<bold>Introduction</bold>. One of the elements of the self-knowledge system is self-esteem. This system is continuously organized into a certain kind of a distinctive structure of ideas and notions. The aims of this paper, is to define the sense of self-esteem among first year physical education students. <bold>Material and methods</bold>. The method applied in the research was a diagnostic survey accompanied by questionnaire based on Fitts's “The Tennessee Self-concept Scale”, in a simplified term TSCS. The survey was conducted in Academic Year 2008/2009 among 667 respondents in eight state and non-state Polish academies. <bold>Results</bold>. The conducted survey indicates that there is an obvious tendency for students to have high self-esteem. Such a high level falls within the remit of the majority of aspects: moral-ethical self, family self and personal-self. Moreover, a high level of self-esteem was recognized in students' global sense of self-esteem and in self-esteem concerning personal-self. Crucially, the medium level of self-esteem concerning behaviour was declared by a considerable percentage of the respondents. The high level of global self-esteem was definitely assigned to female students whereas the medium level was noticed among male students. <bold>Conclusion</bold>. One of the key elements of human personality is the sense of selfesteem which influences both the level of self-acceptance and self-awareness. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to develop these skills and the psychophysical characteristics in the process of upbringing and educating.