Exams, Certificates and Language Proficiency Attestations

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UW Certification Exams and External Exams Recognition

All information regarding dates, registration, and rules for university certification exams, as well as a list of recognized external certificates, can be found on the dedicated website of the Coordinating Council for Foreign Language Teaching and Language Proficiency Certification.


Go to the Coordinating Council website →

1. Issuing language certificates

At the student’s request, the Centre for Foreign Language Teaching issues a Language Proficiency Certificate for a fee, confirming the level of language proficiency based on a passed certification exam.

The certificate is standardly issued in Polish. At the candidate’s request, an additional certificate can be issued in English, German, French, or Russian.

Information Details
Cost 50 PLN for each language version of the certificate
Estimated time Approx. 21 working days
Contact e-mail wnioski.certyfikaty@uw.edu.pl
Collection place 8 Oboźna St., room 109, 1st floor
Priority mode Not available; applications are processed in the order they are received

How to obtain a certificate?

1

Fill out the form

Download and carefully fill out the application form in your preferred format.

2

Submit application

Send the completed document by e-mail to the Certification Department:

3

Pay the fee

University of Warsaw, CNJO
Account: 21 1160 2202 0000 0000 6084 9690

Payment title:
opłata za Certyfikat Biegłości Językowej

4

Send confirmation

Return the proof of payment as a file (e.g. PDF from the bank) in a reply message to the CNJO e-mail address provided above.

Certificate collection

After the certificate has been prepared, a CNJO employee sends the applicant an e-mail with information about the possibility of collection and the nearest available dates.

Certificates are issued at the CNJO headquarters at 8 Oboźna St., room 109, 1st floor. As a standard, the document must be collected in person. In exceptional situations, shipping by priority registered mail is possible after prior e-mail agreement and providing the shipping address.

Upon collection, the applicant checks the conformity of the data and confirms it with a signature. If discrepancies are found, CNJO prepares a corrected certificate. Applications and uncollected certificates are kept for five years and then destroyed.

Upcoming certificate collection dates:

  • September 29 and 30, 2026, from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
  • October 6, 13, and 15, 2026, from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM

Further dates will be updated regularly on the website.

Legal basis: Order No. 65 of the UW Rector of May 10, 2022; Order No. 156 of the UW Rector of December 22, 2021; Decision of the UW Rector No. 11 of September 30, 2022

2. Foreign language exam in the doctoral procedure

Information for UW doctoral candidates regarding the foreign language exam is available on the website of the Coordinating Council for Foreign Language Teaching and Language Proficiency Certification.

Information for doctoral candidates →

Remote doctoral exam procedure – so-called old mode

The procedure applies to persons who had a doctoral procedure opened in the so-called old mode. It was developed on the basis of Order No. 84 of the UW Rector of May 4, 2020.

  • The remote exam is conducted using tools that allow controlling the course of the exam, its registration, and the protection of personal data.
  • CNJO uses Google tools available as part of the university package, in particular Google Meet for the oral exam.
  • The exam is subject to mandatory video and audio registration. The recording is kept for 14 days.
  • The examiner is responsible for preparing the exam, recording it, securing it, and deleting it after 14 days.
  • Before the exam, the doctoral candidate is responsible for sending the examiner the protocol received from the appropriate dean’s office or scientific and research unit.
  • After the exam, the examiner fills in and signs the protocol, sends a scan of it to the appropriate unit, and keeps the paper original until it is handed over.
  • The remote procedure does not preclude conducting the exam in a traditional (in-person) form.

3. Language proficiency attestation for scholarship purposes

CNJO issues language proficiency attestations to persons applying for foreign scholarships. The document confirms that the candidate uses a foreign language at a level sufficient to study at a foreign university.

Important: an attestation for scholarship purposes is not equivalent to the Language Proficiency Certificate of the University of Warsaw.

Who can apply for an attestation?

Academic teachers and students who need a document confirming their language skills in the recruitment procedure for a foreign scholarship and do not have:

  • a Language Supplement to the Diploma,
  • a UW Language Proficiency Certificate,
  • another recognized certificate from an external institution mentioned in the UW regulations concerning language proficiency certification.

What is the procedure?

1. Portfolio →
2. Submitting documents →
3. CNJO Verification →
4. Interview →
5. Attestation

European Language Portfolio

The condition for starting the procedure is to present the CNJO commission with a carefully and completely filled out European Language Portfolio. The Portfolio must be downloaded here and submitted to the Student Office of CNJO. After the Portfolio is accepted, the candidate is invited to an interview.

What should the Portfolio contain (in the Dossier section)?

  • if the candidate has them – copies of certificates and attestations from the last five years documenting language learning and the level of language proficiency;
  • a CV in a foreign language according to the Europass CV format;
  • a cover letter in a foreign language, addressed to the CNJO Director, containing information about the candidate, the target university, the reasons for choosing the university, planned classes, and the importance of the scholarship for further education or professional work;
  • an independently written summary of a selected scientific article in a field related to the candidate’s course of study;
  • a copy of the summarized article;
  • a statement confirming that the summary was written independently;
  • a description of intercultural experiences and intercultural communication.

Article summary: length of 300–350 words; the number of words and exact bibliographic data of the article or website address must be provided. The source article should be 2–5 A4 pages long.

The condition for admission to the interview is the delivery of a carefully completed and full Portfolio. After the interview, the Portfolio is returned to the candidate.

Interview

The exact date and place of the interview are communicated to the candidate well in advance. The interview is conducted by a two-person CNJO commission. It takes about 15–20 minutes and consists of two parts:

Part Scope
Candidate’s presentation Academic interests and achievements, scholarship, target university, plan of stay, the connection of the scholarship program with the course of study or academic work, and the benefits resulting from the trip.
Conversation with the commission Everyday situations related to, among others, travel, culture and life in the destination country, and dealing with practical matters.

Required level: The condition for a positive evaluation of the interview is knowledge of a foreign language at least at the B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

What does B2 level mean?

Understanding: understanding longer speeches and lectures, most news and current affairs programs, and articles and reports presenting specific positions and views.

Speaking: communicating fluently and spontaneously enough to have casual conversations, participate in discussions, present one’s own position and justify it.

Writing: creating clear and detailed texts on topics related to interests and presenting information and arguments for and against specific solutions.

Full description of CEFR levels →

4. Attestation on the DAAD form

Note: Language proficiency attestation made on the DAAD form is used exclusively to apply for a DAAD scholarship.

If you have relevant USOS entries

In the case of persons who have entries in USOS confirming the completion of language courses or passing a language exam, the procedure comes down to completing the form by an authorized foreign language teacher and – if necessary – conducting a short conversation in a foreign language.

If you do not have confirmation in the USOS system

Persons who did not study at UW and do not have a recognized certificate confirming their language competences should present an independently written paper in a foreign language and indicate a selected reading. Based on this, a short conversation is conducted, also concerning the purpose of the trip, research plans, and other issues related to the scholarship.

The evaluation of the presented text, the conversation, and the completion of the form are done by authorized language teachers during their office hours: