A study plan for the inburgering exam when you work full time

Before you start: what this plan is

This plan is for the A2 exams and KNM, for someone who works full time and can study 30 to 45 minutes a day. It is a way to organise your time. It is not an official DUO plan, and it does not promise a result. Some people need longer, and that is normal.

Check two things first in Mijn Inburgering: which exams you have to do, and your deadline. If you are on the B1 route, the language exam is the Staatsexamen NT2 with fixed dates. You can still use the weekly rhythm below, but the exam formats are different.

• A2 or B1: which route are you on? →
• How to practice each part of the B1 Staatsexamen →

Three rules that make a short day work

One. Every part is a separate exam. Lezen, Luisteren, Schrijven, Spreken and KNM are booked one at a time, and each has its own result. So you do not have to be ready for everything at once.

Two. Speak out loud from the first week. Spreken is the part where silent study helps least. In the exam you answer into a microphone, so your mouth needs practice, not only your eyes.

Three. Book only when practice shows you what to fix. A practice exam tells you more than a feeling. But look at the dates early, because booking can take more than 6 weeks.

Weeks 1 and 2: find your level, start speaking

Start with one official practice exam for each part, from inburgeren.nl. Do not worry about the score. You want to see what each part looks like and which one feels hardest.

Then make speaking a daily habit. Ten minutes a day is enough to start.

• Day 1 to 3: one official practice exam per evening (Lezen, Luisteren, KNM). Write down which questions felt hard.
• Day 4 and 5: the Spreken and Schrijven practice exams. Speak your answers out loud, even if you feel silly.
• Every other day: 10 minutes of speaking. Describe your day, your work, your home, in short full sentences.
• End of week 2: pick your first exam part. Many people pick the part they feel closest to.

• inburgeren.nl: official practice exams ↗

Weeks 3 and 4: KNM as a quick win

KNM is a knowledge exam, not a language exam. The questions are in simple Dutch at A2 level, with pictures and audio. Many people start here, because it is knowledge you can learn in short blocks.

Learn the facts, not the sentences. The real exam asks the same fact in other words. Short daily sessions work well: 15 minutes of KNM, then 10 minutes of speaking.

• Study one KNM theme per evening: work and income, housing, health, education, and so on.
• Learn which organisation does what: the municipality, DUO, the Belastingdienst, UWV.
• Keep your 10 minutes of speaking every day.
• End of week 4: one full KNM practice exam on a timer.

• The KNM exam, explained →
• Who does what in the Netherlands? →

Weeks 5 and 6: the language parts

Now spend most of your time on the language part you chose. Keep one short block for the others, so nothing gets cold.

Results for Spreken A2 and Schrijven A2 take about 16 weeks right now. If one of these is your weak part, it can make sense to start working on it early, so the wait does not push you close to your deadline.

• Lezen: one or two short texts a day, with a timer. Read the question first, then look for the answer in the text.
• Luisteren: listen with headphones to short Dutch clips. Practice hearing the answer the first time.
• Schrijven: write one short message or fill in one form a day, by hand. The A2 exam is on paper.
• Spreken: answer exam-style questions out loud and record yourself. Listen back once a week.

• The A2 speaking exam, explained →
• Practicing the speaking exam at home →

Weeks 7 and 8: mock exams and booking

Use these two weeks for full mock exams, in the real time and without help. One mock exam per part is enough. On a work day, a full mock is long, so do them on a day off or split the week.

• Do a full mock of the part you want to book first, on a timer, without pausing.
• Look at what went wrong. Was it the time, the words, or the type of question? Fix that one thing.
• Book in Mijn Inburgering when your practice results are steady. You can change or cancel up to 1 week before the exam, and you get your money back if you cancel in time.
• Keep practicing the other parts while you wait for your exam day.

• How to book your inburgering exam →
• What happens on your exam day →

On busy weeks

Some weeks work takes everything. On those days, do 10 minutes of speaking and nothing else. A short habit you keep is better than a long plan you drop.

If you are behind after 8 weeks, that is fine. Repeat weeks 5 to 8 for the part that still needs work. Check your deadline in Mijn Inburgering, and remember each part can be booked on its own.

Where Kora fits

Kora is a practice app for these exams. It has exam-style questions for every part, speaking practice that listens and tells you what to fix, and explanations in your own language. It fits in a 30-minute evening. It shows what you practiced and what you got right, so you can decide when to book. It cannot promise a result.