A2 inburgeringsexamen
How writing is actually marked
Schrijven
Last updated
Every writing task is marked out of 10 across five criteria. One of them, adequaatheid, is a gate: score zero there and the other four are marked zero too, however good the Dutch was.
The gate
If execution of the exercise gets 0 points, the other aspects are automatically graded with score 0.
This is the single rule worth internalising. A well-spelled, grammatical answer to a question nobody asked scores nothing. Not a reduced mark: nothing. Read every bullet in the prompt before you write.
What the assessor scores
Every writing task
Korte taak · 10 points per taskThe e-mail and the briefje. 10 points each.
AdequaatheidGate
Execution of the exercise
0–3
Does the text do what the task asked, and can a Dutch reader act on it?
- 0Not readable, not recognisable as an execution of the exercise, or not an execution of it at all.
- 1Hardly acceptable, recognisable only with a lot of effort, and/or does not fully meet the specific task description.
- 2Acceptable and recognisable as an execution of the exercise.
- 3Completely acceptable and a good execution of the exercise.
Grammaticale correctheid
Grammar
0–2
Word order, verb forms, agreement. Judged as a quantity of error, not against a checklist.
- 0A lot of grammar mistakes.
- 1Quite some grammar mistakes.
- 2Hardly any or no grammar mistakes.
Spelling
Spelling
0–2
Spelling, capitals and end punctuation. Personal details are expected to be exact.
- 0Many spelling mistakes.
- 1Frequent short words are spelled phonetically and reasonably correctly, and personal details are spelled correctly.
- 2Spelling is reasonably correct; mistakes do not affect understandability.
Coherentie
Clearness / understandability
0–1
Whether the sentences hang together. At A2 this is mostly about linking words.
- 0Hardly any structure.
- 1Some structure, whether or not achieved with simple conjunctions (en, maar, want, omdat) and/or reference words (hij, zij, die, dat).
Woordenschat
Vocabulary
0–2
Range and accuracy of word choice, including whether you reuse the words the prompt gave you.
- 0Does not reach the level described at 1 point.
- 1Standard patterns, expressions and small groups of words carrying limited information.
- 2Reasonably diverse vocabulary.
Worth knowing
- The form-filling task (formulier) uses the same five criteria but is marked out of 7 rather than 10.
- Band descriptors are qualitative: “quite some grammar mistakes”, not a count. Assessors are not totting up errors against a threshold.
- Register counts inside adequaatheid: Hoi with u, or Groetjes closing a formal e-mail, is a mismatch a reader notices.
- You write this exam by hand, with a blue pen, on paper. Legibility is part of the first criterion.
Common questions
How many points is one writing task worth?
Ten: adequaatheid 3, grammar 2, spelling 2, vocabulary 2, coherence 1. The form task is marked out of 7 on the same five criteria.
Do I lose marks for one missing bullet?
It costs you inside adequaatheid rather than as a separate deduction. Covering everything the prompt asked puts you in the 2-point band; a recognisable attempt that misses part of it sits at 1; something not recognisable as this task at all is the 0 that zeroes everything else.
Is there a pass mark for writing?
No number is published. The exam is rated against these criteria rather than counted. See the pass mark guide for the parts that do have one.
Get marked on these exact criteria.
Answer a real task and get it scored criterion by criterion, including whether Adequaatheid would have zeroed the whole thing.
The other rated parts
More on scoring: pass marks by section · all guides
inburgeringprep.com is an independent study platform, not DUO, the CvTE or the Dutch government. This model is Bureau ICE, korte taak Correspondentie. None of these bodies publishes its assessment model as a public document, so band wording here is rendered into English from the model the assessor works from. Criteria can change; confirm what applies to your own exam with the exam body.