Diploma examinations (Master’s Degree Exams) are conducted in person and require the student’s personal attendance at a specified time and in a room designated by the Graduate Studies Office (GSO).
Admission to the diploma examination is granted once all of the following conditions have been met:
- Completion of the study programme;
- A positive evaluation from the thesis supervisor;
- Submission of the Master’s thesis documentation by email to the relevant student support person;
- A positive evaluation from the thesis reviewer;
- Settlement of any outstanding financial obligations.
Diploma Examination at Second‑Cycle (Master’s Degree) Level – “New Regulations”, in accordance with the Study Rules and Regulations in force as of 1 October 2025.
These regulations apply to students who submit their diploma theses in the winter semester of the 2025/2026 academic year and thereafter. Full details on how to submit your Master’s thesis and how the date of the diploma examination is arranged can be found in the instructions issued by the Dean of Graduate Studies.
- Instructions on the Submission of the Master’s Degree Thesis and the Conduct of the Diploma (Master’s Degree) Examination - “New Regulations”
Based on § 38(3) of the Study Regulations and § 8(1) of Appendix No. 1, the following rules are introduced:
- The student is required to upload to the APD system the final version of the Master’s Degree Thesis approved by the thesis supervisor, as well as a presentation file attached as an annex to the thesis (both in PDF format), no later than three working days before:
- the end of the second examination period in the semester in which the second semester of the Master’s Thesis seminar is completed,
- in the case of students wishing to take the degree examination in July — no later than three working days before the date announced by the Dean of Graduate Studies,
- the thesis submission date specified in the Dean’s decision, where the submission deadline has been individually extended.
- Formal requirements for the presentation:
- compliance with the visual identity guidelines of SGH Warsaw School of Economics;
- file in PDF format, maximum file size of 25.0 MB;
- the first slide must include the title of the thesis, the full name of the student, the name of the major (study programme), and the full name of the supervisor.
- On the day the thesis is uploaded to the APD system, the student must send an email from their SGH institutional email address to the Student Support Person, with the subject line “Documents for the master’s degree thesis”, attaching the following documents:
- a statement for the diploma supplement,
- proof of payment for the diploma (if applying for an additional, third copy of the diploma issued in the English language);
- a statement on the student’s additional activities – optional (to be submitted only where such activities have been undertaken, together with confirmation issued by the relevant SGH units).
- Within three working days from the date the student uploads the thesis to the APD system, i.e., before the expiry of the deadline arising from the Study Regulations or specified by the Dean, the supervisor shall submit the thesis for anti-plagiarism verification. Subsequently, based on an analysis of similarity index values, the supervisor shall decide whether to accept or reject the thesis. Acceptance of the thesis is tantamount to approval of the form in the system and a positive assessment of the thesis. If the thesis is rejected, the supervisor does not approve the anti-plagiarism report and either returns the thesis for correction or confirms a negative assessment in the APD system.
Acceptance of the thesis automatically constitutes completion of the second semester of the master’s seminar. - Following acceptance of the thesis, the supervisor shall send an email from their SGH domain account to recenzentdsm@sgh.waw.pl entitled “Reviewer proposal XXXXXX” (where XXXXXX denotes the student’s id number), with the following content “I propose [full name of the reviewer] as the reviewer of the thesis by [full name of the student].” In accordance with § 7(3) of Appendix No. 1 to the Study Regulations, where the supervisor of a master’s thesis holds the academic title of „Doctor”, the reviewer should be an academic teacher holding the degree of “Doktor Habilitowany”. The Dean of Graduate Studies takes the final decision on the appointment of the reviewer.
The reviewer shall receive notification of the obligation to prepare a review via their official email account. - Within 15 days of receipt of the notification, the reviewer shall complete and approve the review form in the APD system.
- Upon fulfilment by the student of all conditions for admission to the degree examination, namely: completion of the requirements set out in the applicable study programme, including the study plan; awarding of positive assessments by both the supervisor and the reviewer; settlement of all required financial obligations towards SGH, submission to the student support person of the documents accompanying the thesis, The Graduate Studies Office shall schedule the Masters’s degree examination and notify the supervisor, the reviewer and the student by email (sent to SGH domain email addresses) no later than seven days prior to the scheduled examination date.
- The second-cycle studies degree examination (the Diploma Examination) shall be conducted before a board appointed by the Dean. The board shall comprise: the Dean of Graduate Studies or an academic teacher authorised by the Dean and holding at least a doctoral degree – acting as Chair, The supervisor and the reviewer of the thesis – acting as members. In exceptional cases, the reviewer may be replaced by another academic teacher holding at least a doctoral degree.
- Master’s degree examination (the Diploma Examination) is conducted as an oral examination in person, on the date and in the room designated by the Graduate Studies Office.
- The Diploma Examination shall be conducted in the language in which the master’s thesis was written.
- The Diploma Examination shall consist of: a presentation of the thesis by the student (maximum duration: 10 minutes), answers to three examination questions relating to the subject matter of the thesis, and the learning outcomes for the given field of study.
- The presentation of the thesis shall be based on the previously prepared presentation referred to in point 1, launched from the APD system by the Chair of the examination board.
- Each response to the examination questions and the presentation shall be assessed separately in accordance with the grading scale applicable at SGH for first- and second-cycle programmes.The award of at least one failing grade shall result in the degree examination being deemed failed. In such a case, the final grade for the degree examination shall be a failing grade.
- In the event of failure at the first attempt or unjustified absence, the student shall be entitled to a second-degree examination date. The result obtained at the second date shall be final.
- The rules governing justification of absence from the degree examination shall be identical to those applicable to absences during examination sessions.
- Once the examination has been deemed passed, the final grade of the degree examination shall be calculated based on the partial grades awarded for the presentation and for each of the three answers, as follows:
- where the examination is passed at the first attempt, the final grade shall be the arithmetic mean of the grade awarded for the presentation and the arithmetic mean of the grades awarded for each of the three answers;
- where the examination is passed at the second attempt, the final grade shall be the arithmetic mean of the grades obtained at both attempts;
- averages shall be rounded to two decimal places.
This Instructions shall apply to students completing or repeating the second semester of the master’s seminar in the academic year 2025/2026 and thereafter.
This Instructions shall enter into force on 26 January 2026.
Second‑Cycle (Master’s Degree ) Diploma Examination – “Old Regulations”, in accordance with the Study Regulations in force up to 30 September 2025.
These regulations apply to students who submitted their diploma theses by the summer semester of the 2024/2025 academic year, or within the extended deadline referred to in § 38(7) of the Study Rules and Regulations.
Detailed rules for setting the date of the diploma examination are provided in the guidelines issued by the Dean of the Graduate Studies.
- Instructions on the Submission of the Master’s Degree Thesis and the Conduct of the Diploma (Master’s Degree) Examination -– “Old Regulations”
Detailed instructions on the organization and course of the diploma examination at university of the
second degree is introduced on the basis of § 39 subpara. 12 of the Regulations of First Studies and
Second Degree and uniform Master’s degrees at SGH Warsaw School of Economics.
1. The second-cycle diploma examination is held in front of an examination board appointed by
the Dean. The board consists of: the Dean of the Master’s Study Program or an academic
teacher authorized by the Dean with at least a PhD degree, as chairman, promoter (thesis
supervisor) and reviewer of the thesis - as members. In special cases, it is permissible for the
reviewer to stay replaced by another academic teacher with at least a PhD degree.
2. The diploma examination is oral.
3. The person taking the exam answers three questions.
The content of the two questions is related to the directional learning outcomes established for
the field of study studies at SGH Warsaw School of Economics.
One question concerns the subject of the prepared diploma thesis.
4. Questions related to the directional learning outcomes are randomly selected from among 100
questions prepared by the relevant program committee of the field of study.
5. Lists of questions related to directional learning outcomes, among which questions are drawn
during the diploma examination, they are open and publicly available on the website of the
Dean’s Office of SGH Warsaw School of Economics.
6. The question about the subject of the work is formulated by the reviewer.
7. Answers to each question are assessed separately based on a grading scale applicable at SGH
for 1st and 2nd degree studies. Receiving at least one assessment as unsatisfactory means
that the exam was not passed. In this case, the assessment the final diploma examination is a
fail grade.
8. In the case of failure to pass the exam on the first date or not absence, the student is entitled to
a second date of the diploma examination. Result the second date of the exam is final.
9. The rules for justifying absences during the diploma examination are the same with the rules of
justifying absences during the examination session. Details are specified in the Dean’s
Instruction on Principles justifying the student’s absence during the exam and the procedure for
obtaining additional exam date.
10. After the examination is considered passed, the final grade for the diploma examination is
issued.
The grade is computed from sub-grades obtained for answers to each of the three questions
according to the following rules
- in the case of passing the exam on the first date, the final grade for the diploma
examination is the arithmetic mean of the grades obtained for answers to each of the
three questions.
- in case of passing the exam on the second date, the final grade for the diploma
examination is the arithmetic mean of the marks for both terms.
- averages are rounded to the nearest hundredths.
Other issues related to the diploma examination as well as the rules and conditions of graduation studies
are governed by Rules And Regulations of Studying in First and Second Cycle Programmes at SGH
Warsaw School of Economics.The instruction comes into force on September 30, 2021.
Major of Study Specific Questions for the Second‑Cycle (Master’s Degree) Diploma Examination
Diploma examination requirements are determined by the study programme in force at the start of a student’s studies. For students who have resumed their studies, the applicable requirements follow the programme under which reinstatement took place.
In case of any doubts or questions, students are kindly requested to contact the student support person assigned to their major.
- Questions for diploma examination applicable for students according to the study program (by the academic year in which they started studying at SGH) 2023/2024
- Questions for diploma examination applicable for students according to the study program (by the academic year in which they started studying at SGH) 2022/2023
- Questions for diploma examination applicable for students according to the study program (by the academic year in which they started studying at SGH) 2021/2022
- Questions for diploma examination applicable for students according to the study program (by the academic year in which they started studying at SGH) 2020/2021
- Joint Degree Programme – Models and Methods of Quantitative Economics – QEM (Diploma Exam Questions)
- Double Diploma Programmes (Diploma Exam Questions)
University of Economics Prague
EDHEC Business School
Nova School of Business and Economics
Toulouse Business School
Université Laval
ZHAW School of Management and Law
Universita degli Studi di Firenze
Technische Universität Berlin
Johannes Gutenberg University
University of Duisburg-Essen
EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht
European University Viadrina
- Questions for diploma examination applicable for students according to the study program (by the academic year in which they started studying at SGH) 2019/2020
- Questions for diploma examination applicable for students according to the study program (by the academic year in which they started studying at SGH) 2018/2019
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Diploma Examination Dates for Second‑Cycle (Master’s) Studies
(Thesis defence dates)
Responsibility for scheduling diploma examinations in theGraduate Studies Office, Ms Agnieszka Zdybel.
Checking the diploma examination date
Information on diploma examination dates is available in the Schedule of Diploma Examinations for Second‑Cycle (Master’s) Studies.
Access to the schedule requires logging in using the SGH email login and password. Searches are conducted by entering the student registration number.
Organisation of diploma examinations
Diploma examinations at SGH are held on weekdays, most commonly between 8:00. and 16:00, on dates determined by the Dean of Graduate Studies.
In order to organise the examination schedule in a way that allows for the most efficient use of the examination board members’ time, examination dates are planned.
The final examination date is communicated at least seven days before the examination, via email sent to the student’s address in the @sgh.waw.pl domain.
Once communicated, the date becomes binding for the student.
Determining and changing the examination date
When considering the scheduling of the diploma examination, students should note the following:
- Both the preliminary and final examination dates can be viewed in the diploma examination scheduling system for second‑cycle (Master’s Degree) studies.
- The diploma examination date, whether preliminary or final, may be set only after all conditions for admission to the examination have been fulfilled.
If an examination date has been scheduled more than seven days before the examination, students may submit an application requesting a change of date.
Such an application must be supported by exceptional and well‑documented circumstances. Each application is considered on an individual basis.
Applications may be submitted:
electronically via USOSweb, or
in paper form via the Polish Post.
The application must be endorsed by the thesis supervisor.
If fewer than seven days remain before the scheduled diploma examination, it is no longer possible to change the examination date.
Important information
Students are strongly advised to check their @sgh.waw.pl email account regularly, as information regarding the diploma examination date is communicated exclusively via this email address, in accordance with § 3 of the Study Regulations.
- Returning the Student ID Card
There is no obligation to return the student ID card. It will be automatically invalidated on the day of the diploma exam.
The right to use a student ID card is granted only to persons who retain the status of a student.
This means that upon graduation (passing the diploma examination) or graduation (on the date when the decision to remove students from the list of students becomes final), these entitlements expire.
Graduate Studies Office
al. Niepodległości 162
building G, office 56
phone: +48 22 564 9884/9944
STUDENT’S SERVICE – GRADUATE STUDIES