How does the inburgering exam at A2 work? The parts at a glance

The inburgering exam has several parts. Which ones you have to take depends on the law you fall under (Wet inburgering 2013 or Wet inburgering 2021) and on the plan your municipality makes with you. Always check inburgeren.nl or ask your municipality. This page explains what the A2 parts look like.

The five parts at level A2

• Speaking (35 minutes): on the computer. You watch short films and answer questions.
• Listening (45 minutes): on the computer. You listen to texts and films and answer questions.
• Reading (65 minutes): on the computer. You read texts and answer questions.
• Writing (40 minutes): with pen and paper. You do 4 writing tasks, for example a short letter or a form.
• KNM, knowledge of Dutch society (45 minutes): on the computer. The questions cover themes such as housing and work and income.

Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing test your Dutch. KNM tests what you know about rules and habits in the Netherlands. You do not need perfect Dutch for KNM, but you do have to be able to read the questions.

When do you get the result?

For Speaking and Writing it takes about 16 weeks. The other parts usually have a result within 8 weeks.

How to prepare

1. Learn words by theme. Start with the word list.
2. Practise with an exam. Try the practice exams and get used to the form of the questions.
3. Use the official practice exams. DUO publishes them for every part on inburgeren.nl. Speaking does not work in Safari there.
4. Read and listen to Dutch every day. A few minutes a day helps more than one long evening.

This is not an official DUO website. For rules, costs and dates, what inburgeren.nl says is what counts.