Taking the exam
You take the exam at the embassy or consulate. You will get the result within 8 weeks.
What to take with you
Take with you to the exam:
- confirmation of the exam appointment
- valid passport
- colour passport photo
The passport photo must be a recent photograph and comply with the rules for passport photos.
If you don’t have a valid passport, please contact the embassy or consulate well before the exam takes place.
At the embassy or consulate
Make sure you arrive at the embassy or consulate on time. On the day of the exam:
- you go to the reception desk
- you show your passport
- your fingerprints will be taken
- all the data are entered in the computer.
The exam
You take the exam on a computer. You can take the entire exam in one day if you wish, but this is not compulsory.
If you choose to take the entire exam in one day, it will take about 2 hours to complete. The exam will unfold as follows:
- instructions for the Knowledge of Dutch Society exam
- Knowledge of Dutch Society exam
- break
- instructions for the Reading exam
- Reading exam
- break
- instructions for the Speaking exam
- Speaking exam
Additional information about the exam content can be found under ‘Taking practice exams’.
Exam result
You will get the result within 8 weeks, and sometimes sooner, by email or letter from DUO.
If you also gave the email address of your sponsor, e.g. your partner, when applying for the exam, they will also be sent the result by email.
The Knowledge of Dutch Society (KNS) and reading exams are computer-marked. The speaking exam is hand-marked based on the assessment model. You will receive a mark of between 1 and 10 for each exam. To pass, you need to achieve a mark of 6 or above for all 3 exams.
If you fail part of the exam, you will only need to re-take that part. You will need to register and pay again for the part you are retaking.