You are choosing a new-build flat in Warsaw, and your child starts school in the next year or two. Which public primary school will they be assigned to? In Poland the catchment school (szkoła obwodowa) depends on where the family actually lives on the day you register the child for class 1. It does not depend on the address of a flat you have bought, nor on registration of residence (meldunek). The law requires every pupil’s place of residence to belong to the catchment area of exactly one public primary school (Article 39(5aa)(2)), and Warsaw City Council sets the catchment areas in a resolution that lists the streets. So before you reserve a flat, check two things: which school the building’s address belongs to, and whether you will have moved in before enrolment. All rules below are stated as of October 2026 (Education Law, Prawo oświatowe, consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2026, item 820).
What to check before you pay a reservation fee
- The year your child starts class 1 (see the table below).
- The exact address of the building: the street and, if it already has one, the number.
- Which catchment area that address belongs to: ask the district office or the school.
- The completion date and the date of transfer of ownership in the information prospectus (prospekt informacyjny) and the draft developer agreement (umowa deweloperska), set against the enrolment dates.
- The distance to the catchment school, and a plan B if you move in after enrolment.
When does a child start school in Poland?
As of October 2026, the Education Law sets four rules:
- Pre-school year (zerówka). The compulsory pre-school year (roczne przygotowanie przedszkolne) starts at the beginning of the school year in the calendar year in which the child turns 6 (Article 31(4)–(5)).
- Class 1 (klasa I). Compulsory schooling starts at the beginning of the school year in the calendar year in which the child turns 7 (Article 35(2)).
- Earlier. A 6-year-old can start school at the parents’ request if they attended pre-school education in the previous school year (at a nursery school or in zerówka) or have an opinion from a psychological and educational counselling centre (poradnia psychologiczno-pedagogiczna) (Article 36(1)–(2)).
- Later. Deferral of compulsory schooling is decided by the head teacher of the catchment school. The application is made by 31 August at the latest, with the counselling centre’s opinion (Article 36(4)–(6)).
That gives a simple calendar:
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
| Child’s year of birth | Zerówka | Class 1 (from September) | Class 1 enrolment dates set by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2026/2027 | 2027 | end of January 2027 |
| 2021 | 2027/2028 | 2028 | end of January 2028 |
| 2022 | 2028/2029 | 2029 | end of January 2029 |
Note the last rule above the table: even a deferral is decided by the catchment school. The address matters even if your child starts a year later.
What does a catchment school guarantee, and what does it not?
Children who live in a school’s catchment area are admitted to its class 1 automatically (z urzędu), on the basis of a registration form (zgłoszenie) (Articles 130(5) and 133(1), as of October 2026). Points do not apply to a child from the catchment area. Children from outside it are admitted through the enrolment procedure (rekrutacja) if the school has free places (Article 133(2)). The authority that runs the schools sets the class 1 enrolment dates by the end of January (Article 154(1)(1)) and publishes the criteria and their points by the same deadline (Article 154(3)).
Two rules from Warsaw’s information for parents on class 1 enrolment for the 2026/2027 school year:
- a place at the catchment school is a right, not an obligation, so you can choose other schools;
- if you put the catchment school anywhere on your list of chosen schools, you keep priority there when your child is not admitted to a school higher up the list.
What a catchment school does not guarantee is being the nearest school. Catchment boundaries follow streets, not distance from the building. The nearest school, even one across the road, may not be your catchment school.
Registration of residence or where you live: what goes on the form?
With the registration form you sign a declaration of the parents’ and the child’s place of residence (oświadczenie o miejscu zamieszkania), under criminal liability for false statements (Article 151, as of October 2026). The law speaks of place of residence, not of registration. Registering at the new address is therefore not a condition, and on its own it does not settle anything either.
For a buyer from a developer, the practical point is this: what counts is the address where the family really lives on the day of registration. A flat still under construction, which you have not moved into, is hard to call your place of residence. In that case you register the child from your current address, at your current catchment school.
How do you check the catchment area for a development’s address?
1. Find out the building’s address. In a city, catchment areas are described by street names or parts of streets (Article 39(5aa)). At the developer’s sales office (biuro sprzedaży), ask which street the building’s entrance will be on and whether it already has a street number. On a large estate, buildings from different phases can stand on different streets.
2. Ask the district office (urząd dzielnicy) or the school. Give the street and number. If the street is new and not yet in the resolution, ask the district office which school the address will be assigned to. Get the answer in writing or by email.
3. Read the resolution. Catchment areas are set by the municipal council in a resolution published in the regional official journal (Article 39(5) and (5aa)). For Warsaw, that means a resolution of Warsaw City Council (Rada m.st. Warszawy) in the Official Journal of the Masovian Voivodeship (Dziennik Urzędowy Województwa Mazowieckiego). It lists the streets for each school.
4. Remember that catchment areas change. The council can change them by a new resolution, after a positive opinion from the regional education superintendent (kurator oświaty) (Article 39(5) and (5c), as of October 2026). The answer you get today applies to today’s resolution. On new estates, ask the district office whether a change is planned.
5. Look at the area on the map. On our map of new developments in Warsaw you can see where the developments are and filter them by district and completion date. Each development page has a map with a schools layer based on OpenStreetMap data. It shows where schools are, not where catchment boundaries run. For most developments the point on the map is an approximate location (a street or an area), so always establish the catchment from the address, not from the point on the map.
Completion date and enrolment: will you move in on time?
The enrolment dates for the 2027/2028 school year will be set by the end of January 2027 (Article 154(1)(1)). As a reference point, here is Warsaw’s class 1 enrolment calendar for 2026/2027:
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
| Class 1 enrolment stage in Warsaw, school year 2026/2027 | Date |
|---|---|
| Registration of forms and applications | from 10 February 2026, 13:00, to 24 February 2026, 20:00 |
| Signed form or application handed in at the first-choice school | by 25 February 2026, 16:00 |
| Lists of children qualified | 30 March 2026, 13:00 |
| Confirmation that you want the place | by 9 April 2026, 10:00 |
| Lists of children admitted | 10 April 2026, 13:00 |
| Information on free places | 4 May 2026, 13:00 |
How to set this against the flat:
- Flat ready, or completion before registration opens. If you move in before registration (in 2026 it opened on 10 February; the 2027 dates will be set by the end of January 2027), you register the child at the catchment school for the new address.
- Completion after enrolment. You register the child from your current address. You can also apply to the school near the new flat as a child from outside the catchment, if it has free places. Once you move, the new catchment school admits a child living in its catchment area automatically, also during the school year (Article 130(2), as of October 2026).
- Dates from documents, not from a conversation. The planned completion date and the date of transfer of ownership are in the information prospectus and the draft developer agreement. To judge whether construction is on schedule, read how to check whether an off-plan building will be finished on time.
If the school is a condition of buying, count the months back from registration in the year your child turns 7 (in 2026 it opened in February). Then you can see whether an off-plan flat fits at all, or whether a finished one makes more sense.
Moving to Warsaw from abroad: what changes for the school check?
The documents are in Polish. The catchment resolution, the city’s enrolment information for parents and the developer’s prospectus are Polish texts. The Developer Act (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2026, item 880, as of October 2026) says nothing about the language of the prospectus or the agreement, so do not count on an English version of these documents. When you search or ask, use the Polish terms:
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
| Polish term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| szkoła obwodowa | catchment school |
| obwód szkoły | catchment area |
| zgłoszenie | registration at the catchment school |
| wniosek | application to a school outside the catchment |
| rekrutacja do klas I | class 1 enrolment |
| oświadczenie o miejscu zamieszkania | declaration of place of residence |
| odroczenie obowiązku szkolnego | deferral of compulsory schooling |
| urząd dzielnicy | district office |
You will probably rent while the flat is built. According to Statistics Poland (GUS), multi-family residential buildings took on average 24.8 months to build in 2025 (“Efekty działalności budowlanej w 2025 r.”, published 30 June 2026). Because the rule follows where you actually live, you register the child from the rented flat. If you can choose where to rent while you wait, a rental in the same catchment area as the new building can spare your child a change of school, as long as the catchment does not change in the meantime. It must be the address where you really live: the declaration is made under criminal liability.
No meldunek is needed, but sort out the PESEL early. Article 151 asks for a declaration of residence, not for registration. If your child does not yet have a PESEL number, ask the school before registration opens how to fill in the form without one.
Go by year of birth, not by what is usual at home. The starting age in Poland may differ from your home country’s. Check the table above for your child’s year of birth. If you arrive after enrolment has closed, contact the catchment school for the address where you live: during the school year it admits children from its catchment area automatically (Article 130(2)).
The flat itself needs no permit. Under the Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2017, item 2278, as of October 2026), a foreigner of any citizenship can buy a self-contained flat without a permit from the Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) (Article 8(1)(1)). The exemption does not apply in the border zone (Article 8(3)), and Warsaw is not in it.
Settle the school question before the reservation fee. The fee cannot exceed 1% of the price stated in the prospectus (Article 32(2) of the Developer Act, as of October 2026). Have the district office’s answer about the catchment before you pay it, not after.
The catchment school is far from the new flat: what does the law say?
The journey from home to school may not exceed 3 km for classes 1–4 and 4 km for classes 5–8. If it is longer, the municipality must provide free transport and supervision during the journey, or reimburse the child’s public transport fares if the parents take the child themselves (Article 39(2)–(3), as of October 2026).
In practice the daily route matters more than the kilometres: whether your child can walk without crossing a busy road, and whether the school run fits your own journey to work. If you have no car, start with timing the door-to-door commute from a new flat. Other location checks are worth doing before you reserve too, for example checking airport noise before buying in Włochy.
See also: New-build flats near Warsaw metro: prices by station.
FAQ
We rent in Warsaw and have no meldunek. Which address counts for the catchment school?
The address where the family actually lives. When you register a child at the catchment school, you sign a declaration of the parents’ and the child’s place of residence, under criminal liability for false statements (Article 151 of the Education Law, as of October 2026). The law refers to where you live, not to registration of residence (zameldowanie), so a rented flat counts just as much as one you own.
If we buy a flat in a new development, is our child guaranteed a place at the local school?
Only once you live there. Children who live in a school’s catchment area are admitted to class 1 automatically, on the basis of a registration form (Articles 130(5) and 133(1) of the Education Law, as of October 2026). A flat still under construction is hard to call your place of residence, so until you move in, your child belongs to the catchment of your current address.
Can my child go to a school outside our catchment area in Warsaw?
Yes. A place at the catchment school is a right, not an obligation. Other schools admit children from outside their catchment through the enrolment procedure if they have free places (Article 133(2) of the Education Law, as of October 2026). Under Warsaw’s information for parents for 2026/2027, if you list the catchment school in any position, you keep priority there if your child is not admitted to a school higher on the list.
At what age do children start school in Poland?
As of October 2026, the compulsory pre-school year (zerówka) starts in the calendar year in which the child turns 6 (Article 31(4)–(5) of the Education Law), and compulsory schooling starts in the year the child turns 7 (Article 35(2)). A child born in 2020 starts class 1 in September 2027. Go by year of birth, not by the starting age in your home country.
We are moving to Warsaw in the middle of the school year. Will the catchment school take our child?
Yes. During the school year the head teacher decides on admission to a public school, except for children who live in the catchment area of a public primary school: they are admitted automatically (Article 130(2) of the Education Law, as of October 2026). Contact the catchment school for your new address once you live there.
Chosen a development and booking a visit to the sales office? Write to us before your first visit to the developer’s sales office (biuro sprzedaży). We will register you as our client, go to the sales office with you, ask for the building’s address and check the completion date in the prospectus and the draft agreement against class 1 enrolment, in English or another of our seven languages. As a buyer of a new-build flat, you pay us no fee.
Jawno · Vladyslav Moroz, real estate agent (pośrednik w obrocie nieruchomościami), sole trader with OC liability insurance · +48 692 649 839 · infojawno@gmail.com
This text is for information only and is not legal advice. Law as of October 2026.