The upcoming school year 2025/2026 will bring a real revolution in Polish education. As of September 1, 2025, students and teachers will face a number of fundamental changes that will affect the basics of the program, the organisation of classes, and even the dates of winter holidays. fresh items will disappear, fresh ones will emerge, as well as modifications will include the principles of employment and the remuneration of teaching staff. These comprehensive reforms aim to modernise the strategy and adapt it to contemporary challenges, but their implementation entails many applicable consequences for the full school community.
New Subjects: Civic and wellness Education Replace Old
The key change is the introduction of 2 fresh subjects. Civil education replace controversial past and the Present (HiT), focusing on preparing young people for a conscious and liable commitment to social life. The subject will be taught in secondary schools, initially in grade II general advanced school, method school and manufacture school of the first degree, and in subsequent years will cover wider years.
The second news is health education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . It is intended to integrate cognition from different fields – from medicine to social discipline – referring to physical, mental, sexual, social and environmental wellness at all stages of life. crucial information for parents: first year (2025/2026) wellness education will be optional. Resignation from classes will be possible until September 25. This decision, announced by Minister Barbara Nowacka, was the consequence of talks with teachers and aimed at protecting schools from a "political disturbance" following protests by parts of society and the Church.
Breakthrough in PE and Changes in spiritual Lessons
As of September 2025 will besides apply new basis for physical education. The focus was on the comprehensive improvement of motor skills, encouraging students to exercise throughout their lives, including outdoors. The key component of the fresh base are compulsory fitness tests conducted in each class from February to April. The WF teachers will measure the shuttle moving 10 × 5 m, the 20-metre endurance shuttle running, the frontal support on the forearms (the alleged board) and the jump in the distance. Additionally, a mandatory department will be introduced in secondary schools to familiarise with the exercises utilized in recruitment to uniformed services.
The dimension of spiritual lessons or ethics will besides change. Since the fresh school year, these classes are to take place in a dimension one hr a week, immediately before or after compulsory educational classes of the student. The regulation in this case was brought before the Constitutional Court by the president of the ultimate Court of Margaret Manowska, who pointed to the violation of the rights of parents. Despite the ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal of 3 July, the Ministry of National Education stresses that "it is the Minister liable for education that forms the education law in Poland", and regulations published in the authoritative diary of the Laws constitute the applicable law.
New Terms of Holidays and the Elimination of Black Hour
Practical changes will besides affect remainder periods. From 2025 winter holidays will be held in three, not so far in 4 terms. The Ministry made a fresh division of voivodships, eliminating a separate word for Podlasie and Warmia-Mazur. fresh dates are:
- 19 January to 1 February: Mazowieckie, Pomeranian, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, Warmian-Masurian.
- 2-15 February: Lower Silesian, Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Łódź, West Pomeranian, Małopolskan, Opolen.
- 16 February to 1 March: Podkarpackie, Lublin, Wielkopolska, Lubuskie, Silesian.
Since 1 September 2025 "Black hours" are eliminated, i.e. the time of availability of the teacher during which he had to be present at school for consultation with the students or parents. This solution, introduced in September 2022 by then Minister Przemysław Czarnek, ceases to apply, which aims at greater flexibility in the work of teachers.
Key Changes for Teachers and fresh Occupations
The 2025/2026 school year will besides bring a number of crucial changes in the professional position of teachers. The period of employment will be reduced on the basis of a fixed-term employment contract for teachers without a degree of professional promotion – from 2 school years to 1 school year. Rules on the calculation of overtime and ad hoc replacements will besides be clarified. The teacher will receive a wage for extra-dimensional hours that have not been realised if at the time he has performed another classes assigned by the director. Regulations were besides introduced eliminating the allocation of replacements to temporary teachers to librarians and specialists during their own classes.
The crucial change is the anticipation of taking leave to save wellness for spa treatment or rehabilitation for teachers whose pension rights are little than 1 year short. It will besides be possible to entrust the position of a school or institution for a further period without the request for a competition. In non-public schools and educational institutions the size of hours (up to 9 per week) will increase for teachers of specialists (e.g. educators, psychologists) performing intellectual and pedagogical assistance on the basis of contracts another than employment contracts (e.g. contract, B2B).
Key information for part of the staff is With effect from 31 August 2025, provisions mitigating the restrictions on the employment of teachers utilizing teacher compensation services ("compensations"). This means that teachers who receive this benefit will no longer be able to work at school, kindergarten or centre (even in non-teaching positions) without the hazard of suspending the benefit. The derogations introduced so far in connection with the influx of refugees from Ukraine (e.g. the anticipation of employment as a teacher or teacher of Polish language for Ukrainian citizens) will cease to apply.
It is besides worth noting that from September 2025 it will be possible to learn in a fresh profession – real property techniques, and in the spring of 2026 will be carried out for the first time Ukrainian language written exam as a abroad language at the advanced school For all seniors.
Summary
The upcoming school year 2025/2026 is simply a time of profound changes in the Polish education system. From fresh subjects, through modifications to PE and spiritual lessons, to fresh holidays and key regulations for teachers – each of these reforms aims to adapt the school to changing needs of society and the labour market. Both students, parents and teachers should be closely acquainted with the fresh regulations in order to be prepared for a revolution that will begin on 1 September.
Continued here:
Schools 2025: End of HiT, fresh holidays and little religion! Revolution for students and teachers since September
