What to expect on exam day
You do Luisteren (Listening) on a computer with headphones at an exam centre. The exam is supervised, and you answer everything on screen.
DUO uses a mix of short videos and spoken texts. You listen to everyday Dutch situations such as a message from a doctor’s assistant, a train announcement, a conversation at work, or instructions from a gemeente (municipality) desk.
Before the audio starts, you get time to read the question and the three answer choices. Then the fragment plays. Recent exam guides describe the modern exam as single play, so you should expect no replay and no pause.
Each question is multiple choice. You choose one answer: A, B, or C.
How the Luisteren (Listening) section is built
The section uses short listening fragments. Some are audio only, and some are short videos.
Across the full exam, you get a mix of common A2 situations:
- two-person conversations
- voicemail or phone messages
- public announcements
- step-by-step instructions
- short news, weather, or traffic clips
- short video clips
Some fragments have 1 question. Longer fragments can have 2 or 3 questions. Across the whole exam, the questions are spread over about 10 to 15 fragments.
The language stays in daily life topics. You may hear Dutch about health and a huisarts (GP), work, public transport, school, shopping, housing, free time, or contact with the gemeente.
The questions usually test one clear detail from the fragment. DUO often asks about time, place, number, reason, who does what, feelings, or the final action someone must take.
Here are typical Dutch question stems:
Wat wil de vrouw doen?
What does the woman want to do?
Hoe laat vertrekt de trein?
What time does the train leave?
Waarom belt de dokter?
Why is the doctor calling?
Wat moet de man eerst doen?
What must the man do first?
A2 listening often includes small changes inside the fragment. A speaker may first say one thing and then correct it with words like maar, toch, helaas, dus, or eigenlijk. The exam can also ask for the last instruction, not the first one you hear.
How it is scored
All questions are multiple choice, and each one has equal weight. There is no deduction for a wrong answer, so an unanswered question can only hurt your score.
The pass mark used across prep sources is 18 correct answers out of 25. That means you need a strong result on most items, but not a perfect exam.
Because there is no penalty for mistakes, you should always select A, B, or C, even if you are unsure. A guess can still give you a point.
Number of questions and time
The exam has 25 questions in total. You get 45 minutes.
The fragments are short. Public announcements can be shorter, while dialogues and instruction fragments can run longer. Across example materials, fragments are usually under one and a half minutes.
A useful way to picture the timing is this: you read the question first, then you hear the fragment once, then you choose an answer and continue. Some fragments end after one question, while others continue with a second or third question.
Tips to pass
Use the short reading time before the audio starts. Read the question first, then scan A, B, and C so you know what detail to catch.
Listen for the answer near the end as well as the start. In A2 listening, the first detail is often not the final answer.
Watch for correction words such as maar, toch, helaas, dus, and eigenlijk. These words often mark the moment when the correct answer changes.
Don't chase every word. Focus on the job of the question: time, place, person, reason, feeling, or final action.
Practise in exam conditions. Use one play only, three options, and short preparation time. That matches the real screen better than slow study mode.
InburgeringPrep helps you train that exact habit. You can practise A2-style listening with everyday topics, three-option questions, and exam-like tasks so the real DUO format feels familiar.