First steps
How do I enrol my child at a school in Gdańsk?
Quick answer
Every child aged 7–18 has a constitutionally guaranteed right to free education at a public school in Poland, regardless of the parents' residence status or knowledge of Polish. Go directly to the catchment-area school for your home address.
Verified: September 2026 Checked by: Marta Wagner-Mejna
Step by step
- Find the catchment-area school for your address on the Gdańsk education map, or ask at the office of the nearest school.
- Call the school office and arrange a meeting with the head teacher.
- Prepare your child's documents: passport, birth certificate and school reports from the previous school (together with a Polish translation).
- Submit the application for admission at the school office.
- The head teacher is obliged to admit a child from the catchment area. If your child speaks little Polish, they are entitled to additional free Polish lessons or a place in a preparatory class.
Schools in Gdańsk run so-called preparatory classes (oddziały przygotowawcze), where pupils with a migration background learn Polish and core subjects intensively in smaller groups before moving into regular classes.
Every child is entitled to at least 2 additional hours of free Polish lessons per week at school.
Where to look next
Official offices and verified external sources.
Does this not match your situation?
Marta Wagner-Mejna holds free consultations (legal guidance and official matters). The conversation runs in Polish, English. No referral, no fees.