The KNM exam explained in English: what is on it and how to practice

What is the KNM exam?

KNM stands for Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij, knowledge of Dutch society. It is one of the five parts of the inburgeringsexamen, the Dutch integration exam. Four parts test your Dutch: reading, listening, writing and speaking. KNM tests what you know about how the Netherlands works. Who do you call at night when your family doctor is closed? Who pays your wages when you are sick? Who chooses the mayor? These are the kinds of facts KNM is about.

For most learners the Dutch of the exam is not the hard part; the number of facts is. That is why KNM is worth preparing theme by theme, even when your Dutch is good.

Who takes KNM

KNM is part of the inburgering under both integration laws. Under the Wet inburgering 2013, for people whose obligation to integrate started before 2022, it is an exam next to the four language exams at A2. Under the Wet inburgering 2021, it is an exam in the B1 route and in the education route (onderwijsroute). In the Z route, for people for whom exams are not realistic, you do not have to take a KNM exam: KNM is part of the lessons, and the route ends with a final interview with the municipality.

A Staatsexamen NT2 diploma replaces the four language exams, but not KNM. Which law applies to you is in the DUO letter that starts your obligation; under the 2021 law, your route is in the personal plan (PIP) from your municipality. The whole system, with both laws and all five parts, is on the inburgering exam page.

The eight KNM themes

The exam goals of KNM are grouped in eight themes. Their official names are Dutch; the table gives each in English too, with what it covers. Since 1 July 2025 the exam follows renewed goals, with more attention to the self-determination of women (a woman decides for herself how she lives) and to the Holocaust.

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Every theme has a text on this site in easy Dutch (A2), with questions. Seven have a page of their own, with a word list too; the text for Institutions is on the main KNM page. These pages are in Dutch, the buttons and headings too, because they are written for learners who prepare in Dutch. Tap an underlined word and you see its meaning in English.

• Work and income: Werk en inkomen
• Manners, values and norms: Omgangsvormen, waarden en normen
• Housing: Wonen in Nederland
• Health and health care: Gezondheidszorg in Nederland
• History and geography: Geschiedenis van Nederland, and De Canon van Nederland on the 50 windows of Dutch history
• Institutions: the short text and its questions are on KNM in easy Dutch
• Government and the rule of law: Hoe werkt Nederland?
• Education and upbringing: Onderwijs en opvoeding

How the KNM exam works

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You book the exam yourself in Mijn Inburgering, where you choose a date and a DUO exam location. The first free place can be more than six weeks away, so book as soon as you know when you want to take it. Each attempt costs 50 euro. If you came as a refugee and the 2021 law applies to you, the municipality pays your first two attempts; everyone else pays, if needed with the DUO loan for integration.

The real questions are secret. The official practice exam at inburgeren.nl shows the format as it is now. Do it on a computer a few weeks before your exam, so nothing on the day is new.

How to practice for the KNM exam

KNM is a knowledge exam, so the work is learning facts. Reading about them in easy Dutch teaches you the facts and the Dutch words the questions use at the same time. One theme a week is a calm pace; two a week works when your exam is close.

1. Start with KNM in easy Dutch: a short A2 text for each theme, two questions with the answers, and a free PDF of all eight to print. The page is in Dutch, written for learners at A2.
2. Then read the longer text for the same theme, from the list above. Write down the words you did not know: many of them are words the exam uses.
3. When you have done all eight, take the KNM practice exam on this site: 24 questions, three per theme, with the right answer and a one-line explanation after each, and your score at the end. It is in Dutch, and the questions are for practice, not real exam questions.
4. Reread the themes where you made mistakes. Then do the official practice exam at inburgeren.nl.
5. Between the themes, keep reading about Dutch life in the free texts below. They have an English glossary and questions.

KNM words to know in Dutch

The exam is in Dutch only, so learn the names of the institutions and the key words of each theme in Dutch, not only what they mean. These come back across the themes:

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See it in a text

The theme pages say these facts in short, clear sentences. Each sentence below is quoted word for word from its text.

• Kan het niet wachten? Bel dan de huisartsenpost. If it cannot wait, call the after-hours doctor service. (In the evening, at night, on weekends and on public holidays, when the family doctor is closed. Gezondheidszorg in Nederland, A2)
• De burgemeester kies je niet. De gemeenteraad zoekt een burgemeester. Daarna benoemt de regering de burgemeester. You do not choose the mayor. The municipal council looks for a mayor. Then the government appoints the mayor. (Hoe werkt Nederland?, A2)
• Je krijgt ook vakantiegeld. Dat is minstens acht procent van je loon. Meestal krijg je het in mei of juni. You also get vacation pay. That is at least eight percent of your wages. You usually get it in May or June. (Werk en inkomen, A2)
• Kom je langer dan vier maanden in Nederland wonen? Of verhuis je binnen Nederland? Dan schrijf je je in bij de gemeente. Dat moet binnen vijf dagen na je verhuizing. Are you coming to live in the Netherlands for more than four months? Or are you moving within the Netherlands? Then you register with the municipality. You have to do that within five days of your move. (Wonen in Nederland, A2)

Read more about life in the Netherlands

These free texts are about the same themes. Each has an English glossary, a word list and questions, and the explanations around the text are in English.

• Work and income: Solliciteren: het eerste gesprek (A2), Thuiswerken: twee meningen (B1) and Moet je op je werk Nederlands spreken? (B1).
• Manners, values and norms: Een taalmaatje in de bibliotheek (B1).
• Housing: De buurvrouw van boven (A2) and Statiegeld op blikjes en flesjes (B1).
• Health and health care: Bij de huisarts (A2).
• History and geography: De Afsluitdijk (A2), Koningsdag in Amsterdam (A2), De watersnood van 1953 (B1) and De Elfstedentocht (B1).
• Government and the rule of law: De wolf is terug (B1), on a sheep farmer, the damage and the rules for the wolf.

Read next

De Afsluitdijk is a free A2 text from the Canon van Nederland: a dike of 32 kilometers, finished in 1932, that turned the Zuiderzee into the IJsselmeer. It has an English glossary and questions. More texts at the same level are in the free A2 texts.

For a whole book at A2, the volume closest to KNM is Saïdjah and Adinda, out now in paperback: the love story from Max Havelaar, the book Multatuli published in 1860 and one of the windows of the Canon van Nederland, retold in easy Dutch. Dracula is out at the same level, and every volume is on the Dutch Readers page.