Using the practice exams — the smartest preparation
2 min read
Free official practice exams exist. They run in your browser, need no account, and are the best preparation material there is — better than any textbook, because they have the real format.
Yet most people use them wrongly.
The mistake almost everyone makes
A practice exam usually gets done like homework: calmly, with breaks, looking a word up, going back. That measures whether you know the language.
The exam measures something else: whether you can do it within the time, in one pass, without help. That is a different skill, and the only way to train it is to practise it that way.
So sit your first practice exam under real conditions:
- set a timer to the real duration (Reading 65 min, Listening 45, Writing 40, Speaking 35, KNM 45)
- no dictionary, no translation app
- for Listening: play each fragment once, exactly as in the exam
- finish the part, even when it is going badly
The result may be disappointing. That is the point: now you know where you stand, and that is the only information you can act on.
What to do with it
Look not just at how much was wrong, but why:
| What happened | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Ran out of time | Pace, not language | More timed practice exams |
| Missed a listening fragment | You did not read the question first | Read the question, then listen for it |
| Too few words in Writing | You did not count | Learn how many words a line of your handwriting holds |
| Froze in Speaking | You hunted for the perfect word | Say it more simply and keep going |
| Did not know the KNM answers | Knowledge, not language | Learn the themes, not the words |
Almost none of these is solved by "learning more Dutch". That is the value of a practice exam: it tells you where your time should actually go.
Two practical notes
The Speaking practice exam does not work in Safari. Use a different browser, or it will look broken.
Practise Writing on paper. The official practice tasks are PDFs and the real exam is handwritten. On this site you type your answer, which is what lets us give you instant feedback — but also write a few by hand against the clock, so writing speed does not surprise you.
What to do next
- Take a practice exam on this site — with instant marking
- Practise writing and speaking with AI feedback
- See the official practice exams
Official source: inburgeren.nl — practice.