How to prepare the Staatsexamen NT2 Programma I exam

Programma I has four exams, all done on a computer at one of six exam locations in the Netherlands. You can register for each part separately.

• Lezen (110 minutes): 36 multiple-choice questions about six texts. You may use the Van Dale Pocketwoordenboek NT2.
• Luisteren (90 minutes): about 40 questions about recorded conversations and a few short films from work, study and daily life. You hear each fragment only once.
• Schrijven (100 minutes): from completing sentences to writing short texts such as messages, notes and letters. The same dictionary is allowed.
• Spreken (about 25 minutes): you speak into a microphone, not to a person, in short and medium tasks with 20 or 30 seconds to answer each.

Each part is scored on its own, and a score of 500 or higher is a pass. You receive the diploma once you have passed all four.

For Lezen and Luisteren the computer counts your correct answers and converts them to the 500 scale. Schrijven and Spreken are scored by two trained assessors. Because the score is converted, nobody can tell you exactly how many answers you need. In practice exams, aim for about 80% correct: that gives you a safety margin.

• Divide your time before you start. Lezen: 110 minutes for six texts is about 18 minutes per text. Schrijven: about 15 minutes for the short sentence tasks, 10 minutes for each short message, 25 minutes for each longer text, and 10 minutes at the end to check.
• Never leave a multiple-choice answer empty. A guess can be right; an empty answer never is.
• Skip and come back in Lezen, never in Luisteren. In Lezen, mark a hard question and go on. In Luisteren the audio keeps going: choose an answer and move on.

Use the dictionary for the key word in a question or to check a spelling, not for every word. In Spreken, start talking right away and answer every part of the task: a short, complete answer scores better than a long, unfinished one. On exam day, bring your ID and arrive early.

• Reading every text word by word in Lezen and running out of time for the last text.
• Waiting for a second play in Luisteren: there is none, and the next question starts anyway.
• Doing only half of a writing or speaking task, for example giving the reason but forgetting the request.
• Stopping too early in Spreken, or staying silent while thinking: silence earns nothing.
• Looking up every unknown word instead of guessing from the context.

Choose Staatsexamen NT2 I as your goal and your learning path puts everything in the right order.

• The lessons from your first words to B1 (77 units, A0.1 to B1.26).
• The B1 exam lessons, unlocking from B1.2 onwards: the exam format and the 500 scale (free), reading long texts, argumentative and instructive texts, listening, formal and informal emails, short structured texts, short and medium speaking tasks, and the exam vocabulary that comes back every time.
• Half-length, timed exam practice at the end, after B1.26.

• A ladder, not a cliff. Each unit adds a little vocabulary and one main grammar point, so B1 grammar builds on what you already use.
• Exam-style practice. Reading and listening use the exam's question types and screen instructions, with tips on how to divide your time per text; for writing and speaking you study model answers and do tasks your teacher marks.
• Model answers. For every writing and speaking task you see what a strong answer looks like.
• Practice that comes back: what you learned earlier keeps returning in your practice.
• Start for free with the whole A0 level and the B1 exam overview lesson.

Pick Staatsexamen NT2 I as your goal and start your first lesson today.