KNM exam practice: a study guide (PDF) and how to prepare

How does the KNM exam work?

• You take it on a computer at a DUO exam location.
• It lasts 45 minutes, after 15 minutes of instructions.
• The questions are multiple choice. Pictures support the questions and the answers, and the exam uses audio and video.
• You get questions per theme, for example housing, or work and income.
• A computer marks it. You get 'geslaagd' (passed) or 'niet geslaagd' (not passed), plus a mark. Not every answer has to be right to pass.

DUO does not publish the number of questions or the pass mark. A website that tells you to get a certain score out of 40 is guessing, so spend that energy on the themes instead.

KNM costs €50 per attempt in 2026, and the result comes within 8 weeks, by letter and in Mijn Inburgering. Our guides explain what the exam costs and how long results take.

On the A2 route KNM is one of your exams. On the B1 route and the education route (onderwijsroute) your language exams are the Staatsexamen Nt2, but KNM is on DUO's list for those routes too, without a language level. Mijn Inburgering shows which exams you need.

What changed on 1 July 2025?

Since 1 July 2025 the exam follows new learning goals (eindtermen), the first revision since 2015. The government named three changes: more attention to women's right to self determination, knowledge of the Holocaust, and questions about what you know rather than how you would behave.

You must know, for example, what the Holocaust was, that many Dutch Jews were killed in it, and that antisemitism and discrimination are forbidden. And you must know what women's right to self determination means in the Netherlands.

So be careful with KNM books, PDFs and video playlists from before mid 2025. Some of it is still fine, but whole topics are missing and some facts have simply moved on. Check the date of anything you study from.

What are the 8 KNM themes?

The learning goals sort everything into 8 themes. Here they are with their official Dutch names and, in one line, what each theme expects you to know.

A few goals hold for every theme: choose and use sources of information, use formal and informal help, and act on time, without letting a deadline pass.

What is in the free KNM Study Guide?

We wrote the KNM Study Guide to have everything for the exam in one place, in plain English, and checked it against DUO's pages, the government's and the law texts. It is 24 pages, made to print.

• Each of the 8 themes on its own pages: what it covers, based on the official learning goals.
• A box of Dutch words to recognise for every theme.
• What people get wrong, and a few situations with how to think about them. They are in our own words, not questions from the exam: every candidate signs a secrecy statement.
• The thinking pattern behind most answers, a 3 week plan and a list of free official material.

Print the themes you find hardest and keep them in your bag. Spotted something wrong or out of date? Write to support@swipelijk.com and it gets fixed.

Where are DUO's official KNM practice exams?

On the Oefenen page of inburgeren.nl. DUO has two KNM practice exams there, next to practice exams for Lezen, Luisteren, Schrijven and Spreken. They are free and open in your browser. DUO says they work best on a desktop computer; on a phone or tablet, turn the screen sideways.

The same page points to netinnederland.nl, with videos about topics that also come up in the exam, and to oefenen.nl for lessons. Those are not DUO's own practice exams.

The learning goals themselves are public too. They are annex 2 of the Regeling inburgering 2021, first published in Staatscourant 2024, 15802. They are in Dutch and dry, but they are the list of what can be asked, which makes them a good checklist for your last week.

How should I study for the KNM exam?

This part is our advice, not DUO's rules.

1. Do one of DUO's practice exams before you study, and write down which themes went badly.
2. Start with Instanties: which organisation does what. Many questions are really about whether you go to the gemeente, UWV, SVB or the Belastingdienst.
3. Take one theme a day with its Dutch key words, and make flashcards with the Dutch on the front.
4. Do the second practice exam about a week before your exam, and compare it with the first.
5. Spend the last days on your weakest themes and the word lists, not on new material.

Most right answers have the same shape: they follow the law, go to the right agency, and have you act yourself and on time. There are exceptions. When a life is in danger you call 112 at once, and sometimes the right answer is that you do not have to do anything. The study guide explains the pattern and its exceptions.

On the day, take a valid ID and be there 30 minutes before the exam starts. Your coat, bag, watch and phone go into a locker. Read every option before you click: many wrong options are almost right, with one word changed.