ease. The changes in the form of the school-leaving exam do not cause changes in the University of Wrocław recruitment policies. The recruitment policies stay the same, although we have introduced minor changes in some fields of study but they were not induced by the new school-leaving exam form.

What will be different at the 2023 school-leaving exam?

You will find detailed information about the school-leaving exam at the Central Examination Board website www.cke.gov.pl/en, while in this article, there are only selected facts that are relevant to the University of Wrocław recruitment.

The most important change is that in 2023 the examinees are obliged to sit a written exam in one subject at the extended level but there is no passing threshold, which in practice means that each examinee will pass it, yet still they have to do their best. In relation to the University of Wrocław recruitment, the selected subject may prove to be crucial. It can aid candidates during the recruitment process, especially since the coefficient of the extended level exam is twice as big as the coefficient of the basic one. In effect, a given score on an exam at the extended level will be worth twice as many points as the same score on an exam at the basic level. Rules for calculating recruitment points are explained in the further part of the article.

The second major change of the 2023 school-leaving exams is mandatory oral exams. Secondary-school graduates have not been facing oral exams during recent years. It was caused by changes implemented due to the pandemic and remote learning. Oral exams return in 2023. The examinees are to take Polish and foreign language oral exams, but there is good news: oral exams will not be considered in the recruitment process! On the www.rekrutacja.uni.wroc.pl website if you select a field of study and click on the “rules” tab, you will find recruitment tables that determine in what subjects you need to take exams in order to get into a given field of study. These are always exams in the written form; most commonly, it is three subjects (one main subject, one secondary subject and modern foreign language). Oral exams are not taken into account in any field of study in the University of Wrocław.

Recruitment policies for the next academic year

Recruitment policies for the 2023/2024 academic year have been implemented by a resolution of the Senate of the University of Wrocław Senate (109/2022 of 22 June 2022). Where can you find them? We encourage you to visit our recruitment service www.rekrutacja.uni.wroc.pl, where you can find the recruitment tables after selecting a field of study that you are interested in and clicking on the “rules” tab. There, if you have selected full-time bachelor studies, you should find tables with exam subjects that we will consider in the recruitment process and next to these subjects there are conversion factors for exams at both basic and extended levels.

An exemplary table for the field of study of law, long-cycle full-time studies (www.rekrutacja.uni.wroc.pl/kierunek/prawo-jednolite-magisterskie-stacjonarne/#zasady):

How are recruitment points calculated in this case?

Let’s assume that the candidate has taken the following exams: Polish (both basic and extended levels), mathematics (basic), English (extended) and history (extended). His results are: 100% in basic level Polish, 75% in extended level Polish, 60% in basic mathematics, 90% in extended English and 75% in extended history. The Recruiting Committee will calculate the points based on the table found in the recruitment policies.

According to the table, the first subject is either mathematics or history. If the candidate taken exams in both of these subjects, we will take into account the one that provides more recruitment points to the candidate; in this case, it is extended history (75×1=75 pts)

The second subject would be Polish at the extended level (75×0,5=37,5 pts)

The third subject would be extended English (90×0,4=36 pts)

75+37,5+36=148,5 pts

The candidate, gaining 148,5 recruitment points, will be included on a ranking list compiled according to recruitment points obtained by candidates. On the day of announcing the recruitment results, the candidate will be able to check (on their account at the Registration site www.irka.uni.wroc.pl/en-gb) if their status lets them hand in the documents to Faculty Recruitment Committee.

Candidates often ask us e.g. why a secondary subject in a written exam form is included also for the basic level, since it is obligatorily taken by this year’s examinees at the extended level. The reason for this is that in previous years it was possible to take exams at the extended level too and the recruitment is intended not only for those taking the exams in 2023 but also for examinees from previous years.

Moreover, please keep in mind that recruitment to part-time (extramural and evening) studies works differently, e.g. we can read in the policies of recruitment to first-cycle extramural fields of study that, in most cases, three non-specified subject exams will be taken into consideration.

We will have different recruitment policies for second-cycle studies too, where often grades from first-cycle studies certificates or from long-cycle studies certificates are taken into consideration. You can check all of the recruitment policies in more detail on www.rekrutacja.uni.wroc.pl.

What has changed in the University of Wrocław recruitment policies?

Not much, actually. For example, when recruiting to law, administration and economy fields of study, you can select not only civic studies, geography or Polish as your second subject, as it used to be, but also mathematics or history, so there are more options. In the recruitment policies for biological fields of study, that is biology, human biology, microbiology, genetics and experimental biology, biology is now considered a mandatory subject, not one of subjects to choose as before. In practice, this change is not significant, since candidates for the biological courses take the biology exam anyway. We have added philosophy and Latin and ancient culture as subjects to choose while recruiting to the cultural studies course – again, more choices. Starting from the 23/24 academic year recruitment, candidates for the Chinese studies will be required to be proficient in English at the B2 level.

The university recruitment for the 23/24 academic year begins on the 1st of July. If you want to learn more about the education offer of our university and the recruitment process itself today, we invite you to participate in recruitment meetings organised by the Communication Department (school visits, remote presentations, university’s main building tours). Feel free to contact us: komunikacja@uwr.edu.pl.

Translated by Jakub Dziubek (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.