Read all twelve tasks before you write
Spend the first two or three minutes reading the whole paper. Schrijven gives you 12 tasks in 100 minutes, and you choose the order yourself. A quick overview means you stop making that choice again and again during the exam.
Find the two groups first. Opgaven 1 to 8 are short zinstaken: you finish one sentence in a short e-mail. The last four tasks are longer: short messages or texts, and in most recent papers one of them is a form.
While you read, circle every number in the longer tasks, such as minimaal twee oplossingen or ten minste twee redenen. Also check whether the pictures or table go with your message. If the task says they do not, your reader cannot see them, so the facts must be in your own text.
Split the 100 minutes: 20, 70, 10
Give the eight zinstaken about 20 minutes, the four longer tasks about 70, and keep the last 10 for checking. Each zinstaak is worth 2 points, while each longer task is worth 7 or 8. Most of the points (31 of 47 in 2025) sit in the longer work.
Inside those 70 minutes, a form needs less time than an e-mail. About 15 minutes for the form leaves roughly 18 minutes for each e-mail. If your paper has no form, share the 70 minutes across four e-mails.
You may start with the longer tasks if you write slowly. If stress makes you freeze, one easy zinstaak first can settle your hands. Either way, write your order on the scrap paper the examenleider gives you and follow it.
Zinstaken: meaning first, then the construction
Write one clear sentence that does what the situation asks: give a reason, a purpose, a consequence or a question. Four of the eight zinstaken also force a construction through the word before the gap:
- after want: a main clause in normal word order
- after omdat or zodat: a subordinate clause with the verb at the end
- after daarom or daardoor: inversion, verb before subject
- after om: te plus an infinitive
Check the word order once, then move on. You do not need a greeting, a closing line or a signature. Never copy a sentence from the task, because copied sentences score nothing.
When the construction will not come
Write the required meaning in the simplest correct Dutch you can, and go to the next task. The first point on a zinstaak is for a clear answer to the situation. If that point is 0, the assessors stop there, so meaning always comes first.
Use the dictionary only for one exact word you need now. The only dictionary allowed is the Van Dale Pocketwoordenboek NT2, and browsing it costs minutes. If one word blocks you, use an easier word you know.
Longer tasks: tick off every required point
Before you type, write a mini-plan on your scrap paper: one line for each required point in the task. Then write, and tick each point when it is in your text.
Assessors mark the longer tasks on five aspects: how well you do the task, grammar, spelling, word use and, except on a form, cohesion. A text that covers only part of the task can get at most 2 of the 3 points for content. A plain text that covers every point usually beats a nicer text that misses one.
On a form, fill in every field. On an e-mail, start with why you are writing, then cover the points in the order the task gives them. Short linking words such as daarom, want and ook help your cohesion point.
Never leave a task empty
Put something on all 12 tasks. A blank answer cannot score, and a short, simple answer often still earns points for content and grammar.
If time runs out on a long task, switch to coverage mode. Write each missing point in one simple sentence. Do not add extra sentences once the task is done: an addition with errors counts against you, and an error-free one earns nothing.
With one minute left and two tasks still blank, write one usable line in each. That is better than one half-finished paragraph.
The last ten minutes, and what to check
Check in this order:
- Every task has an answer.
- Each longer task covers every required point and every number, such as two reasons.
- Each zinstaak has the construction its gap asks for.
- Typing slips: missing articles, verb endings and spelling in key words.
Read what is on the screen, not what you meant to type. Gender errors with de and het are tolerated, but a missing article counts as a grammar error. Do not rewrite style now: a missing reason is worth more than a better opening line.
Practise these tips before the exam
Tips only work if you have used them under time pressure, so start NT2 schrijven oefenen early.
Do the loose tasks and full exams in the official Facet practice environment. It uses the same exam player. Then train timed sets of zinstaken and e-mails in our B1 writing practice. For the full format and scoring, read how Staatsexamen NT2 Schrijven works.