What is the format of The A2 inburgeringsexamen at A2?

For whichever skills were downscaled: Lezen, Luisteren, Schrijven, Spreken. Booked through DUO rather than on the Staatsexamen's fixed dates.

What is the format of KNM at no CEFR level?

Unchanged. KNM is the same exam on every route and carries no CEFR level.

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You are on the B1 route and B1 is out of reach

You were placed on the B1 route, you have been studying for a long time, and B1 does not look achievable in one or more skills.

The short answer

Your municipality can decide that you sit some or all parts at A2 instead. You then take the A2 inburgeringsexamen for those parts, which is a different exam from the Staatsexamen.

Who runs it

The decision is your municipality's. The A2 exam itself is run by DUO.

What you actually sit

Part	Level	Format
The A2 inburgeringsexamen	A2	For whichever skills were downscaled: Lezen, Luisteren, Schrijven, Spreken. Booked through DUO rather than on the Staatsexamen's fixed dates.
KNM	no CEFR level	Unchanged. KNM is the same exam on every route and carries no CEFR level.

Why this applies to you

Article 5.5 of the Besluit inburgering 2021 allows downscaling only inside the B1 route, only after at least 600 hours of lessons at a school with a Blik op Werk quality mark, and only where you can show you have made a serious effort.
It is decided skill by skill, not all or nothing. Article 17(3) of the Wet inburgering 2021 lets the municipality decide that language skills are examined wholly or partly at A2, so a diploma listing B1 for reading and A2 for speaking is entirely normal.
This is also why the A2 exam is not disappearing. It is the fallback tier inside the B1 route, and the B1 route is where most people now are.

Money, deadlines and booking

Downscaling happens late by design, because the 600 hour threshold takes years to reach. If you are early in your course, this is not yet available to you.
Ask your municipality's integration contact, not DUO. The decision is the municipality's to make.
Because it is skill by skill, it is worth being specific about which skills are the problem rather than asking to move everything down.

Practicing for the parts you downscaled

Kora covers the A2 inburgeringsexamen skill by skill, which suits downscaling: you can work on the parts that moved to A2 while keeping the parts you are still sitting at B1.

Start practicing →

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Where this comes from

Every statement on this page is drawn from official Dutch government sources. We have linked each one so you can check it yourself, and so you can see what we could not verify: where an official source does not publish a figure, we leave it out rather than repeat a number from elsewhere.

Dutch integration rules change. If a source above now says something different from this page, the source is right and we want to know.

Kora is an independent study app. We are not DUO, CvTE or the IND, and we cannot book exams, process applications or make decisions about your case. For anything about your own situation, use the official sources linked above or contact your municipality.