The inburgering exam is not one test. It is a set of separate exams, one for each skill, plus one about Dutch society. Each has its own time limit, its own way of answering and its own way of being marked. Knowing exactly what each part asks of you is the cheapest preparation there is: nothing on exam day should be a surprise.
Everything below comes from the official rules: DUO's examination regulations and the description of the state exam by the College voor Toetsen en Examens. The sources are listed at the end.
Which level is yours
There are two levels of language exam. Which one you take depends on the law you fall under, and Mijn Inburgering shows which law that is.
- The 2021 law applies if you had to start integrating on or after 1 January 2022. Its standard level is B1, and your municipality (gemeente) writes your route and level into your personal plan. If B1 proves too hard after real effort — at least 600 hours of lessons — the gemeente can let you take some or all of the language exams at A2 instead.
- The older law applies if you had to start before 1 January 2022. Its language exams are at A2.
What the two levels are:
- A2: the language exams DUO runs for inburgering, together with the knowledge exam KNM.
- B1: according to DUO's own page, the B1 and B2 language exams are the state exam Dutch as a second language (staatsexamen Nederlands als tweede taal). They are run by the College voor Toetsen en Examens, so their rules are that body's.
Both levels test the same four skills: reading (Lezen), listening (Luisteren), writing (Schrijven) and speaking (Spreken).
The A2 exams
| Part | How you answer | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Lezen | On a computer, texts on screen | up to 65 minutes |
| Luisteren | On a computer, with audio and video | 45 minutes |
| Schrijven | On paper, with a pen | up to 40 minutes |
| Spreken | On a computer, answering video clips | up to 35 minutes |
| KNM | On a computer, with audio and video | up to 45 minutes |
Before each of the four language exams there are fifteen minutes of explanation. They do not count as exam time.
The rules allow no aid that an assignment does not expressly permit. The regulations name study books, cheat sheets, pens and electronic devices; the blue pen for the writing exam is the one you are given.
The B1 exams
| Part | What it contains | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Lezen | 6 texts with 35 or 36 multiple-choice questions (the sources differ) | 110 minutes |
| Luisteren | About 40 multiple-choice questions on 5 or more fragments, 1 to 3 of them video | 90 minutes |
| Schrijven | 8 sentence tasks (zinstaken), 2 partial writing tasks (deelschrijftaken) and 2 short writing tasks (korte schrijftaken) | 100 minutes |
| Spreken | 8 short answers of 20 seconds and 8 longer answers of 30 seconds | about 25 to 30 minutes (the sources differ) |
In speaking, the order is fixed: each recording starts by itself and you cannot go back to an earlier question.
For reading and writing you may bring one paper dictionary, the Van Dale Pocketwoordenboek NT2. It is not allowed in listening or speaking. No electronic aid is allowed in any part.
KNM: knowledge of Dutch society
KNM stands for Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij. It is taken on a computer, with audio and video, in up to 45 minutes. Since 1 July 2025 its content follows new final attainment levels (eindtermen), published in the Staatscourant. They cover eight themes:
- Werk en inkomen: work and income
- Omgangsvormen, waarden en normen: manners, values and norms
- Wonen: housing
- Gezondheid en gezondheidszorg: health and health care
- Geschiedenis en geografie: history and geography
- Instanties: public bodies and organisations
- Staatsinrichting en rechtsstaat: how the state is organised, and the rule of law
- Onderwijs en opvoeding: education and raising children
The 2025 version asks what you know rather than how you would behave. It also adds subjects such as the colonial past and slavery, the Holocaust, organ donation, and holidays and days of remembrance, Keti Koti among them.
How you get your result
For the A2 exams and KNM, DUO's rules say how marking works. Reading, listening and KNM are marked automatically. Writing is marked by certified human assessors, and speaking partly by people and partly automatically. You receive your result by letter, and you can also see it in Mijn Inburgering: passed (geslaagd) or not passed (niet geslaagd), with a grade. DUO's results page says getting your result takes up to eight weeks, but since 31 July 2026 DUO has said that results for A2 speaking and writing can take up to sixteen weeks.
For B1, the state exam's own rules apply, and there the pass mark is public: each part is passed with a scale score of 500 or more.
What this means for how you practise
A few things follow directly from the rules above:
- For A2 writing, practise by hand. Typing teaches you less than you think about spelling, because the paper has no spell checker. Write e-mails and short texts on paper, against the clock, and then check them.
- For B1 listening, practise without pausing. Play a fragment once, answer, and only then listen again to see what you missed. That is the habit the exam needs.
- Learn KNM by theme. Eight themes are easier to cover than a pile of facts. Take one theme at a time and learn its words in Dutch as you go.
- Use the official practice material. DUO publishes practice exams for each A2 part and for KNM; for B1, the state exam has its own free practice exams online. Do at least one of each, so the screens and the question types are familiar before the real day.
If you are not sure yet which level applies to you, ask your municipality before you start: the two levels are prepared for differently. Each part also has its own page, with a sample question to try: start from the inburgering exam page.