How to practice each part of the B1 Staatsexamen

Four parts, four different exams

The B1 Staatsexamen NT2 (Programma I) has four parts: Lezen, Luisteren, Schrijven and Spreken. You can pass one part and fail another, and you can retake a single part.

In 2025, according to the CvTE annual report, the pass rates were: Schrijven 62%, Spreken 53%, Lezen 44% and Luisteren 43%. All four were lower than in 2024. CvTE says it does not have an explanation yet.

These are averages. They say nothing about your own result. But they show one thing clearly: every part needs its own practice.

Lezen: 110 minutes, 35 or 36 questions

You get a paper booklet with 6 texts and answer multiple-choice questions on the computer. Some questions are about the whole text, others ask you to find one piece of information. The Van Dale NT2 pocket dictionary is allowed.

How to practice: read texts about work, study and daily life, and practice with a timer, so you know how long you can spend per text.

Luisteren: 90 minutes, about 40 questions

You listen through headphones. You get 25 seconds to read each question first, and every recording plays only once. You cannot pause or replay. No dictionary.

How to practice: practice with recordings that you hear only once, and read the question before you listen.

Schrijven: 100 minutes, 12 tasks

You type your answers. There are three kinds of tasks: 8 short tasks where you finish one sentence, 2 tasks where you fill in a form or complete a message, and 2 short emails.

The assessors look at whether you wrote what the task asks, and at grammar, spelling, word choice and how your sentences connect. In the emails, every point the task asks for counts. There is no spell-check, but the Van Dale NT2 pocket dictionary is allowed.

How to practice: check every task for the points you must cover, write short and clear sentences, and practice typing Dutch letters like ë.

Spreken: about 25 minutes, 16 tasks

You speak into a microphone. There are 8 short tasks with 20 seconds to answer, and 8 longer tasks with 30 seconds after 15 seconds to prepare. A beep starts and ends each answer, and you cannot go back. No dictionary.

The assessors first check that your answer is understandable Dutch that fits the situation. Then they look at content, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and speed. Reading the task text aloud, or doing a different kind of answer than asked (for example describing when the task asks you to give advice), costs points.

How to practice: answer out loud with a timer, start right after the beep, and do exactly what the task asks: advise, explain, describe or ask.

How Kora helps

Kora is a practice app for the inburgering exams. For B1 you can practice today:

• Lezen: 216 B1 reading questions, and a mock exam in the official format: 110 minutes, 36 questions
• Luisteren: 204 B1 listening questions with Dutch audio
• KNM: every KNM question comes back in new words, so you learn the fact and not the sentence
• Explanations in your own language, in 10 languages
• Schrijven: 118 B1 writing tasks, marked on the official criteria
• Spreken: 128 B1 speaking tasks, answered out loud on the clock

Never use real exam questions

Sharing or using questions from the real exam is fraud. On 13 August 2025, questions from the Spreken exam were shared in a WhatsApp group with hundreds of people. CvTE then declared that day's exam invalid for all 898 candidates, also for the people who did nothing wrong. Practice with the official practice exams and with practice tasks written for practice.