About the course
A 6-year (12-semester) medical degree taught entirely in English at the Centre for Medical Education in English at Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, part of Nicolaus Copernicus University. Students do compulsory 4-week summer clinical placements after each of years 1 to 5.
Entry requirements for Irish students
- The university assesses the Irish Leaving Certificate individually and does not publish a fixed Irish requirement. Contact admissions to confirm. Your school-leaving certificate (or its supplement) must include Biology and either Chemistry or Physics, and it must make you eligible for higher education in your home country. You also need an apostille and Polish recognition of the certificate (through a provincial education superintendent or NAWA) by 30 September.
- Written test: 50 multiple-choice questions in English (30 Biology, 12 Chemistry, 8 Physics), 1 point each; the FAQ describes it as an online test. You need at least 25 of 50 points to go on to the oral exam. The oral admission interview is marked out of 75: 25 for secondary-school science knowledge, 25 for motivation and 25 for English. Final score = written score divided by 2, plus the oral score; you need at least 70 points.
- English: proof of English at B2 level or higher is required, in line with the Polish ministerial regulation of 30 July 2025.
Working in Ireland afterwards
Because your medical degree comes from an EU/EEA country, the Medical Council of Ireland can recognise it automatically under EU Directive 2005/36/EC, as long as it is listed in Annex V (point 5.1.1). If that listing says the degree must come with an internship or state-exam certificate from your home country, you need to have that too, and you must also show your current professional standing and meet the English-language requirements. Graduates of EU/EEA medical schools may apply to the HSE for Irish intern posts, but only if their home-country degree does not already count as complete training. In older HSE intern guides (e.g., the 2022 guide), only graduates from medical schools in Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Iceland and Slovenia could apply. Graduates from other EEA countries (and Italians holding the ‘abilitante’ degree) were told they are not eligible, because they qualify directly for General registration. Applicants who need no work permit were matched before those who do. Please check the current eligibility list in the HSE intern guide for the year you apply. We could not confirm it for the July 2027 intake because the current HSE guide pages are password-protected.
How to apply
- Register on IRKCreate an account on the university’s IRK portal, choose an admission session and pay the PLN 85 application fee. Registration for the 2026 cycle opened on 16 April 2026.
- Prepare documentsUpload your Leaving Certificate results (showing Biology and Chemistry or Physics), B2 English proof, passport and a medical certificate. Get an apostille on your certificate and arrange Polish recognition of it (NAWA or a provincial education superintendent) by 30 September.
- Sit the test and interviewTake the 50-question Biology, Chemistry and Physics test. With at least 25 of 50 you go on to the English oral interview the next day. You need 70 points overall.
- Enrol and payResults come out a few days after the oral exam. Accepted students pay the first semester’s fee by 30 September; the academic year opens on 1 October in Bydgoszcz.
Deadline for Irish/EU applicants: Dates for 2027 entry were not yet published. In the 2026 cycle, registration opened on 16 April 2026 and there were seven admission sessions, each with a written test, an oral exam the next day and results a few days later. Session 1: register 16 April to 5 May, test 19 May, oral 20 May, results 22 May. Session 2: register 6 May to 2 June, test 16 June, oral 17 June, results 19 June. Session 3: register 3 to 23 June, test 7 July, oral 8 July, results 10 July. Session 4: register 24 June to 14 July, test 28 July, oral 29 July, results 31 July. Session 5: register 15 July to 4 August, test 18 August, oral 19 August, results 21 August. Session 6: register 5 to 25 August, test 8 September, oral 9 September, results 11 September. Session 7: register 26 August to 15 September, test 23 September, oral 24 September, results 25 September. The apostille and Polish recognition of your school certificate had to be completed by 30 September. The academic year officially opens on 1 October. Expect a similar pattern for 2027 and confirm on the official schedule..
Costs
- PLN 31,500 per semester in year 1 for 2026/27 (PLN 63,000 a year, roughly EUR 14,800 at about 4.25 PLN to the euro). Later years cost less in the 2026/27 fee table: PLN 29,000 per semester in years 2 to 4, PLN 25,000 in year 5 and PLN 22,750 in year 6. Fees are due by 30 September (winter semester) and 15 February (summer semester). The university says all students, Polish and international, pay the same tuition fee, so EU students pay it too. There is also a PLN 85 (about EUR 20) application processing fee. Fees for 2027/28 were not yet published.
Because this medical degree comes from an EU country, the Medical Council of Ireland can recognise it automatically under Directive 2005/36/EC (Annex V), provided you also meet any internship or state-exam certificate conditions, current-standing checks and English-language requirements; Poland was on the list of countries whose graduates could apply for HSE intern posts in older guides such as 2022, so check the current HSE intern guide for your year. Medical Polish is compulsory in the 2026/27 study plan (40 hours in year 1 and 40 hours in year 2).
Checked against the official Nicolaus Copernicus University Collegium Medicum website: September 2026. Fees, requirements and dates are from the 2026/27 (2026 entry) cycle because 2027 details were not yet published, so confirm them for 2027 entry. Always confirm details with the university before applying.
