CKE releases 2026 eighth-grade exam results: English 73%, Polish 65%, math 55%

National averages

The Central Examination Commission (CKE) released preliminary results on Friday, 3 July, for the 2026 eighth-grade exam taken by approximately 386,750 students in May. The three-day written test covered Polish, mathematics, and a modern foreign language. English was chosen by 98.59% of candidates. National average scores: Polish 65%, mathematics 55%, English 73%. Other languages: German 59%, Russian 75%, French 76%, Spanish 77%, Italian 65%. Girls scored higher than boys in Polish (69% vs 60%) and English (74% vs 72%), while students from cities above 100,000 residents posted the strongest results overall. The main session ran from 11 to 13 May, with an additional term on 8–10 June.

Top performers

A total of 12,549 students (3.6% of all test-takers) achieved scores between 90% and 100% in all three subjects. The share of top scorers was highest in English, where 42.9% of candidates (over 155,000) reached that bracket, compared to 13.6% in mathematics (over 47,500) and 6.9% in Polish (over 24,000).

Strengths and weaknesses

CKE director Professor Robert Zakrzewski highlighted areas of strong performance: interpreting iconic texts and a compulsory reading in Polish, operations on powers in mathematics, and language functions in English. Weak spots included recognizing grammatical subjects and attributes in Polish, abstract thinking combining algebra and spatial geometry in math, and open tasks testing linguistic means in English.

Results are similar to last year's.

Regional variation

In the Opole voivodeship, students in the city of Opole led with 69.79% in Polish, 62.3% in math, and 75.75% in German. The lowest county averages were in Kluczbork (Polish 57.96%) and Głubczyce (math 43.3%, German 53.57%). Only five students in the region took Russian, likely immigrants, and scored very high.

What's next

The exam is mandatory for graduation but has no pass threshold. Results count for half of the points in high school admissions. Students can check their scores online via the ZIU system and will receive certificates at school. The additional June session results are not yet included. Over 10,000 examiners and 886 verifiers marked the papers.