The B1 language exam: staatsexamen NT2 explained

The language exam at level B1

Part 1 / 7

Part 1 · 2 min

B1 is a staatsexamen NT2, not a bigger A2 exam

This is the first thing that goes wrong. People think: I have seen A2, B1 is the same but harder. That is not correct. The inburgeringsexamen at A2 and the staatsexamen NT2 at B1 are two different exams, from two different departments of DUO, at different locations, each with its own fee and its own uitslagtermijn (the time until you get your result).

Inburgeringsexamen A2

For the Z-route and the Wet 2013

Where

Six exam locations: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rijswijk, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Zwolle

Registering

Mijn Inburgering

Parts

Lezen, Luisteren, Schrijven, Spreken + KNM

Schrijven

With pen and paper

Staatsexamen NT2 (B1 and B2)

For the B1-route and the onderwijsroute

Where

Separate DUO locations for the staatsexamen NT2

Registering

Mijn Inburgering, and the information is on staatsexamensnt2.nl

Parts

The same four language parts + KNM

Duration

Longer: 110, 90, 100 and about 30 minutes

You take the kennisexamens and the language exams at level A2 at six exam locations: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rijswijk, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Zwolle. The language exams at level B1 and B2 are staatsexamens NT2; you take those at separate locations of DUO. You register through Mijn Inburgering.

Sources: inburgeren.nl — Examenplaatsen · inburgeren.nl — Aanmelden voor het examen — accessed 24-08-2026

Please note: Zwolle is moving on 1 October 2026, and there are no exams there from 18 up to and including 30 September 2026. That affects the A2 locations. Always check your location in your oproep (exam invitation letter), not in a guide.

Part 3 · 3 min

The four parts at B1

The same four parts as at A2 — Lezen (reading), Luisteren (listening), Schrijven (writing) and Spreken (speaking) — and all four longer. That extra time is not a present: the texts are longer and you have to produce more yourself.

Part	A2	B1
Lezen	65 minutes	110 minutes
Luisteren	45 minutes	90 minutes
Schrijven	40 minutes, with pen and paper	100 minutes
Spreken	35 minutes	about 30 minutes

DUO on the language exams: Lezen A2 takes 65 minutes and Lezen B1 110 minutes; Luisteren A2 takes 45 minutes and Luisteren B1 90 minutes; Schrijven A2 you do with pen and paper and it takes 40 minutes, Schrijven B1 takes 100 minutes; Spreken A2 takes 35 minutes and Spreken B1 about 30 minutes.

Source: inburgeren.nl — Taalexamens A2, B1 en B2 — accessed 24-08-2026

We do not say how many questions there are. For A2 you can read that off DUO's own practice exams; for B1 DUO does not publish it anywhere. Every site that promises you an exact number of questions at B1 has made it up. What is available is on staatsexamensnt2.nl.

Lezen

Longer, connected texts: a news item, a leaflet, an article. You have to find not only what it says, but also why it says it.

Luisteren

Conversations and fragments at normal speed, with more speakers and more detours. You get almost twice as much time as at A2 — and you need it.

Schrijven

On the computer, and longer than A2. You no longer fill in a form but write connected text: a letter, a message, a reply with a reason in it.

Spreken

You record your answers, just as at A2 — but with longer turns. At B1 an answer of four words is not an answer.

Marieke Schipper · NT2 teacher

The difference between A2 and B1 is not in the number of words you know. It is in connecting. At A2 you may say separate sentences: "I am not going. I am ill." At B1 you are expected to make one story out of it: "I am not coming tomorrow, because I am ill — I hope it will work next week." That is one sentence with three pieces in it, and you do not practise that by learning word lists by heart.

B1 is a staatsexamen NT2, not a bigger A2 exam

Inburgeringsexamen A2

For the Z-route and the Wet 2013

Where

Six exam locations: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rijswijk, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Zwolle

Registering

Mijn Inburgering

Parts

Lezen, Luisteren, Schrijven, Spreken + KNM

Schrijven

With pen and paper

Staatsexamen NT2 (B1 and B2)

For the B1-route and the onderwijsroute

Where

Separate DUO locations for the staatsexamen NT2

Registering

Mijn Inburgering, and the information is on staatsexamensnt2.nl

Parts

The same four language parts + KNM

Duration

Longer: 110, 90, 100 and about 30 minutes

Sources: inburgeren.nl — Examenplaatsen · inburgeren.nl — Aanmelden voor het examen — accessed 24-08-2026

Who takes the exams at B1?

Not everyone. Your gemeente (municipality) decides after the brede intake and the leerbaarheidstoets which leerroute (learning route) you follow, and the route decides your level.

B1-route

The standard route under the Wet 2021. You take the language exams at level B1, within three years.

Onderwijsroute

Mainly for young people who want to go to mbo, hbo or university. You reach B1 or higher.

Z-route

You learn Dutch at level A1. You may take exams at A2, but you do not have to. So no B1.

Are you doing your inburgering under the Wet 2013, the old act? Then your language exams are at A2 or higher, and B1 is a choice, not an obligation.

The gemeente decides on the basis of the brede intake which learning route you follow. In the B1-route you take the language exams at level B1 within 3 years. The onderwijsroute is mainly for young people who want to go to mbo, hbo or university and leads to B1 or B2. In the Z-route you learn Dutch at language level A1 and you may take language exams at level A2, but you do not have to.

Source: inburgeren.nl — U gaat inburgeren — accessed 24-08-2026

The four parts at B1

Part	A2	B1
Lezen	65 minutes	110 minutes
Luisteren	45 minutes	90 minutes
Schrijven	40 minutes, with pen and paper	100 minutes
Spreken	35 minutes	about 30 minutes

Source: inburgeren.nl — Taalexamens A2, B1 en B2 — accessed 24-08-2026

Lezen

Longer, connected texts: a news item, a leaflet, an article. You have to find not only what it says, but also why it says it.

Luisteren

Conversations and fragments at normal speed, with more speakers and more detours. You get almost twice as much time as at A2 — and you need it.

Schrijven

On the computer, and longer than A2. You no longer fill in a form but write connected text: a letter, a message, a reply with a reason in it.

Spreken

You record your answers, just as at A2 — but with longer turns. At B1 an answer of four words is not an answer.

Marieke Schipper · NT2 teacher

What it costs and when you get your result

Here we stay vague on purpose, and that is not laziness. The staatsexamen NT2 has its own fee, separate from the €50 per part that DUO charges for the inburgeringsexamens, and it changes. The same goes for the uitslagtermijn: DUO says "within 8 weeks" for the kennisexamens and the language exams at A2, but that is not the same promise as for the staatsexamen NT2.

Check this yourself, before you register

The current examengeld (exam fee) is on duo.nl — examengeld staatsexamen NT2
The organisation of the exam is described on staatsexamensnt2.nl

Do not count on the A2 figures

€50 per part belongs to the inburgeringsexamens, not to the staatsexamen NT2
"Result within 8 weeks" is DUO’s promise for the kennisexamens and the language exams at A2
If you plan your B1 on those figures, you are planning on the wrong ones

Planning with a deadline? Count backwards from your result, not from your exam date — and not from today. For most people the queue before the exam is the problem, not the deadline itself.

Put your own dates in a rowThe timeline maker works out your registration and start dates from your own deadline. No DigiD, no BSN.

Make your timeline

And if B1 turns out to be too high?

That happens, and there is a way out — but only one, and with conditions. From the B1-route you can, under conditions, move down (afschalen) to A2. From the onderwijsroute or the Z-route that is not possible.

At least 600 hours of language lessons

At a language school with a keurmerk (quality mark). Without those hours there is nothing to assess.

You can show you did your best

Attendance, effort, results. Your school records this; the gemeente checks it.

The gemeente decides

Not DUO and not your school. Ask for it at your klantmanager (case manager), and do not wait until your last months.

Moving down (afschalen) from B1 to A2 is only possible from the B1-route. For that you must have followed at least 600 course hours of NT2 at an institution with a keurmerk, and you must have made demonstrably sufficient effort. The gemeente checks that and decides.

Sources: Besluit inburgering 2021, artikel 5.5 · inburgeren.nl — U gaat inburgeren — accessed 24-08-2026

Marieke Schipper · NT2 teacher

Do not wait with this conversation until you have failed twice. I would rather have someone say after one year "I think B1 is not going to work" than that we find out in month 32. Moving down takes time — those 600 hours have to be there first, and after that the gemeente still has to look at it.

B1 and your passport: be careful what you read

A lot is written as if you need B1 to become Dutch. That is not the case at the moment. For naturalisatie (naturalisation) the minimum is A2. Raising it to B1 is a wetsvoorstel (a bill), not law in force.

For a residence permit for an indefinite period and for naturalisation you need an inburgeringsdiploma at level A2 at least. Raising that requirement to B1 is a bill (wetsvoorstel) and not law in force.

Source: IND — Inburgering bij een sterkere verblijfsvergunning en naturalisatie — accessed 24-08-2026

That your diploma states your level is correct: your inburgeringsdiploma shows whether you passed at A2, B1 or B2, and you download it for free in Mijn Diploma's.

You can download your diploma in Mijn Diplomas. That is free. The diploma states at which level you passed the exams: A2, B1 or B2.

Source: inburgeren.nl — Diploma — accessed 24-08-2026

Practising at B1

On this site there are practice exams at B1 for Lezen, Schrijven and Spreken, written and checked in the same way as the A2 exams. Luisteren at B1 is not there yet: there is no reliable reference material for it, and then we prefer to make nothing up.

For Lezen at B1 there is a free practice exam of ten questions ready, without an account. After every answer you see straight away why it is right or wrong.

Try B1 Lezen for freeTen questions at level B1, with an explanation after every answer. No account needed.

Start the free practice exam

Frequently asked questions

Is the B1 exam the same exam as A2, only harder?

No. The language exam at A2 is the inburgeringsexamen; at B1 and B2 you take the staatsexamen NT2. That is a different exam, at different locations, with its own fee and its own uitslagtermijn. The parts have the same names and take longer: 110, 90, 100 and about 30 minutes.

How many questions are there in the Lezen exam at B1?

DUO does not publish that anywhere, and we do not make it up. For A2 you can read it off DUO's own practice exams; for B1 no such source exists. What is officially known about the staatsexamen NT2 is on staatsexamensnt2.nl.

Who decides whether I have to do A2 or B1?

Your gemeente, after the brede intake and the leerbaarheidstoets. In the B1-route you take the language exams at B1 within three years, in the onderwijsroute at B1 or higher, and in the Z-route you learn A1 and may take A2 exams. What applies to you is in your PIP.

Can I move down from B1 to A2?

Only from the B1-route, and under conditions. You must have followed at least 600 course hours of NT2 at an institution with a keurmerk and have made demonstrably sufficient effort. The gemeente checks that and decides about it, not DUO and not your school.

Do I need B1 to become Dutch?

At the moment, no. For naturalisation and for a residence permit for an indefinite period the minimum is A2. Raising that requirement to B1 is a bill and not yet law in force. Your diploma does state which level you passed: A2, B1 or B2.

What does the staatsexamen NT2 at B1 cost?

It has its own fee, separate from the €50 per part that applies to the inburgeringsexamens. Because that amount changes, it is not stated here: check the current examengeld on duo.nl under the staatsexamen NT2, before you register.

Reviewed by Marieke Schipper, certified NT2 teacher — August 24, 2026 This page is a translation of that reviewed Dutch text; the translation itself was not reviewed. The Dutch version is the source.

Practise an exam at B1

Free practice exam Lezen at level B1, with an explanation after every answer. Without an account.

Start the free practice exam