Study in Poland from United Kingdom

Visas & entry

No visa for ≤90 days (post-Brexit Schengen visa-free), but study >90 days needs a type D visa or temporary residence permit

Processing time

~2 (up to 15 days statutory; allow extra time for a consulate appointment) weeks

Where to apply

Polish consulates in the UK (London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast) for the type D, or a temporary residence permit at the voivodeship office after arrival

Proof of funds

No fixed amount on study.gov.pl ('sufficient means to support yourself'); Polish practice commonly uses ~776 PLN/month (~€180) plus return-travel funds — confirm the current threshold with your consulate

Key documents

• UK passport (Schengen visa-free short stay)
• visa application form + biometric photo
• acceptance letter (document confirming purpose of stay)
• proof of sufficient means
• health insurance

Source: study.gov.pl

Getting there

London (LHR/LGW/LTN/STN) → Warsaw (WAW/WMI)

Typical price

€20–170 one-way (est.)

Flight time

2.4 h

Airlines

Ryanair, Wizz Air, LOT, easyJet

~400 direct flights a week link London and Warsaw, with nonstop one-way fares from ~£18 on Ryanair, Wizz Air and LOT.

Prices vary — estimate from kiwi.com

Cost of living

≈ €500–850/mo in Warsaw/Kraków, ~€350–550 in smaller cities. Estimate (study.gov.pl).

Full tuition & costs guide →

What it's really like

Britain and Poland have unusually dense people-to-people ties — Poles were for years the largest foreign nationality in the UK — so British students arrive somewhere that knows the UK well. CBOS's February 2025 nationalities survey found 50% of Poles declaring sympathy for the English against 13% dislike, keeping them among the better-liked nations, though sympathy is down 5 points from the post-2022 peak. The British community itself is small — roughly 6,500 UK nationals around the time of Brexit — mostly professionals in Warsaw and Kraków, so students plug into the broader international scene rather than a ready-made British one. The friction is post-Brexit paperwork (type D visa, residence permit, PESEL), not social reception; English speakers are well accommodated in the big university cities.

Community: Small — ~6,500 UK nationals were estimated resident in Poland at the time of Brexit (2021, per estimates reported by Notes from Poland), with ~3,100 applying for post-Brexit residence documents in 2021 alone; Poland publishes no separate count of British students, who sit outside its top-30 source countries.

Tips from students & forums

1. Visa-free entry doesn't cover study >90 days — since Brexit, UK citizens need a national type D visa or a temporary residence permit from the voivodeship office, the same third-country route as Americans.

   euraxess.pl ↗

2. Apply for a Student UK GHIC before you leave — it covers necessary state healthcare in your country of study for the duration of your course; the application asks for your educational institution's details, the address where you're studying and your course dates.

   faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk ↗

3. Book Ryanair/Wizz Air/LOT nonstop from London early (~2.5h) — with ~400 direct flights a week and one-way fares from ~£18, going home for a weekend is often cheaper than a Polish intercity train.

   kiwi.com ↗

Good to know

• New Polish student enrolments at UK universities fell by roughly 80% between 2020/21 and 2023/24 after post-Brexit fee changes (Migration Observatory) — reversing the direction of a flow that long defined UK–Poland student mobility.
• The UK was still among the five most common destinations for Poles studying abroad in 2022, alongside Denmark, the USA, the Netherlands and Germany (RAD-on 2024 report).
• London–Warsaw is one of Europe's densest budget-air corridors, with roughly 400 direct flights a week.

English-taught programmes for British students

All 963 degrees in the catalogue are open to British applicants — these picks match what students from United Kingdom most often look for. Tuition shown per year where the university publishes it.

Browse the full catalogue by field of study, city, university or use the programme finder.

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