Everything you need to know about the Rector’s Scholarship – academic year 2026/2027

Category: 2026/2027, Rector’s scholarship

Are you planning to apply for a scholarship based on academic performance or academic, artistic or sporting achievements? Here are the key information and tips.

The percentage of eligible students and the amount of the scholarship will be announced no earlier than late November or early December.

Starting your studies and considering applying for the Rector’s Scholarship?

The Rector’s Scholarship is available to students admitted to the first year of first-cycle or long-cycle studies in the year in which they took their final secondary school examination, provided that they also meet one of the following criteria:

👉 are laureates of an international olympiad;
👉 are laureates or finalists of a central-level olympiad (in accordance with the legislation governing the education system);
👉 are medallists in a sports competition for the title of Polish Champion or a higher title in a given sport (in accordance with the legislation governing sport);

Anyone who meets these criteria and submits their application by the deadline will receive the scholarship. In this case, the percentage of students eligible for the scholarship set by the Rector does not apply.

Who is NOT eligible for the Rector’s Scholarship?

First-year students of first-cycle or long-cycle studies who:

• DID NOT take their final secondary school examination in the year they were admitted to the first year of the studies for which they wish to apply for the scholarship;
• DO NOT hold the title of:
  • a laureate of an international olympiad; or
  • a laureate of a central-level olympiad referred to in the legislation governing the education system; or
  • a finalist of a central-level olympiad referred to in the legislation governing the education system; or
• ARE NOT medallists in at least a Polish Championship competition in their respective sport, as referred to in the legislation governing sport.

Students in later years of studies who:

• hold a master’s degree or an equivalent qualification (regardless of when or where it was obtained);
• are applying for the scholarship for first-cycle studies after completing another first-cycle studies;
• have studied for more than 12 semesters – this applies to applications for the scholarship in every year and in every field of studies
• have studied for more than 9 semesters at first-cycle studies – this applies to applications for the scholarship for first-cycle studies;
• have studied for more than 7 semesters at second-cycle studies – this applies to applications for the scholarship for second-cycle studies;
• WAS NOT enrolled for the subsequent year of studies in the academic year 2026/2027 due to:
  • repeating a year of studies;
  • the end of leave;
  • resuming the studies after the removal from the list of students due to failing to obtain credit for a given year of studies;
  • extending their studies in order to defend their thesis;
• DID NOT begin the second-cycle studies for which they wish to apply for the Rector’s Scholarship within 12 months of completing their first-cycle studies – this applies to applications for the scholarship in the first year of second-cycle studies.

Important! ➡️  Everything You Need to Know About the Total Period for Which Benefits Are Available

When should I submit my application?

Important! In accordance with  the Rules and Regulations of Students’ Benefits at the University of Warsaw , applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered. If you submit your application after 15 October, you will not receive a decision against which you can appeal. Don’t leave your application until the last minute!

⚠️ Are you pursuing more than one field of studies?
Submit an application for the Rector’s Scholarship for each of them. This is very important because if you withdraw from one of your fields of studies and have submitted your application only for that field of study, it cannot be transferred to your other field of studies, and you will lose the opportunity to receive the scholarship.

⚠️Have you still not sucessfully completed your previous stage of studies at the University of Warsaw?
Do not wait for your year of study to be completed before submitting your application for the Rector’s Scholarship. Dean’s Offices work at different speeds. The most important thing is to submit your application by the deadline – 15 October. The coordinator will verify your student status and, if necessary, ask the relevant unit for clarification.

⚠️ Participating in an Erasmus+ exchange does not affect your eligibility for the scholarship!

How to Submit an Application?

You can submit your application for the Rector’s Scholarship only via the USOSweb system:➡️ https://usosweb.uw.edu.pl/

⚠️ In particularly justified cases (e.g., due to technical issues preventing electronic submission via the USOSweb system), it is possible to submit the application in paper form at the Student Welfare and Support Office [BPM]. The final deadline is 15 October. However, please note that the default method of submitting an application is electronically via the USOSweb system.

Step 1:➡️ Log in to  the central USOSweb system (do not use faculty-level installations)➡️ go to the “Common section” tab ➡️ select “Applications” ➡️ then click “Start filling out” next to the application for the Rector’s Scholarship for the 2026/2027 academic year. Carefully read the instructions at each stage.
Step 2: At this stage, confirm your application by selecting “Next: Sign and Submit Electronically.”
Step 3: Enter the authorization code. Information at the top of the screen will indicate the email address to which the code has been sent. The email containing the code may be delivered to your spam folder or may take a few minutes to arrive.
Step 4: After entering the code, the status “Submitted” should appear next to your application. This confirms that your application has been successfully received and will be reviewed.  The absence of this notification means that the application has not been successfully submitted. The application status will change throughout the review process, and you will receive an email notification each time the status is updated.

How does your average grade translate into points? (Criterion I)

If you are applying for the Rector’s Scholarship, you can calculate the points awarded for your average grade using the following formula:

NUMBER OF POINTS IN THE APPLICATION = 100 × (average grade for the previous academic year – 4.00)

Examples:
If your grade average is 4.00, you will be awarded 0 points for your average grade.
If your grade average is 4.01, you will be awarded 1 points for your average grade.
If your grade average is 4.38, you will be awarded 38 points for your average grade.

⚠️ A grade of 5! is included in the average as 5.

⚠️ When calculating the average grade for the third year of first-cycle studies, the grade for the thesis and the thesis defence are not included.

⚠️ Don’t worry if you cannot see your average grade in the application yet. The university units are still processing students’ study records and preparing rankings, so your average may not appear until the second half of November.

⚠️ If your average grade appears in the application before it has been verified by the coordinator, and you disagree with it or have any doubts about it, wait until your application has been verified. You will receive a comment explaining how and by when you can raise an objection.

If you completed the previous year of studies at a university other than the University of Warsaw, you must provide a certificate confirming your average grade for the final year of studies, containing 3 pieces of information:

• your average grade for the final year of studies,
• the type of average (arithmetic or weighted),
• the grading scale used by the university (e.g. 2–5, 1–6).

Do you have academic, sporting or artistic achievements? (Criteria II–IV)

Check how many points you can receive for them:

You can find the points awarded for additional achievements (Criteria II–IV) and the rules for documenting them in Appendix no. 3 to the Rules and Regulations of Student Benefits at the University of Warsaw (paragraphs 6–10).

What’s next?  A few practical tips

We know that starting a new academic year can be stressful and raise many questions, so we are doing our best to make the Rector’s Scholarship application process easier and regularly update our website with helpful guidance.

⚠️In the RECTOR’S SCHOLARSHIP section, you will find useful information and answers to your questions. If you have any doubts, please email us at bpm@uw.edu.pl.

We do our best to respond to emails as quickly as possible. Processing Rector’s Scholarship applications is very time-consuming for coordinators, so we kindly ask for your patience!

⚠️Once you have submitted your application, please remain patient and wait for it to be verified. At this stage, you will receive information about whether you can raise an objection to your average grade or the assessment of an achievement, together with the deadline for doing so. Objections submitted after the deadline specified by the coordinator will not be considered!

To help us manage the process efficiently, please wait until we contact you. Contacting us earlier will not speed up the verification of your application.

⚠️ Treat the rankings in the USOSweb system with caution. They are for guidance purposes only. They do not accurately reflect the actual situation, as they do not take points for additional achievements into account.

Q: Does this mean that the ranking in the USOSweb ssytem does not show my actual chances of receiving the scholarship?
A: The rankings in USOSweb take into account only average grades. They do not consider all relevant factors, such as additional academic, sporting or artistic achievements Therefore, although they are useful as a guide, they do not provide a complete picture of a student’s situation.

The status of application w USOS system

We would like to remind you of the meaning of the individual statuses displayed next to your application in the USOSweb system:

[Filled in] – the application has not yet been signed and submitted, so you can still make changes and add information.
[Delivered] – at this stage, you can no longer make changes to your application. From this point onwards, the documents will be subject to verification.
[Declared incorrect / Declared incomplete] – during the verification process, the coordinator identified errors or missing documents.  You will find instructions on how to amend your application in the comment visible in the USOSweb system or in the email sent to you.
[Awaiting consideration] – verification of the submitted documents has been completed.
[Verified] – the decision will soon be made available in the USOSweb system.
[Considered (decision to be delivered)] – the decision is available in the USOSweb system.