The inburgering writing exam at a glance
| Item | A2 Schrijven |
|---|---|
| Format | Pen and paper, at a supervised DUO exam location |
| Tasks | 4 |
| Task types | A form, a short article and two messages (e-mails or a short note) |
| Time | 40 minutes for all four tasks |
| Marking | By trained assessors, with a fixed scoring model |
| Pass mark | No published percentage |
DUO's own page says: "Het examen Schrijven op niveau A2 maakt u met pen en papier. U krijgt 4 schrijfopdrachten. U schrijft bijvoorbeeld een korte brief. Of u vult een formulier in. Het examen duurt 40 minuten." At B1 level and B2 level (the Staatsexamen NT2) the Dutch writing exam is different and takes 100 minutes.
What to expect on exam day
A2 Schrijven is the only part of the A2 exam that you do on paper. You get a booklet with four writing tasks and write your answers by hand, so write clearly: there is no spell check and no delete key. The booklet tells you to use the blue pen. Bring a valid ID, such as a passport or a residence permit. Without one, you cannot take the exam.
The instructions are short and usually look like this:
- Vul het formulier in. (Fill in the form.)
- Schrijf de e-mail. Schrijf in hele zinnen. (Write the e-mail. Write in full sentences.)
- Schrijf een briefje voor Fariha. Vertel wat zij moet doen. Schrijf drie dingen op. Schrijf in hele zinnen. (Write a note for Fariha. Tell her what to do. Write down three things. Write in full sentences.)
- Schrijf minimaal drie zinnen op. Denk aan: ... Schrijf in hele zinnen. (Write at least three sentences. Think about: ... Write in full sentences.) This is the article task.
The topics come from everyday life: school, work, neighbours, the doctor, the gemeente (municipality), a sports club or the library.
The four tasks in A2 Schrijven
You do not choose a task. Every booklet has a form, a short article and two messages. The two messages are e-mails, or one e-mail and a short note. Of DUO's three practice booklets, two have two e-mails and one has an e-mail and a short note.
The form (formulier)
This is a real-life form, for example to register at the gemeente, the huisarts (GP), a course or a sports club. The first part asks for personal data: name, date of birth, phone number, e-mail address and address. Spell your own details correctly, because mistakes there cost points. Most forms also have one box where you explain something in full sentences, such as your reason for signing up.
The e-mail and the note
The e-mail is semi-formal: to a manager, a teacher, the GP's assistant or a course coordinator. The task usually gives three points that you must cover, such as why you write, what happened and what you want. Four to six short sentences are usually enough.
A short note (briefje) goes to someone close to your daily life, such as a neighbour, a colleague or your child's teacher. Three to five sentences are usually enough. In DUO's practice booklets the greeting and closing are already printed. If they are not, write both.
A short note can look like this:
Beste buurvrouw,
Ik ben morgen niet thuis. Kunt u mijn pakket aannemen? Ik haal het morgenavond op. Alvast bedankt.
Groeten, Amina
(Dear neighbour, I am not at home tomorrow. Can you take in my parcel? I will pick it up tomorrow evening. Thanks in advance. Regards, Amina)
The short article (kort artikel)
You write one short paragraph, for example for the wijkkrant (local newsletter), about your weekend, a course or a recent event. The task gives three questions to guide you. Answer them in one connected paragraph, not as a numbered list. This is not an opinion essay: write about your own experience, with ik and mijn.
How A2 Schrijven is scored
Trained assessors mark your handwritten work after the exam. Each task tests your ability to write a clear, complete text in simple Dutch. For the e-mail and the note they use a scoring model with five criteria, 10 points per message:
| Criterion | Points | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Adequacy (adequaatheid) | 0 to 3 | A Dutch reader understands the message and it does what the task asks |
| Grammar | 0 to 2 | Simple sentences, verb in the right place |
| Spelling | 0 to 2 | Also capitals and full stops |
| Coherence | 0 to 1 | Sentences linked with words like en, maar, want and omdat |
| Vocabulary | 0 to 2 | The right Dutch words, including words from the task |
Adequacy is the gate. If a message is off-topic, unreadable or in the wrong language, it gets 0, and so do all the other criteria. Missing one of the required points also lowers this score.
Register matters too. Do not mix u and je in one text, and match your greeting and closing to the reader:
| Reader | Greeting | Closing |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher, manager, GP, gemeente | Beste meneer Jansen, or Geachte mevrouw Bakker, | Met vriendelijke groet, |
| Friend, neighbour you know well | Hoi Sanne, | Groetjes, or Groeten, |
A wrong mix is Beste meneer De Vries, kun je morgen komen? Groetjes. The greeting is polite, but je and Groetjes are informal.
The form has its own scoring model, and complete, correct fields count heavily there. DUO publishes no percentage pass mark for Schrijven. So aim to make every task complete and readable.
Time: 40 minutes for four tasks
That is about 10 minutes per task, and a simple plan is 5 minutes for the form, 10 for each message, 10 for the article and 5 to check. Check the greeting, the closing, the required points, capitals and full stops.
Tips to pass the A2 writing exam
- Follow the instruction exactly. If it says Schrijf minimaal drie zinnen, two sentences cost you points.
- Cover every point in the task. In the e-mail and the note, the points are not optional.
- Keep one register. Use u for a teacher, manager or GP, and do not switch to je halfway.
- Write short, full sentences. Start each one with a capital letter, and end it with a full stop.
- Reuse words from the task. They keep you on topic and help your vocabulary score.
- Practise on paper. Use our A2 writing sentence templates and writing practice, then copy your answers by hand against a 40-minute timer.