Exam tips
What to do in each part of the A2 inburgering exam, and what usually costs people marks.
General tips for all exams
Things that apply to every part of the A2 inburgering exam, before you get to the individual ones.
- Each part stands on its own. You book, sit, and pass every exam separately, and failing one doesn't affect the parts you already passed — you only retake that one. So put your practice time into your weakest part instead of spreading it evenly.
- You only need a bit more than half. 60% is roughly the passing criteria so you only need 10-15% more than the half. That is a very good margin so you can get plenty wrong and still pass. The real risk on exam day isn't the material being too hard — it's freezing up under pressure. Prepare properly, then trust it and stay calm.
- Get comfortable with basic grammar and everyday words. Learn how a simple Dutch sentence is built — verb in second position, basic present and perfect conjugation — before anything else. That one skill carries you through both writing and speaking. Pair it with everyday vocabulary: spelen, praten, eten, lopen, wandelen, and words for school, huis, werk. Being at ease with these common actions and places covers a large share of every exam.
- Never leave a question blank, but answer the right one. Reading, listening, and KNM are all multiple choice, and a wrong guess costs no more than an empty answer — always commit to one. For writing and speaking, check what was actually asked: giving the right detail about the wrong person, or the writer's opinion when the reader's was wanted, is how most marks slip away.
- Practise in the format you'll sit in, and watch your own clock. Reading, listening, and KNM are done on a computer; writing is by hand on paper. Getting used to the right one removes a surprise on the day. Each part also has a fixed total time — don't let one hard question eat the time meant for the rest; skip it, finish what you can, and come back.
- Arrive prepared, and plan for a retake if you need one. You can't sit an exam without the ID listed on your invitation, so bring it and arrive early for check-in. Results don't come on the day — they land in your DUO account a few weeks later. If a part comes back failed, book the retake straight away instead of waiting until the rest are done.
Tips for the writing exam
Schrijven rewards doing exactly what the task asks in simple, correct Dutch.
- Answering the question is worth more than perfect grammar. Task completion is about 60% of your score. An answer that actually addresses what was asked — even with grammar or spelling mistakes — beats a grammatically perfect answer that misses the point. Read the task carefully, understand exactly what it's asking, and answer that, even if the Dutch isn't flawless.
- Keep your answer extremely simple. If it asks what you like, write 'Ik hou van lezen' and stop there. Don't try to add extra lines, extra detail, or a subordinate clause to sound smarter. Say what's asked, nothing more — they're not expecting extra information.
- Manage your own time. This is a paper exam — you track the clock yourself, or rely on an announcement, there's no on-screen timer. Around 35 minutes for 4 questions is comfortably enough, but it's easy to lose track while planning your answer. Keep an eye on the time.
- Practise the past tense, not just present and future. Most people over-prepare present/future phrasing and neglect the past. Be ready to write things like 'Ik ging naar...', 'Ik zag dit', 'Ik at dit'. Past-tense tasks come up and need the same fluency.
- Match the register. Use u for an official body, a landlord, or someone you do not know; je for a friend or classmate. Keep it consistent from the greeting to the sign-off.
- Use the phrases you already know. Openers and closers like Beste meneer/mevrouw, Ik schrijf u omdat..., Met vriendelijke groet are free marks. Learn a handful by heart.
- Leave a minute to reread. Check verb endings, word order after omdat and want, and whether de/het matches. Most fixable errors are found in that last read.
Tips for the reading exam
Lezen is a search task, not a comprehension essay. The answer is in the text.
- You have more margin than you think. It's 25 questions and you only need around 18 correct to pass — about 60%. You can get several wrong, or find two or three texts genuinely hard, and still pass comfortably. Don't let one tough passage rattle you.
- Skim the questions before the text. Knowing what you are looking for turns a slow read into a targeted scan.
- The answer is stated in the passage. You are not asked to infer or to use outside knowledge. If an option needs a leap, it is the wrong one.
- Wrong options often reuse words from the text. Both distractors are usually built from names, numbers, or phrases that really appear in the passage. Seeing a familiar word in an option doesn't make it correct — go back and check what the text actually says at that point.
- Watch for niet, geen, and nooit. One small word flips the meaning of a sentence, and options are often built around exactly that.
- Do not stall on unknown words. Use the sentence around it, or skip it. You can usually answer the question without knowing every word.
- Check the question type. Who is this text for, what does the writer want, where would you find this: these ask about the purpose of the text, not its details.
- Practise against the clock. Use the timer setup on this page so pacing across several texts feels normal before exam day.
Tips for the listening exam
Luisteren moves at its own pace, so most of the work happens before the audio starts.
- You have more margin than you think. It's 25 questions and you only need around 18 correct to pass — about 60%. A few missed fragments won't sink you, so don't panic if one clip goes by too fast.
- Read the question before the audio plays. You get a few seconds. Use them to know what you are listening for instead of hearing the fragment cold.
- You can replay the audio as many times as you need. There's no limit on replays, so if something isn't clear, listen again rather than guessing. Get the general situation on the first listen, then replay to pin down the specific detail.
- Listen for numbers, times, and places. Prices, house numbers, days, and appointment times are the details questions are most often built on.
- Watch for the self-correction trap. A speaker often says one answer first, then corrects it with maar, eigenlijk, dat klopt niet, or nee toch. The real answer is the correction, not the first thing said — replay if you're not sure which one landed.
- A repeated word is often a trap. An option that echoes a word from the audio is not automatically right. Match the meaning, not the sound.
- Budget your replays against the clock. Unlimited replay is per audio, not per exam — you still have a fixed total time for all 25 questions. Use extra listens on the ones that matter, not on every fragment out of habit.
- Get used to normal speed Dutch. Everyday listening outside practice, such as radio, announcements, or a podcast, makes exam audio feel slower.
Tips for the KNM exam
KNM is about how daily life in the Netherlands actually works, not about facts to memorise.
- Know your margin. It's around 40 questions in 45 minutes, and you need roughly 65% to pass. That's a bit tighter than Reading or Listening, so don't rush through the easy ones just to save time for the hard ones.
- Think practical, not trivia. Questions are about the huisarts, the gemeente, work, school, and housing: what you would really do in that situation.
- Answer as things work here. The expected answer reflects normal Dutch practice, which may differ from what is usual in your home country.
- Learn who you go to for what. Huisarts before a specialist, gemeente for registration and documents, UWV for benefits and work, school for anything about your child.
- Pick the safe, normal, first step. When a scenario gives you an urgent-sounding option and a calm, procedural one, the correct answer is almost always the calm, correct-order step, not the dramatic one. Save 112 for real emergencies, not every health question.
- Watch for the polite, direct option. Dutch norms favour saying something openly and making an appointment over avoiding the issue or turning up unannounced.
- Never leave a question blank. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so eliminate what you can and choose.
- Read the explanation when you are wrong. KNM topics repeat. Understanding why an answer was wrong once usually covers a whole cluster of questions.