The Dutch inburgering exam in English: parts, levels (A2 and B1), KNM, how to prepare
The inburgeringsexamen is the exam the Netherlands asks of most people who move here from outside the EU. It has five parts (reading, listening, writing, speaking and KNM, a test about Dutch society), each taken separately at DUO, at A2 or B1 depending on which law applies to you. This page explains the system in plain English and ends with the way to prepare that worked for me: read every day.
Two laws, two levels
The level you need depends on when you became inburgeringsplichtig (obliged to integrate), not on when you arrived or how good your Dutch is. The IND letter that starts your obligation names the law.
| Wet inburgering 2013 | Wet inburgering 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | People who became inburgeringsplichtig before 1 January 2022 | People who became inburgeringsplichtig on or after 1 January 2022 |
| Language level | A2 for all four skills | B1 is the standard. In the B1 route a part can be lowered to A2 after at least 600 lesson hours when B1 is not feasible |
| Other parts | KNM, ONA (job market orientation) and the participation statement | KNM, the participation statement (PVT) and the labour market module (MAP), through your municipality |
| Who guides you | You arrange your own course; DUO checks the deadline | Your municipality: an intake, a personal plan (PIP) and, for asylum status holders, the course |
| Deadline | 3 years | 3 years from the start of your obligation; extension is possible with a reason |
| Routes | One route | Three: the B1 route, the education route (onderwijsroute) for young people heading to a Dutch degree, and the Z route (zelfredzaamheid) for people for whom exams are not realistic |
Under the 2021 law the municipality decides your route in the first weeks, after an intake and a learnability test, and writes it into your PIP (Persoonlijk plan Inburgering en Participatie). In the B1 route your course is at a school with the Blik op Werk quality mark and the exams are DUO's. If you came as a refugee (asylum status holder), the municipality pays the course and the first two attempts at each required exam. Family and work migrants arrange and pay their own course, with a DUO loan if they need one.
The five exams
| Part | How | Time at A2 | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lezen (reading) | Computer, multiple choice | 65 minutes | Answer questions about letters, emails, adverts, signs and short articles. |
| Luisteren (listening) | Computer, multiple choice, with video | 45 minutes | Short conversations and announcements: at work, at school, at a counter. |
| Schrijven (writing) | On paper | 40 minutes | Fill in a form, write a short note or email, finish sentences. |
| Spreken (speaking) | Computer, you record your answers | 30 minutes | Answer questions about a situation, say what you see, give a short reaction. |
| KNM (society) | Computer, multiple choice, with video | 45 minutes | Work, health, education, housing, history, politics and how people deal with each other. |
You book each part separately in Mijn Inburgering, on a date and at a DUO exam location you choose, and you can spread the five over months. Each attempt costs 50 euro, so 250 euro for the set. Results arrive within about eight weeks, and a failed part is retaken on its own. The participation parts (PVT and MAP, or ONA under the old law) are completed with your municipality or your course provider, not at DUO.
A2 versus B1: what changes
The format is the same. The texts are not. At A2 you read a letter from the school, an advert for a flat, a short message from a colleague: everyday texts with short sentences and about 1,000 common words. At B1 you read an article from a free newspaper, a letter from the municipality with conditions, a longer email at work: full sub-clauses, opinions, and about 2,500 words. Listening moves from announcements to conversations with several speakers. Writing moves from a form and a short note to an email with an argument. Speaking moves from describing what you see to explaining why.
For reading, the honest distance between the two levels is about a year of daily reading. That is why the 2021 law allows a step down to A2 after 600 hours when B1 is out of reach, and why the fastest way up to B1 is not more grammar but more pages at the level you can follow.
KNM: Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij
KNM is a 45-minute computer exam with multiple-choice questions, many of them after a short video. It covers work and income, health, education, housing, history and geography, politics and law, and how people deal with each other in the Netherlands. It is in Dutch, and it is the part people underestimate: the Dutch is easy, the facts are many. Most course books have a KNM chapter, and the official practice exam at inburgeren.nl shows the kind of question. The pleasant way to learn the facts is to read short texts about Dutch life: the doctor, the municipality, the holidays, the history in the Canon van Nederland. Several of the free texts on this site are written for exactly that.
What it costs
- 50 euro per exam part per attempt: 250 euro for the four language parts and KNM. ONA, under the 2013 law, is 40 euro.
- Asylum status holders under the 2021 law: the municipality pays the course and the first two attempts at each required exam.
- Everyone else pays the course (schools set the price, often 10 to 20 euro per lesson hour) and the exams. People who have to integrate can borrow up to 10,000 euro from DUO; DUO pays the school or the exam directly.
- A retake costs the same as the first attempt. One prepared attempt is cheaper than two quick ones.
The official links
- inburgeren.nl: DUO, in Dutch and English. Mijn Inburgering (booking, results, your deadline) and the free practice exams for every part.
- duo.nl, inburgeren: the rules, the loan and the fees.
- rijksoverheid.nl: the government page on the Wet inburgering 2021 and the routes.
- ind.nl: the IND on residence permits and the requirements for naturalisation.
- blikopwerk.nl: the register of language schools with the quality mark a DUO loan requires.
How to prepare: a reading strategy
Four of the five exams test how quickly you understand Dutch, and the fifth, KNM, tests facts you read about. Reading is the one skill you can practise every day without a teacher, and every word you learn in a text comes back in the listening exam and in your own writing and speaking. This is how I would set it up.
- Read one short text at your level every day, twice: once alone, once with the audio. Ten minutes. Tap the words you do not know; learn the five that come back.
- Once a week, do texts in the exam format against the clock: read the question first, then find the sentence that answers it. The six texts on the A2 exam practice page come as a free PDF.
- From the third month, read a book at your level, one chapter a week, and answer the questions after each chapter. Stamina is what the longer B1 texts test.
- A month before each exam, do the official practice exam for that part at inburgeren.nl, on a computer, and write down what kind of question you got wrong.
- Speak and write about what you read: one sentence a day about the text, said aloud and then written down. That covers the two productive exams with the words you already know.
Practise here
- Free A2 texts about daily life in the Netherlands, with audio, a glossary and questions.
- Six texts in the exam format, with the questions, the answers and a PDF to print.
- The Dutch A2 exam: the sample text, the common traps and a 12-week plan.
- Saïdjah en Adinda at A2: a whole book at the exam level, with a free first chapter.
Do I have to take the inburgering exam?
If you are from outside the EU, the EEA, Switzerland or Turkey and have a residence permit for a non-temporary purpose (family, asylum, some work permits), usually yes. EU citizens, students and most knowledge migrants do not. The IND tells you in a letter when your obligation starts; DUO or your municipality follows up with the deadline.
Can I take the exams at A2 under the 2021 law?
In two cases. The municipality can place you in the Z route, which has no exams but a course and participation hours. Or, in the B1 route, it can lower one or more parts to A2 after at least 600 lesson hours when B1 is not feasible for you. Both decisions are the municipality's and go into your PIP.
Is the Staatsexamen NT2 accepted instead?
Yes. A Staatsexamen NT2 diploma (Programma I at B1 or Programma II at B2) replaces the four language exams. You still complete KNM and the participation parts.
How long does it take to prepare?
From zero to A2 in about a year at five hours a week; to B1 in about two years. Daily reading shortens both. In my experience the people who read every day pass the reading exam first, and the other parts follow within months.