← Back to the rankingVIII Prywatne Akademickie Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Krakowie
Krakow, Poland · est. 1993 · Private
Illustration · Krakow
VIII Prywatne Akademickie Liceum Ogólnokształcące (VIII PALO) is a private general secondary school in central Kraków, open since 1993 and at ul. Karmelicka 45 since 1997. For 2026-2027 it admits a general class with extended hours, a medical class under the patronage of Collegium Medicum UJ, a mathematics class and a law and humanities class, as well as international classes. The international track lasts four years: grades 1-2 are the preDP preparatory stage, where some subjects are taught bilingually with a gradual move to English, and grades 3-4 are the IB Diploma Programme; the school gained IB authorisation in January 2011, has run the programme since September 2011 and held its first exam session in May 2013. The languages of instruction are Polish (Polish classes) and English (the IB DP is taught entirely in English except Polish literature). English is taught 6 hours a week in all classes and a second foreign language - German, Spanish or French - 4 hours, with an external TELC exam after grade 3; Chinese and Latin are offered free to those interested. Philosophy is a compulsory subject. About a quarter of the teachers hold doctorates and teach at universities; the school works with UJ, AGH, the University of Economics, the University of Agriculture, the Academy of Fine Arts and UKEN, and belongs to the UNESCO Associated Schools Network.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Polish, English
Languages taught
German, Spanish, French, Chinese, Latin
Class size
up to 20 students per class
About the fees The school does not publish its czesne on the website. Tuition and the wpisowe are paid to the account of Prywatne Akademickie Centrum Kształcenia Sp. z o.o.; competition and olympiad winners receive a 10% discount from September to January.
Admissions Admission to grade 1 opens in September of the previous year: an application to the office, the grade 7 report or first-term grades from grade 8, and a meeting of the candidate and parents with the school leadership; a grade average of at least 4.5 (excluding music, art, technology, PE and religion or ethics) and a conduct grade of at least good are preferred. The mathematics class requires a written maths test, and the international preDP class a written English test and an interview with the IB coordinator. Winners and finalists of regional competitions and national olympiads have priority and receive a 10% fee discount from September to January. Enrolment follows the contract and payment of the admission and reservation fee. Direct entry to the IB DP in grade 3 is ongoing, based on grades and an interview; candidates from outside Polish schools are assessed on external exams from other education systems, current grades and language certificates, with an English test if needed.
Stages and year groups Liceum ogólnokształcące, 4 years. Polish track (podstawa programowa, matura): general, medical, mathematics and law and humanities classes, with English compulsory at extended level. International track (oddziały międzynarodowe): preDP in grades 1-2 (Pre-DP, bilingual), IB Diploma Programme in grades 3-4; IB subjects include Polish A and English A Literature, English B, German B, Spanish B, French B, History, Psychology, Business Management, Economics, Computer Science, Sports Exercise and Health Science and others, plus TOK, the Extended Essay and CAS. Polish law treats the IB diploma as equal to the matura.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. The IB track runs in the international classes of a Polish liceum: the Diploma in grades 3-4, alongside the Polish curriculum leading to the matura.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: DP (ages 16-19). DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results Matura 2026: average results in compulsory subjects - Polish 70% (Kraków 65%, Poland 59%), mathematics 83% (68% and 59%), English 96% (86% and 78%); the mathematics class scored 95% in extended mathematics; at extended level mathematics 80%, physics 67%, biology 61%, chemistry 67%, geography 75%, history 83%, civics 73%, art history 87%, English 87%, computer science 79%. The school reports a 100% matura pass rate in every graduating year. The school does not publish IB Diploma results in figures on the pages reviewed.
Facilities from the school's official website
✓Swimming pool
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: Since 1997 the school has occupied a tenement building (kamienica) at ul. Karmelicka 45 in central Kraków. Classes have up to 20 students, there is medical care, psychologists and counsellors, and each student has a personal tutor. For PE students can choose the swimming pool, gym, climbing wall, modern dance, weights room, fitness and outdoor activities. The school mentions its facilities for research, laboratory and art projects, and students work in UJ and AGH laboratories. There are exchanges and projects with partners in 15 countries, including Delhi Public School Gurgaon in India, a school in Gjøvik in Norway and the Johanneum in Lüneburg; term-time trips and camps.
Clubs and activities: European Club · Interaction Theatre · Oxford Debates · Film Projects · Volunteering · Subject Clubs · Chinese Language · Latin Language
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: almost 25 teachers, more than a quarter of the staff, hold doctorates or habilitations or are university professors; IB teachers include examiners
Besides a homeroom teacher, each student has a personal tutor for all four years. The school has counsellors, psychologists, careers advisers and a university admissions adviser. The named list of teachers is published only as a PDF for parents.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school publishes child protection standards and provides medical care, psychologist and counsellor support and a personal tutor for every student.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)82 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median78 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 7 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country