Western Europe (EU)
Study in Poland from Ireland
A practical, honest guide for Irish students — visas, refusal rates, flights, costs and what life is really like. Backed by sources, not marketing.
2022/23 · GUS/NAWA
visa-free entry
€25–90 (one-way est.)
Visas & entry
No visa — EU freedom of movement; register residence if staying >3 months
- Where to apply
- local voivodeship office (EU residence registration)
Key documents
- Irish passport or passport card
- EU residence registration certificate
- health insurance (EHIC or private)
Source: eur-lex.europa.eu
Getting there
Dublin (DUB) → Warsaw (WAW/WMI)
- Typical price
- €25–90 (one-way est.)
- Flight time
- 2.8 h
- Airlines
- Ryanair, Aer Lingus, LOT
Ryanair direct (~2h50, ~6/week); also many flights to Kraków/Wrocław/Gdańsk.
Prices vary — estimate from ryanair.com
Cost of living
~€550–900/mo in Poland — far cheaper than Dublin, where rent alone often exceeds a whole Polish budget. Estimate.
What it's really like
Polish-Irish relations are very good and free of historical baggage — both share a Catholic tradition and no conflicts. After 2004, hundreds of thousands of Poles emigrated to Ireland (Polish is one of Ireland's most-spoken non-English languages), building strong ties and mutual warmth. The Irish are well-liked in Poland as a friendly, sociable nation; Irish medical students have been present for over a decade and are well integrated.
Community: Ireland is an established market on Polish medical programmes — agencies (e.g. Medical Poland, since 2009) recruit Irish and British students, and English-taught programmes count hundreds from Ireland and the British Isles. The large Polish diaspora in Ireland reinforces ties.
Tips from students & forums
-
Irish students do 6-year medical degrees in Poland because places at home are scarce and the cost is much lower than Ireland/UK at comparable quality; applications often go via an agency (~€90 fee).
irishtimes.com ↗ -
English-taught medicine costs ~€12,000–16,000/year; the full 6-year degree with living is ~€80,000–120,000 — still far cheaper than the private route in Ireland/UK, and EU-recognised.
medconnecteurope.co.uk ↗ -
The English-taught medical programme has run since 2009 with a strong Irish cohort — the environment is international and easy to settle into, with much lower costs than Dublin.
medlinkstudents.com ↗
Good to know
- Irish school-leavers have travelled to Poland for 6-year medical degrees for over a decade, driven by a shortage of home places and lower costs.
- After Poland joined the EU in 2004, the Polish diaspora became one of Ireland's largest minorities — Polish is among the most-spoken languages there.
English-taught programmes for Irish students
All 963 degrees in the catalogue are open to Irish applicants — these picks match what students from Ireland most often look for. Tuition shown per year where the university publishes it.
No IELTS required
Programmes at universities that state no language certificate is required — always confirm the current rule with the university.
Affordable programmes
Tuition-free and lowest published-tuition degrees in the catalogue.
Universities behind these picks
Each profile has step-by-step application instructions, admissions contacts and every English-taught programme the university offers.
Browse the full catalogue by field of study, city, university or use the programme finder.
Ready to find your programme?
Compare Irish-friendly, English-taught Bachelor's and Master's across Polish universities.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-13. Visa-refusal figures are Schengen short-stay proxies unless stated; Poland does not publish national (type D) study-visa refusal rates per country. Flight prices and monthly budgets are estimates from aggregators and study.gov.pl and change over time. Entries ranked 31+ are added for search coverage of countries Poland does not publish separate student counts for; their studentsInPoland.count is null by design unless a published figure exists (the Perspektywy/GUS "Studenci zagraniczni w Polsce 2023" report covers some).