Polish B1 exam in 2026 — dates, registration, cost
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The state Polish B1 exam (egzamin certyfikatowy — the state certificate exam in Polish as a foreign language) is held in five sessions in 2026, and B1 for adults is available at every one of them. You register directly with the exam centre of your choice, usually about two months before the session, and the whole exam costs about 730 PLN. It is this exam — not TELC — that is required for an application for uznanie za obywatela (citizenship by recognition).
Information as of 16 July 2026. Dates, fees and centre lists can change during the year — before you register, confirm the details on certyfikatpolski.pl.
2026 exam sessions
| Date (2026) | Levels in that session |
|---|---|
| 14–15 February | B1, B2 (adults) + B1, B2 (children/youth) |
| 25–26 April | B1, B2, C1 (adults) |
| 27–28 June | B1, B2 (adults) |
| 17–18 October | B1, C1, C2 (adults) |
| 5–6 December | B1 (adults) + B2 (children/youth) |
The February, April and June sessions have already taken place — what's left this year is the October session (17–18.10) and the December session (5–6.12). The exam runs over two days: Saturday is the written part, Sunday the oral. Results take a few weeks, and the certificate itself arrives about 5–6 months after the exam — worth factoring in if you need it for an official application.
Registering for the B1 exam in 2026
There is no single central sign-up page. You register directly with an exam centre, and the State Commission publishes the list of centres running each session on certyfikatpolski.pl. In practice:
- Check the list of centres for the session you want — not every centre runs every session.
- Pick a centre — exams are held in Warsaw, Kraków, Gdańsk, Wrocław and Łódź, among other cities, and at many centres abroad.
- Register following the centre's instructions and pay the fee. Registration usually opens about two months before the session and places can run out fast — for the October session, keep an eye on sign-ups as early as August.
What the exam costs in 2026
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Exam fee (B1, adults) | ~643 PLN |
| Certificate issuance | ~86 PLN |
| Total | ~730 PLN |
The fees are set in euros and converted into złoty, so the exact amount at a given centre may differ slightly. A full cost breakdown (including the ~1200 PLN fee for the TELC exam) is in how much the B1 exam costs and where to take it.
What the exam looks like
The written part (day one) consists of four modules; the oral part (day two) is a conversation with the examination board:
| Module | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Listening comprehension | 30 min | 30 |
| Reading comprehension | 45 min | 30 |
| Grammatical correctness | 45 min | 30 |
| Writing | 75 min | 30 |
| Speaking (day 2) | ~15 min | 40 |
To pass, you need at least 50% in each module separately — an excellent score in one part will not "make up for" another. A full task-by-task description: what the Polish B1 exam looks like.
Instead of hunting for past papers, you can go straight to the free B1 sample tests online — six full packs in the exam format (listening with recordings, reading, grammar, writing and speaking with AI evaluation). How to make the most of them: our article on sample tests.
What the B1 certificate is for
The Polish B1 certificate is required above all for an application for uznanie za obywatela (citizenship by recognition) and for the EU long-term resident permit. Note: only the state exam is accepted for citizenship — a TELC certificate is not enough. We've collected the verified legal details (with links to the statutes and a last-verified date) in the FAQ.
How to prepare
There are still three months until the October session — a realistic amount of time to prepare, even studying after work. A sensible order:
- Do one full mock test to see your starting level and the task format.
- Strengthen your weakest modules — most often that's writing and speaking, which you can practise on our site with AI evaluation.
- A week before the exam, work through a full pack once more against the clock.
Concrete strategies, a weekly plan and the typical mistakes are collected in how to prepare for the B1 exam.
Dates and fees change every year — always confirm the current information on certyfikatpolski.pl before registering. This article is not legal advice.