In Luisteren (listening) you hear conversations and announcements and answer questions about them. It goes fast, and you cannot go back in time — that is why this is the part where preparation pays off most.
Machine translation: this page was translated automatically from the reviewed Dutch text and has not been checked by a person.
In short
You sit at a computer with headphones on. You see short films and hear texts, and after that you get questions with answers to choose from.
| A2 | B1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | 45 minutes | 90 minutes |
| Where | On the computer, at a DUO exam location | Staatsexamen NT2, its own locations |
| In DUO's practice exams | 25 questions | see staatsexamensnt2.nl |
| What you hear | Short conversations, telephone calls, announcements, public address messages | Longer conversations and longer informative texts |
DUO: "You take the Luisteren exam at level A2 on the computer. You get questions about short films and you listen to texts. The exam takes 45 minutes." The Luisteren exam at level B1 (staatsexamen Nt2) takes 90 minutes; information about the content is on staatsexamensnt2.nl.
Sources: inburgeren.nl — Taalexamens · Staatsexamens NT2 — accessed 23-08-2026
On the start screen of DUO’s public practice exams Luisteren A2 it says: "You must answer 25 questions in this exam", with a counter of 25 questions and 45 minutes.
Source: inburgeren.nl — Oefenen — accessed 23-08-2026
Note the difference with Lezen (reading): you have less time for the same number of questions. That is because the audio itself takes time. So you cannot think for long.
Three things make the difference:
Which is why one specific habit matters most: practise as if you hear every fragment only once. If you keep rewinding at home, you are training something other than the exam.
At A2 they are short fragments from daily life. One fragment usually has two or three questions.
At a counter, at the doctor, between neighbours, at work. Pay attention to who says what.
Often with an appointment, a time or an address in it. Numbers are the stumbling block here.
A public address message at the station, a voicemail, an announcement in a shop.
Someone explains how something works or what is going to happen.
Amber van der Zalm · NT2 teacher
Most mistakes in Luisteren are not about words but about numbers: times, house numbers, amounts, days. "Half vier" (half past three) is not four o’clock, and "over een kwartier" (in a quarter of an hour) is not a point in time but a difference. Practise that separately — it is a small part of the language with a large share of the questions.
The questions fall roughly into a few types. Know which type you are getting and you know what to listen for before the audio starts.
| Type | What is asked | What to listen for |
|---|---|---|
| Detail | a time, price, day or house number | digits — almost always the point |
| Main point | what is this conversation about? | the opening sentences |
| Reason | why does something happen? | "omdat", "want", "daarom" |
| Required action | what should you do? | "bel", "kom", "neem", "stuur" |
| Feeling or opinion | how does someone react? | the tone, and words like "helaas", "gelukkig" |
One trap with the "detail" type: a conversation often mentions two numbers. An old appointment and a new one. A price with and without discount. The question is almost always about the second.
Imagine you hear this. Once.
At the dentist you hear: "Uw afspraak van donderdag half elf kan helaas niet doorgaan. Kunt u vrijdag om kwart over negen? Anders is de eerstvolgende mogelijkheid maandag." Which new appointment is the dentist proposing?
With Luisteren there is one thing you can do that decides almost everything: read the question before the audio starts. Then you know what to listen for, instead of trying to remember everything.
What is being asked: a time, a reason, a feeling, a place? That decides what you have to pick out of the audio.
You do not have to understand everything. You have to find one thing. Let the rest go by.
Do not keep worrying about the previous question while the next fragment is already playing. That costs you two questions instead of one.
Do
Do not
In Luisteren, wrong answers are often made with words that you also heard in the fragment. Someone says: "ik wilde eerst met de trein, maar nu ga ik met de fiets" (at first I wanted to go by train, but now I am going by bike). The question is how he travels. Anyone who recognises "trein" chooses the wrong answer.
So always listen to the end of the sentence. The most important word in that example is maar (but).
A word comes up that you do not know. You start thinking about it. What did it mean? While you think, the audio continues. You miss the next two sentences — and that is where the answer was. One unknown word costs you three sentences that way. It is almost always better to let a word go and keep listening.
Train this separately. Listen to something slightly too hard for you and agree with yourself: I do not stop, I do not rewind, I do not look anything up. Just keep listening. It feels uncomfortable, and it is precisely the skill the exam tests.
Do you have a hearing impairment? DUO can adapt the exam, for example with extra time or adapted equipment. You apply for this in advance, with a statement. Arrange it well before you register.
If you cannot take the exam in the normal way because of an illness or a disability, DUO can allow an adapted exam. You apply for this in advance at DUO.
Source: inburgeren.nl — Aangepast examen bij ziekte of beperking — accessed 23-08-2026
With Luisteren one thing matters more than with the other parts: your sound. In DUO’s practice exams you can test your audio volume beforehand. Do that calmly, and set the volume slightly higher than you normally would.
You must be present 30 minutes before the exam. You get 15 minutes of explanation before the exam starts. Without valid ID you may not sit the exam.
Source: DUO Examenreglement — accessed 28-07-2026
Those 15 minutes of explanation are extra; they do not come off your 45 minutes. Otherwise the same applies as for the other parts: phone and bag in a locker, toilet only with supervision, and the exam is confidential — no photos, no copying questions.
DUO advises taking practice exams on a computer rather than on a phone. For Luisteren that matters even more: on a small screen you cannot see the question and the answers at a glance, and then you cannot read ahead.
As with every part: DUO does not publish the cut-off. Online you read an exact number of correct answers, but that number does not come from DUO, and sites contradict each other.
"De zak-slaaggrens wordt uitgedrukt in een cesuur, vastgesteld door de Minister." You get a grade per part and the result passed or not passed. Luisteren is marked automatically, like Lezen and KNM.
Source: DUO Examenreglement, artikel 10 en 16 — accessed 28-07-2026
You do not need every answer right to pass; that is stated literally in the plain-language summary of the exam regulations. Failed Luisteren? Then you retake only that part. What you have passed stays passed.
Luisteren is the part that improves fastest from daily habits, and slowest from books. Start with DUO itself: there are 3 free A2 Luisteren practice exams, and that is exactly the real format.
The three official DUO A2 Luisteren practice exams consist of 25 questions and last 45 minutes.
Source: inburgeren.nl — Oefenen — accessed 28-07-2026
Radio in the kitchen, a podcast in simple Dutch, the jeugdjournaal (news for children). Even if you do not understand everything: your ear gets used to the speed.
Not with subtitles in your own language. Dutch sound with Dutch text links the sound to the word, and that is exactly what the exam asks.
Times, prices, house numbers, dates. Let someone say them out loud, or use a practice app. Ten minutes a day, for two weeks.
Not through the speaker of your phone. You want to get used to how it sounds in the exam room.
Amber van der Zalm · NT2 teacher
I often hear: "I do understand Dutch people in real life, but not in the exam." That is because of the tension and because of the lack of context — you do not see a face, you do not know the situation. Only one thing helps against that: practising with recordings often enough, until it no longer feels new.
Practise Luisteren with real fragmentsTen questions with audio, with an explanation after every answer. No account needed.
Start a free practice examFor three reasons: you have less time per question, you do not set the pace yourself, and you cannot go back. With Lezen you can look at a hard sentence three times. With Luisteren it is gone.
Automatically. According to article 10 of the exam regulations, Luisteren, Lezen and KNM are marked by computer. No human looks at your answers. DUO does not publish the pass mark.
You may not use your own belongings; according to the exam regulations they go in a locker. Ask at the exam location what is allowed — the most important rules are also in your invitation letter.
At level A2 it takes 45 minutes, on the computer. At level B1 it is part of the staatsexamen NT2 and it takes 90 minutes. Information about the content of the B1 exam is on staatsexamensnt2.nl.
In our practice exams you can: you can play a fragment as often as you like, so that you can learn where it went wrong. How often that is possible in the real exam is not published by DUO. So when you practise, at some point assume that you have only one chance.
Hear Dutch every day, and do it in a focused way. Turn on the radio or a podcast in simple Dutch, watch with Dutch subtitles instead of subtitles in your own language, and practise numbers, times and dates separately. Also do complete practice exams with headphones on.
Because in real life you see the face, you know the situation and you can ask for repetition. In the exam all of that falls away, and time pressure is added. You can train for that: practise with recordings until the situation no longer feels new.
Yes, that is possible. If you cannot take the exam in the normal way because of an illness or a disability, DUO can allow an adapted exam, for example with extra time or other equipment. You apply for this in advance at DUO, well before you register for a date.
Reviewed by Amber van der Zalm, certified NT2 teacher — August 23, 2026 This page is a translation of that reviewed Dutch text; the translation itself was not reviewed. The Dutch version is the source.