Reading texts and answering questions, on a computer. It looks like the easiest part, and it is the part where most people run out of time.
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. On the left there is a text, on the right there is a question with answers. You choose one. Sometimes several questions belong to the same text.
| A2 | B1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | 65 minutes | 110 minutes |
| Where | On a computer, at a DUO exam location | Staatsexamen NT2, its own locations |
| In DUO's oefenexamens (practice exams) | 25 questions | see staatsexamensnt2.nl |
| Type of texts | Short and practical: advertisement, letter, notice, instruction | Longer and connected: news item, leaflet, article |
DUO: "Het examen Lezen op niveau A2 doet u op de computer. U moet teksten lezen. U moet ook vragen beantwoorden. Het examen duurt 65 minuten." (You take the Lezen exam at level A2 on a computer. You have to read texts. You also have to answer questions. The exam takes 65 minutes.) The Lezen exam at level B1 (staatsexamen NT2) takes 110 minutes; information about its content is on staatsexamensnt2.nl.
Sources: inburgeren.nl — Taalexamens · Staatsexamens NT2 — accessed 23-08-2026
DUO's A2 oefenexamens contain 25 questions. That is not a norm published by DUO for the real exam, but it is the best number to base your preparation on: it is shown on the start screen of the practice exams that anyone can take.
DUO makes oefenexamens (practice exams) available that anyone can take without logging in. The start screen of the A2 oefenexamens Lezen says: "U moet in dit examen 25 vragen beantwoorden" (In this exam you have to answer 25 questions), with a counter of 25 questions and 65 minutes.
Source: inburgeren.nl — Oefenen — accessed 23-08-2026
At A2 they are texts from your own daily life. If you recognise them, you read them faster.
A note from the woningcorporatie (housing association), a sign at the entrance, an email from school about a trip.
A special offer in a leaflet, a home for rent, a second-hand bicycle.
From an official body, a school or an association. Often with a date and an action in them.
How to use a device, what to do when something breaks down, house rules.
A piece from a local newspaper or a leaflet from the gemeente (municipality).
At B1 the texts become longer and more abstract. Then you must not only find what is written, but also understand what the writer means and what opinion he has.
Roughly three kinds, and they ask for different reading behaviour.
"What time does the meeting start?" The answer is in the text. You do not have to read the whole text — you search.
"Why is the school sending this letter?" The answer is not there literally; you have to grasp the main idea.
"What does the word ‘uiterlijk’ mean in this sentence?" Look at the sentences around it; the context often gives the answer away.
Within those three kinds you can look more precisely at what is being asked. Recognise the type and you know straight away where to look in the text.
| Type | What is asked | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Detail | a time, price, date or address | for digits in the text |
| Main idea | what is this text about? | the title and first lines |
| Purpose | why was it written? | who sent it, and to whom |
| Required action | what should you do? | verbs like "bel", "stuur", "kom" |
| Condition | who does this apply to? | words like "alleen", "als", "of hoger" |
That last type costs the most marks. A text says something applies only "vanaf de 4e verdieping" (from the 4th floor up). Miss those words and you pick the wrong answer — even if you understood the whole text.
This is how such a question works in practice. Read the question first, then the note.
A notice by the lift reads: "De lift is kapot. Maandag komt de monteur. Woont u op de 4e verdieping of hoger en kunt u niet traplopen? Bel de beheerder: 020 555 1234." What should you do if you live on the 2nd floor?
Work it out for A2: 65 minutes for the questions of a complete oefenexamen comes down to about two and a half minutes per question — including reading the text. That is enough, but only if you do not get stuck.
Do
Do not do
Amber van der Zalm · NT2 teacher
"First the question, then the text" is the tip that makes the biggest difference with my students. They read a text from top to bottom, forget what they have read, and then read it again. Reading twice costs you the exam. Searching once with a purpose does not.
A few practical things that are in the official exam regulations, but that you rarely read anywhere.
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 65 minutes. Use them to settle down and look at the buttons.
On your exam day: bring a valid identity document and be on time. If you are late, you can be refused, and then you lose your exam fee. The rules are on the DUO website.
Fixed rules apply to the inburgeringsexamen about, among other things, identification and arriving late; DUO publishes these in the rules for the exam and in the Examenreglement.
Source: inburgeren.nl — Regels voor het examen — accessed 23-08-2026
Short answer: nobody outside DUO knows.
Online you often read an exact number — so many out of 25 correct. Those numbers appear on no official page, and they contradict each other. What is official is this:
"De zak-slaaggrens wordt uitgedrukt in een cesuur, vastgesteld door de Minister." — the pass mark is a cut-off set by the Minister, and DUO does not publish it.
Source: DUO Examenreglement, artikel 10 lid 5 — accessed 28-07-2026
You get a grade per part, plus "geslaagd" (passed) or "niet geslaagd" (not passed). The plain-language summary of the regulations says: not all answers need to be correct in order to pass. Lezen is marked automatically, like Luisteren and KNM; no human looks at your answers.
Practically that means: do not aim at a minimum. Practise until you get the large majority right. Then you are safe, whatever the cut-off is.
Start with DUO itself. There are 4 free A2 Lezen practice exams, and that is exactly the real format and the real clock. Do them on a computer, not on your phone: the real exam is on a large screen, and DUO advises this itself.
DUO offers 4 online A2 Lezen practice exams. For Luisteren and Spreken there are 3, for Schrijven 3 (as pdf). DUO advises taking the practice exams on a computer.
Source: inburgeren.nl — Oefenen — accessed 28-07-2026
Four exams is a good start, but too few to really get a format into your fingers. After that, this works:
A leaflet, the post, a message from school, a news app in simple Dutch. Fifteen minutes a day does more than three hours at the weekend.
Set a timer. Not because you have to read fast, but because you have to learn to feel when you are staying too long on one question.
What you have to learn is not the answer but the reason. Otherwise you will choose wrongly again with the next, slightly different question.
At least three times, in one go, without a break. That trains something different from single questions: keeping going.
Practise Lezen with real exam questionsTen questions, with an explanation after each answer. No account and no payment.
Start a free practice examDUO does not say. The Examenreglement states that the pass mark is a cut-off (cesuur) set by the Minister. The exact numbers you come across online do not come from DUO. Practise until you get the large majority right.
No. Lezen is marked automatically, like Luisteren and KNM. Only Schrijven and Spreken are (partly) assessed by certified assessors.
At level A2 it takes 65 minutes and you take it on a computer. At level B1 it is part of the staatsexamen NT2 and it takes 110 minutes. Information about the content of the B1 exam is on staatsexamensnt2.nl.
DUO does not publish this as an official norm. DUO's public oefenexamens Lezen A2 contain 25 questions in 65 minutes, and that is the best number to base your preparation on.
Yes. Within the exam you can go forward and back, and you can still change an answer as long as the time is running. Use that: skip a question you get stuck on and come back to it at the end with the time you have left.
Do not stop. Read the sentence and the sentence after it to the end; very often the meaning then becomes clear from the context. The exam tests whether you understand the text, not whether you know every word. If you stay stuck, skip the question and come back later.
No. At the inburgeringsexamen you may not use any aids of your own. Do bring a valid identity document and make sure you are on time; arriving late can mean that you may not take part and that you lose your exam fee.
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.