Poland is overhauling its approach to career guidance to ensure universal access to essential services at all levels of education, with a particular focus on supporting students with specific educational needs and those at risk of social exclusion. The country demonstrates a strong commitment to comprehensive career guidance, underpinned by constitutional mandates and key government agencies. The commitment is reflected in the regionalised administration, public funding and integration into national and EU-supported strategies. These strategies prioritise individual freedom in making of career choices.
In a forward-thinking initiative, Poland is transforming its approach to career guidance, ensuring that individuals across all educational levels have access to essential services. From early childhood education to higher education and beyond, the country is steadfast in providing targeted support, especially for students with specific educational needs (SEN) and who are at risk of social exclusion.
Key government agencies, including the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, play a central role in the provision of career guidance services. The management of these services follows Poland's regional structure, ensuring a coherent approach between the national and regional levels.
These services are mainly financed by public funds, as required by national legislation. In particular, European Union funds contribute significantly to the co-financing of many career guidance initiatives.
Recent developments have seen Poland integrate support for career development into its broader skills strategy. The Integrated Skills Strategy 2030 places strong emphasis on effective career guidance for individuals from diverse social and occupational backgrounds. This strategic initiative is further bolstered by the Human Capital Development Strategy 2030, which outlines key steps to strengthen information provision, focus guidance on resilient occupations and broaden the scope of career services to include different stages of individuals' career paths.
Specifically, the strategy aims to:
- Improve the availability of information for adults, with a focus on non-formal education and career guidance, especially in rural areas.
- Focus career guidance on occupations less vulnerable to automation and digitalisation.
- Extend services beyond the unemployed to adults at different stages of their careers.
- Enable the long-term unemployed to acquire new skills in line with market demand.
- Improve overall access to career guidance services for all adults.
In addition, Poland's National Recovery and Resilience Plan includes measures dedicated to career guidance and information within the broader initiative to support the development of modern vocational education, higher education and lifelong learning.
As Poland continues to prioritise career guidance as a cornerstone of its national strategies, these comprehensive efforts underline the country's commitment to equipping individuals with the tools they need for successful and fulfilling careers.
This new country record is based on information gathered and analysed by the CareersNet experts, Cedefop’s network of independent experts in career guidance and career development.
More information on the Inventory of lifelong guidance systems and practices and additional country records for other countries included can be found here.