Scientific categories A+, A, B+, B and C – what do they mean?
University and institute pages show categories: A+, A, B+, B or C. Each one refers to a single discipline at a single entity, not to the whole university. It is the result of the evaluation of the quality of research activity.
Author: Artur Dubiel
Published 6 November 2026
Where the categories come from
The evaluation of the quality of research activity is carried out periodically for universities, Polish Academy of Sciences institutes, research institutes and Łukasiewicz Research Network institutes. Each entity is assessed separately in every discipline it pursues. The latest results cover the years 2022–2025; the ministry announced them on 22 July 2026. How the assessment works is described in the article Research evaluation step by step.
How the ratings are distributed
The list of categories for 2022–2025 contains 1241 discipline ratings at 280 entities. Of these, 106 received category A+, 392 – A, 607 – B+, 120 – B and 16 – C.
The most common category is B+ and the rarest C.
What a category affects
Category A+, A or B+ in at least one discipline is a condition of academic university status. Categories also determine the right to confer doctoral degrees and the habilitation degree (doktor habilitowany) in a given discipline.
This is why one university can hold category A+ in physics and B in another discipline – both ratings are true at the same time. We show each entity’s categories on its page in the Universities and Institutes directories.
Sources
- Ustawa z dnia 20 lipca 2018 r. – Prawo o szkolnictwie wyższym i nauce (Dz.U. 2018 poz. 1668)
- MNiSW – Komunikat w sprawie zakończenia kolejnego etapu ewaluacji jakości działalności naukowej (22.07.2026), z wykazem kategorii
- RAD-on – Raporty, analizy, dane o nauce i szkolnictwie wyższym (OPI PIB)
Sources are in Polish. Figures from the register as of 6 November 2026; checked: 2026-11-06.