SWPS university Warsaw - questions

Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej

Warsaw School of Social Psychology

Hello guys , i'm a new member here , hope i can find help . well im sami 29 years old from Algeria , i would like to study master degree at SWPS university ( Warsaw School of Social Psychology ) for 2 years , but i need more informations about this university ,

1- is the degree earned from this university recognized all over Europe ?
2-when i finish studying ; will i find any difficulties to recognize my master degree any other countries .?
3- is studying at private university better than public universities ?
4-how to recognize my Algerian degree in Poland ?
5- how is life there ?
6-if anyone studied there at this university , please share your experience with me .
7- any additional help i will be grateful.

thanks in advance for your answers guys.

Merged: swps ??

Hello, I am a foreigner and want to study psychology next year in Warsaw. So, I found a school called SWPS. They say it's a good school but I want to be %100 before I start studying. So, what can you tell me about SWPS is it well enough or should I try to get into University of Warsaw? Thanks.

Here is ranking:



So it looks like top school (3rd place) but also 2 times worse than in Uniwersytet Warszawski 48 vs 99 points. So if only you can then go for UW, because out of Poland nobody has heard about "Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej"

one more question I have only seen MA degree in UW its like 3+2 sytem. My question is that can you just leave with a BA degree after 3 years or gotta complete 5 years ? Cuz I wanna get my MA from another university in another country perhaps

Of course you can leave with bachelor only.

Good luck with that. Universities in other countries are starting to realise that a qualification which can be done in two and a half years after the end of secondary school by going to lectures every other weekend is not what their system would describe as a bachelor's degree.

I got an eyeopener a few days ago.

Those part time joke degrees often have ridiculously low entry requirements - it's difficult to explain in writing, but I've seen UAM in Poznan accept people who barely (and I mean barely) scraped a pass in their matura. What an utter, complete joke.

I don't wanna get my MA neither from SWPS nor from other schools in Poland (want to live in another country) After BA I wanna get into a university which is in UK ,USA or Austria paying the full fee (not with a scholarship or sth). So do you think they recognize the BA diploma from SWPS.

What Harry meant is that they may prefer candidates from western universities over polish. But I would be more optimistic. With good grades from Warsaw University you should get into Master Studies somewhere in the countries mentioned.

You'd do better to contact the universities you want to do your MA at and ask them. I do know that when it comes to MA courses some UK universities are simply not interested in people who hold a Polish Licencjat unless the average mark is 5.0 and the graduation date was 2006 or later. And even then you'll need to check that they accept qualifications from SWPS.

BA or Licentiate? They are very different.

The name is different. Licencjat is equivalent to the bachelor's degree in Anglo-Saxon countries. And it's purpose is to be able to do Master in other university, also in other EU country.


That's why I suggest Warsaw University. And there are so many universities in UK, that author would be accepted to one of them for sure. In the end they're also making money on students.

No it is not. Very simply, in the UK a BA cannot be done in two and a half years after the end of secondary school by going to lectures every other weekend. In Poland a Licencjat can be obtained in that way.

Not 2.5, but 3 years is minimum and weekend studies last usually 3.5 years. The number of hours is the same as for example for evening studies in Germany. On the other hand UK Master doesn't obey Bologna rules and last less time that agreed minimum. So don't conclude, that Polish studies are any worse because of that. Also Engineering studies in Poland last 3.5 years and when done during weekends then 4 years. It doesn't mean that they're better than British because of that.

Rubbish. I used to teach on extra mural Licencjat programs. It's three times September/October to May/June. Most certainly not a minimum of three years.


That simply is not true. Also the Bologna rules fail to take into account the college stage of an English university degree.


Put very simply, it is not possible to squeek through your school leaving exams in the UK and then two and a half years later have a BA from studying every other weekend. In Poland one can do that and get a Licencjat.

It isn't. English-speaking countries also have Licentiates too. Btw, there haven't been any 'Anglo-Saxon' countries for a thousand years.


A UK bachelors' degree (better regarded than a Polish magister) is 5 days a week, minimum of 6 hours contact a day for a minimum of 3 years.


Yet they are regarded as being among the best in the world.

One thing that puzzles me about the Polish system (and this happened to a friend this week) is that when you do your final exams and you aren't satisfied with one of the grades, you can do a retake in September!!!

Show me the link to university's website with this program. Maybe you missed sixth semester, because it's usually when students write licentiate's project and have minimum number of classes. Anyway majority if not all weekend studies in public universities last 3.5 years.



/wiki/Bologna_process#U nited_Kingdom


What's wrong with studies during weekend, when minimum number of hours is provided. If it's easier to get accepted into Polish university, then it's because there is more available places per capita. But that's also matter of school. Some are easier, some harder.

Check your maths a little more carefully: that link contradicts what you have claimed.


Very simple: people who work 40 hours per week and have a life are not going to do the required number of hours of work. The vast majority of Polish extra-mural courses are a joke and a disgrace.

Student's in UK enter university in the age of 18. Students in Poland in the age of 19. So what you call college here is "szkoła średnia". Isn't that true? I am not so familiar with British system don't they prepare for entrance exam in college ? If so, then why call it stage of an university? Preparation is not an university.


It's also an name, title. Meaning is simply that somebody has studied for less than 5 years. Except if you can tell obvious differences and similarities between Licencjat and Bachalor between British and Polish universities.


That's the point. The number of hours is not the most important factor.


It's one of many systems. For example in Greece until around 2009 you could retake exam 2 times every years until you got bored. Some students were studying for 10 years because of that.


And you learn understanding what you read:




I agree with that most of graduates of extra mural courses are worse than their full time studies counterparts, but I think main reason is the fact that on average they're not so smart - usually people who could not get accepted to full time studies go studying on weekends. And because teachers are not requiring enough, because they're extra source of money.

The type of masters' degrees you're referring to are research degrees. MA ones, rather than MPhil, which is usually of a higher level than a doctorate here.

What do you think of the possibility to retake exams here if you aren't happy with the result? was amazed.

You overlook the fact that in Poland compulsory schooling starts at the age of seven while in the UK it starts at the age of four (for most children).


One can.

Here one should compare what children are taught in each age. And not simply give number 4 years old and 7. In polish kindergarten children age 4,5,6 are taught like in British school. Now they're changing it. Want to move 6 years old children to school. But in my time children age 7 starting school were able to read and write.

I was surprised at the licencjat a friend has just completed (I say completed, but he's unhappy with 2 of his marks and believe it or not is having a stab at 2 exams in Sept, hoping he can improve them - bizarre!). It just seems to involve turning up at weekends, memorising definitions of things that the lecturer agrees with and trotting them out in 'exams' that you can repeat if you're unhappy about. Very far from the rigours of a UK Bachelors'.

Nice editing. However the truth is as follows:
"In the UK a master's degree is normally based on 1800 hours of study (180 U.K. credits) conducted over one year of full-time study. However the Bologna Process requires that master's degree programme normally carries 90 - 120 ECTS credits, which is equivalent to 2250 to 3000 hours of study and typically takes more than one year. The minimum requirement for the Bologna process is at least 60 ECTS credits at master's level."

1800 hours of study equals 72 ECTS credits (given that 25 hours equals 1 ECTS credit).

but the author wrote BA, not UK BA.


Great, then it's fulfilling minimum, but not normal requirements. I guess that they wanted every Master to last 2 years, but because UK hasn't agreed on that and they didn't want to exclude UK, so they made this MINIMUM and NORMAL level. Further they write there:


So why it's unclear if it's 72 ECTS as you wrote...

There aren't many/any Polish BAs, just as the UK has relatively few Licentiate degrees.

When you speak about Poland and write BA then obviously you mean bachelor's degree which describes all undergraduate courses.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor%27s_degree

So when you said "On the other hand UK Master doesn't obey Bologna rules and last less time that agreed minimum." you were not being entirely truthful.


Just as the UK has many Bachelor's degrees which last four years rather than the Bologna three (e.g. BEd, BA/BSC QTS, BA language courses, 'sandwich' courses, etc).

To sum up, is it impossible to get into a university for MA after swps or some other universities in Poland?? (I eliminated UW I asked them about it they only got 3+2 program and you can not leave after 3 years and have your BA gotta complete full 5 years)

No. Many Polish undergraduate courses are these 'licencjat' things, at a lower lever. Not unlike US Associate degrees.