Tips for candidates: rules in the examination room

What you may bring into the room, and what you may not

The rule is short and has no exceptions: you may not bring into the examination room any aids or devices used to transmit, receive, or record information (§ 12 ust. 2 rozporządzenia). In practice, this means a phone, a watch with connectivity, headphones, a tablet, notes, a dictionary - it does not matter whether you intend to use them.

There is one consequence, and it is severe: the chair of the committee interrupts and invalidates the exam of anyone who brings such things into the room (§ 19 pkt 1). There is no warning and no second chance - what matters is bringing them in, not using them.

The same applies to communicating with other candidates (§ 13 pkt 1) and disrupting the course of the exam. Both end in the same way: interruption and invalidation (§ 19 pkt 2 i 3).

Identity document

Before the exam begins, the chair of the committee checks the identity of the people who intend to take the exam (§ 12 ust. 3). Take a document with a photo and keep it with you, not in a bag left in the cloakroom - you show it when entering the room.

At the same time, the chair gives information about the planned course of the exam, about the fact that missing items in the paper must be reported, and about the consequences of violating the prohibitions. It is worth listening to this: it is the only moment when you can ask about organization.

Report missing items in the paper immediately

The obligation to report missing items found in the examination paper rests with you (§ 12 ust. 3 pkt 2). Before you start writing, leaf through the paper: check whether all pages are there and whether the print is legible. Reporting it after the fact - after the module has already ended - will not help.

Breaks between modules

After each module of the written part, the chair announces its end, the committee collects the papers, and then there is a break of at least ten minutes (§ 16 ust. 1). Candidates then leave the room. The chair gives the start time of the next module - remember it or write it down, because being late for the next module is your problem.

If you finish before time, you hand in your work to a committee member and leave. You do not have to sit until the end, but you also cannot stay in the room with your work and „jeszcze coś poprawić”.

In justified cases, the chair may allow you to leave the room during a module - after ensuring conditions that exclude contact with other people (§ 16 ust. 2). This is an exception, not the rule.

When the exam may be interrupted through no fault of yours

The chair may interrupt or suspend the exam when its course is disrupted by a member of the committee or when something unforeseen happens that could affect the correctness of the exam (§ 18 ust. 1). After the cause has ended, the exam may be continued.

During a suspension, one rule applies, and it is easy to forget it in the confusion: you must not fill in the papers. Violating this prohibition ends with interruption and invalidation of the exam.

Withdrawal

You may notify the chair that you are withdrawing from participation in the exam. Information about the withdrawal is entered on the examination paper, and the paper goes into the exam documentation. This is a conscious decision and it is recorded - it is not the same as leaving the room without a word.

Practical tips from the Państwowa Komisja

The points below are not a legal regulation, but a set of recommendations from the Państwowa Komisja. You are not at risk of invalidation for them, but centers enforce them consistently:

• Arrive on time, in accordance with the announced schedule.
• At the appointed time, candidates enter the room one by one, according to the order on the list.
• Have an identity document with a photo with you and show it at the entrance.
• During the exam: behave quietly, do not communicate with others, do not leave the room or your seat, do not make loud comments.
• Do not use correction fluid or tape, and do not write in pencil. This is one of the more common mistakes: a paper written in pencil or corrected with correction fluid or tape may be considered illegible.
• Sign and fill in the tests in the place designated for this purpose - not in the margin and not on the reverse side.

Note on the legal basis

The website of the Państwowa Komisja, from which these tips come, refers to rozporządzenie Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego z 26 lutego 2016 r. This regulation is no longer in force - it ceased to have effect on 2 January 2025. The regulation of 14 February 2025 is in force (Dz. U. poz. 217), amended in 2026 (Dz. U. poz. 676).

The content of the rules on the course of the exam is consistent in both versions, so the tips themselves remain up to date. What changes, however, is what you refer to if you ever need to challenge a decision of the committee. Also note that the regulations are divided into sections, not articles - citing „art. 12” is incorrect in this context, the correct form is „§ 12”.