Taking the Polish exam online: is such a certificate recognised?
Published 3 October 2026
The Polish state exam cannot be taken over the internet: the rules describe it only in a centre's exam room, on paper, before a board. telc B1·B2 is taken at a licensed telc centre — paper-based or hybrid. A "B1 certificate online" outside these routes is neither the state certificate nor telc.
In short
- State exam: the room of a centre authorised by the Commission, printed papers, a board in the room. The rules provide no remote mode.
- A state certificate without an exam is open only to graduates of schools or studies taught in Polish — through an online application to NAWA, not a test.
- telc B1·B2: paper-based or hybrid — written on paper, oral through video-conference software — always through a licensed centre.
Where a Polish certificate comes from
A test "online with a certificate" outside these three routes is neither the state certificate nor telc.
Can the state exam be taken online?
No. The regulation of 14 February 2025 describes the exam only at a centre: lit, quiet rooms with desks facing one way (§6), only candidates and the board in the room, the chair checking identities (§12). The papers are on paper — candidates sign them (§15). The rules contain no remote mode.
Only centres authorised by the Commission run the exam. The Commission publishes their list — a centre not on it cannot give you the state certificate.
And a certificate without an exam?
It exists, but not for everyone. Under the act as it stands since 9 June 2026, a foreigner, or a Pole living abroad, who completed school or studies taught in Polish can get the certificate without an exam — the act lists the cases in art. 11a(4). The application goes online through the NAWA system, but it is an application with documents, not a test.
Is the telc Polish exam online?
telc says Język polski B1·B2 is available as a paper-based or hybrid exam, and cannot be taken in parts. A hybrid exam, in telc's glossary, is semi-digital: usually the written part on paper and the oral through video-conference software.
Either way you register at a licensed telc centre and show photo ID before the exam. How the hybrid version runs at a given centre — where you sit for the oral — ask the centre; telc's regulations do not say.
Sites selling a "B1 exam online with a certificate" without a centre on the Commission's list or a telc licence issue neither of these two certificates. Before paying, check the centre on the Commission's list or telc's site.
What can be done online?
Preparation. The Commission publishes past papers for free — where to find them is on exam papers. This service is preparation too, not an exam: no office will accept a result from here.
Which of the two exams you need: telc or the state exam. When the sittings are and how long the whole cycle takes: dates.