University of Silesia in Katowice

1. Go to the Online Application System (IRK) and select the appropriate admission category .
2. Click ‘Create an account’ in the top right corner. Read and accept the consent clause. An activation link will be sent to the e-mail address you have provided. Click the link sent to you via e-mail and log in to the system. If you do not remember your password, you can use the password recovery option. The password will be sent to the e-mail address provided during registration.
3. Fill in and confirm your personal data using the personal data forms available under the ‘my account’ page. Do not forget to also fill in the information in the other sections:

• BASIC PERSONAL DATA

Provide your personal information such as your name, place of birth, and nationality. The details must match your ID card — once you have submitted them, you will no longer be able to change them yourself.

• ADDRESS AND CONTACT DETAILS

Provide at least one telephone number at which you can be reached in case you need to be contacted regarding your admission.

• PHOTO

Upload a photograph that complies with the requirements for a Polish ID card into the IRK system. This photograph will then be used on your student ID card.

Uploading a photo is mandatory once you have been accepted as a student. The photo needs to be verified and confirmed in the system by an employee of the University of Silesia, so please do not upload it at the very last moment! Failure to upload the photo to the IRK system will not cause you to be rejected, however, it is necessary in order to print out the personal questionnaire required when submitting documents.

• EDUCATION

Fill in data concerning your previous education, certificate of being a Finalist or Laureate of an olympiad, university diploma and other documents required in the admission process for a given degree programme.

CANDIDATES FOR 1ST-CYCLE AND LONG-CYCLE STUDIES

Click ‘SAVE AND ADD DOCUMENT’ to add all the information about your secondary school-leaving certificate. Once ‘saved’, your exam results can be edited to indicate the subjects you took in the written part of your school-leaving exam. Remember to save your data.

• Those with the so-called Polish New Matura certificate from 2006 onwards – your examination results are downloaded automatically from the Polish Registry of Matura Results (KReM) (if you have agreed to this in your school’s Matura declaration). The candidates who have not given their consent to transfer their results to universities have to enter the information themselves and upload a scan of their Matura certificate to the IRK system.
• Candidates with IB or EB certificates upload a scan of their certificate into the IRK system
• Candidates with the so-called Polish Old Matura certificates upload a scan of their certificate into the IRK system

When filling in the details of your certificate document, please note that you do not have to enter all of the data right away. To apply, simply enter the type of document (e.g. Polish New Matura), the year of issue and the country of issue.

Once you have received your certificate, fill in the remaining fields: document number, date of issue, type and name of issuing institution, place of issue. All this data will be needed to print the personal questionnaire required for enrolment.

Once you have saved the form, you will see a ‘Save and edit exam results’ button – this is where you should add information about your Matura exam results when you receive them. You can complete your application before you receive your exam results; the data must be completed by the end of the admission round in which you are taking part at the latest. In the event that your school-leaving exams do not go as planned, you can also withdraw your application by the end of the admission round.

CANDIDATES TO 2ND CYCLE STUDIES

Click ‘SAVE AND ADD DOCUMENT’ to add all the information about your diploma.

Once you have ‘saved’, edit your exam results to enter your diploma grade and grade point average for your overall studies.

Moreover, you have to upload the scans of:

• your diploma (if you are waiting for your diploma to be issued, you must upload a certificate confirming that you have passed the examination issued by the university);
• a certificate confirming the average of all the grades received at university level (if required as specified in the admission criteria for a given degree programme);
• a diploma supplement (if required as specified in the admission criteria for a given degree programme);
• other documents (if required as specified in the admission criteria for a given degree programme);

Scans of the above-mentioned documents required for the admission process sent in the electronic form have the same validity as paper documents submitted by the candidate in person.

Note! Candidates who have not successfully defended their theses before the registration closing date for a given degree programme do not have the possibility to apply to 2nd cycle studies.

If you apply at the same time for an undergraduate programme or a long-cycle MA/MSc programme AND a graduate programme, you have to specify two relevant documents.

ACHIEVEMENTS IN OLYMPIADS AND COMPETITIONS

If you are a winner or a finalist of an olympiad at the national level or a winner of an international or national competition, you may be admitted to a degree programme of your choice outside the regular admission process. — Learn about the procedures related to submitting relevant certificates and the list of eligible olympiads and competitions (click here).

A candidate may apply for an unlimited number of programmes.

To select a degree programme, click the ‘Offer’ button. Sign up for a selected degree programme / selected degree programmes according to the admission schedule of a given degree programme (the deadlines are specified on the website and next to each degree programme in the ‘Offer’ tab). The possibility to sign up or withdraw from a selected degree programme exists only until the day when the registration to the degree programme closes.

You can view the list of your applications under ‘Applications’ in ‘my account’. There you will also find information on the results of the admissions process, downloadable documents for entry and instructions on how to complete the enrolment if you get in.

Depending on the number of programmes you have applied for, the IRK system will inform you about the amount due for the admission fees. Each fee should be paid before the specified deadline. Detailed information about the admission fee is available here: https://us.edu.pl/kandydat/en/rekrutacja-na-studia-krok-po-kroku/oplaty-zwiazane-ze-studiami/oplata-rekrutacyjna/.

Click on the ‘Payments’ button.  The bank account in the IRK system is used only to pay the admission fees. Payments for a student ID, tuition fee etc. are made to other bank accounts. Click here for further information on fees.

The fee amount depends on the number of degree programmes selected in the IRK system. Please note that in order for your application to be noticed and processed, the admission fee must be received by a maximum of two days after the end of registration for the degree programme.

Note! If you have a reason for your application not to be paid or you want to allocate the fee to another degree programme press ‘Set Priorities’ and make the change. You can also withhold the fee to use it in the next round of recruitment.  Note! Withholding fees is possible until the registration for a given degree programme is closed. Remember! If you fail to pay the administration fees, your application will be excluded during the admission process.

Click ‘Pay’ and make the payment.

In ‘My Account — Applications’ you can check your applications to studies. A completed application has the ‘Paid’ status.If you are applying for more programmes than covered by the admission fee you have paid, you have to either withdraw your application for programmes you have not paid for or pay the outstanding fee. Withdrawing applications is possible until the application procedure is closed for a given programme.

The following applies to candidates for undergraduate programmes and long-cycle MA/MSc programmes.
For candidates who passed their matura examination in Poland in the years 2006-2023, the results are uploaded automatically from the Polish Registry of Matura Results (KReM). This happens, however, only if the candidate has given his/her consent when filling in a matura declaration at his/her secondary school (a specimen of this matura declaration is available here). The candidates who have not given their consent to transfer their results to universities have to upload a scan of their matura certificate to the IRK system (it will be possible starting from 8th July).
Candidates who passed their Polish matura in 2005 or earlier as well as candidates with an equivalent of matura from abroad, IB or EB have to upload the scan of their certificate.
Scans of documents required for the qualification procedure sent in the electronic form have the same validity as paper documents submitted by the candidate in person.

Entering the result from your university diploma and the average from your grades at university level.
The following applies to candidates for graduate programmes.
A candidate for a graduate programme has to enter into the IRK system the final grade on his/her university diploma as well as the average calculated from all his/her grades received at university level. Moreover, s/he has to upload the scans of:

• • his/her university diploma;
  • a certificate issued by the relevant university confirming the average calculated from all the grades received at university level;
  • a diploma supplement (if required as specified in the admission criteria for a given programme);
  • other documents (if required as specified in the admission criteria for a given programme);

Scans of the above mentioned documents required for the qualification procedure sent in the electronic form have the same validity as paper documents submitted by the candidate in person.

This applies to selected programmes only. Submitting a doctor’s certificate confirming that the candidate has undergone relevant medical exams is only required from candidates for programmes that pose a risk to students’ health or expose them to dangerous emissions.
After applying for one of the programmes listed below and transferring the necessary admission fee, the candidate will be able to print a document enabling him/her to undergo the required medical exams free of charge at the medical centres listed on the reverse of the document. The doctor from one of these centres will give you a certificate which you need to submit at the dean’s office together with the other documents when you have been accepted for the programme of your choice.
The following programmes require submitting a certificate of medical exams:

• • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Medical Physics
  • Biophysics
  • Chemical Technology
  • Micro and Nanotechnology
  • Biology
  • Biotechnology
  • Environmental Protection
  • Geography
  • Geology
  • Applied Geology
  • Geophysics
  • Environmental Treatment Engineering
  • Tourism
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Fine Arts Education
  • Graphic Arts
  • Painting and Interdisciplinary Projects.

A candidate who does not meet the relevant health criteria will not be admitted to these programmes.

This applies to selected programmes only.
The admission criteria for some programmes specify that the candidate’s artistic talent should be tested. Candidates for these programmes have to either take additional entrance exams or submit their works of art. The detailed information on these additional exams or works of art, including the relevant deadlines, are specified in the timetable for each programme in the IRK system.

Results of the admission process are provided to the candidates in the IRK system. You can access the information on your admission results under ‘Applications’ in the ‘My Account’ section, these include:

• qualified – a candidate who is accepted to studies (and appears on the list of accepted candidates), on the basis of the points they were awarded and the limit of available places for the programme of their choice, or on the basis of their registration in the IRK system and submitting the necessary documents, if the criterion of points does not apply for the programme of their choice. An accepted candidate has the duty to submit all the necessary documents and enrol as a student at the specified place and time.
• reserve list – a candidate who has not been awarded the number of points required to secure one of the available places for the degree programme of their choice and has not been accepted but is on the waiting list of candidates who may be accepted later on if a place becomes available.
• not qualified – a candidate who does not meet the admission criteria for the degree programme (or major) of their choice.

Reserve list

The candidates who have not been accepted by the Faculty Admission Commission for the programme of their choice due to unavailability of places are on the waiting list. If places become available after the registration deadline for the accepted candidates, the Faculty Admission Commission will decide to accept some of the candidates from the waiting list, in accordance with the point score ranking. If you are on the waiting list and the Faculty Admission Commission informs you that you have been accepted, you should submit your documents to enrol at the place and time specified by the Commission.

Example:

On the day when the admission process results are announced, Katarzyna Igrekowska is in the 300^th position on the ranking list. According to the acceptance criteria, the limit of available places for the degree programme of her choice is 250. Mrs Katarzyna is not accepted. After a few days, it turns out that some of the candidates accepted for the programme have not enrolled. Consequently, Katarzyna moves to the 210^th position on the ranking list and is accepted by the Faculty Admission Commission. Katarzyna submits all the required documents and enrols at the dean’s office within the specified deadline. As a result, she becomes an admitted candidate.

Note! Being accepted is not equivalent to being admitted to studies. In order to become admitted to studies, you have to meet a few further requirements. These are presented in the part that describes Stage II of the admission process.

Please note that being accepted is not the end of the admission process, you are not a student yet! In order to register as a student for a programme of your choice, you have to meet a few further requirements. These are presented in the part that describes Stage II of the admission process.