A1 Reading Exam Summary PDF
Download a concise A1 reading exam summary for the Basisexamen abroad: 35-minute timing, technical reading practice, short text strategy, signal words, and original examples.
- Reading
- Summary
- 35 minutes
- 19 questions
- Practice target: 14/19 correct. Official result: score 6 or higher for each exam part.
Exam snapshot
What This Summary Helps You Do
Use this summary before timed A1 reading practice. It trains exact word recognition and simple evidence matching.
- Recognize short A1 words without mixing up similar spelling.
- Find the one detail asked by a question: time, place, person, object, or action.
- Read short practical texts without translating every word.
Practice target: 14/19 correct. Official result: score 6 or higher for each exam part.
Exam timing
35-Minute Timing Plan
0-3 min
Start with word recognition
Read or listen carefully. Compare every letter before choosing the word.
3-24 min
Answer the short texts
Read the question first. Then scan for a day, time, place, name, price, or object.
24-31 min
Do the longer story calmly
Follow the order of the story. Who is there? What happens first? What is found or forgotten?
31-35 min
Check marked questions
Only change an answer when you find clear Dutch evidence in the text.
Reading strategy
A1 Text Types, Questions, And Traps
What A1 reading texts look like
A1 reading uses very short practical Dutch. The task is usually to find one simple fact, action, place, time, or object.
- Technical reading: choose the exact written word or the matching picture.
- Signs and notices: open, gesloten, ingang, uitgang, wachten, melden.
- Short messages: a friend, teacher, employer, doctor, or family member writes one small request.
- Simple tables: opening hours, rooms, activities, prices, or days of the week.
- Short stories: one everyday situation with a clear order of actions.
What the questions usually ask
Most A1 questions ask for one clear detail. You do not need to understand every word if you can find the useful detail.
- Which word did you hear or see?
- Where is something?
- When can someone come, call, or start?
- What must someone bring or do?
- Who visits, works, calls, or helps?
- Which picture matches the word or object?
Fast table check
Tables are easy when you use the row and column names before reading all cells.
- Find the person, day, room, activity, or object from the question.
- Point to the row first, then read the matching column.
- Watch small differences: maandag is not dinsdag; 12.00 is not 20.00.
- If a question asks waar, look for the place. If it asks wanneer, look for the day or time.
Common A1 traps
The wrong option often copies a word from the text but answers a different question.
- vrij can mean someone is free, not that an event is in the weekend.
- tot means until. If the text says tot 12.00, 14.00 is too late.
- eerst and daarna show order. Do not skip the first action.
- A similar-looking word can be wrong: brief, bril, broek; fiets, vis, vies.
- If someone loses something, the first step may be different from the final step.
Signal Words
Worked examples
Original A1 Exam Examples
Example 1: Technical Reading Words
Context: In the real exam, you may hear or see short words. In this PDF, the prompt is printed so you can practise exact recognition.
Woorden oefenen
Luister of kijk goed naar het woord. Kies het woord of plaatje dat precies past.
Let op: korte woorden kunnen veel op elkaar lijken. Lees alle letters.
Vraag. Je hoort: fiets. Welk woord is goed?
Vraag. Je ziet het woord: bril. Welk plaatje past?
Example 2: Sign At A Community Centre
Context: Aisha reads a sign at a community centre.
Buurtcentrum De Brug
Vandaag: 09.00-10.00 koffie voor ouders.
10.30-11.30 Nederlandse les in lokaal 2.
12.00 gesloten voor lunch.
13.00-15.00 spreekuur gemeente bij de balie.
Vraag. Waar is de Nederlandse les?
Vraag. Hoe laat is het buurtcentrum gesloten voor lunch?
Example 3: Message From A Friend
Context: Samir gets a short message from Noor.
Bericht van Noor
Hoi Samir, ik ben morgen vrij. Kom je om drie uur?
Neem je boek mee. Ik heb thee en koekjes.
Groetjes, Noor
Vraag. Wanneer kan Samir komen?
Vraag. Wat moet Samir meenemen?
Before exam day
Final Checklist
- I can read A1 days: maandag, dinsdag, woensdag, donderdag, vrijdag, zaterdag, zondag.
- I can read simple times like 8.00, 12.30, and 15.00.
- I can recognize common words for places: school, winkel, dokter, balie, lokaal, bus.
- I compare similar words before choosing an answer.
- I read the question before I read the whole text.
- I find evidence in the Dutch text for every answer.
- I know that the practice target is 14 correct answers out of 19.