What Dutch level do inburgering participants reach?

If you are planning your Dutch studies, use the target in your integration plan to choose your study level. These figures cover people required to integrate under Wet inburgering 2021 (Civic Integration Act 2021) from 1 January 2022.

Data last updated: December 2025 (preliminary).

The CBS dashboard (External site, opens in a new tab) covers everyone who became subject to the integration obligation under the 2021 law. This article combines both migrant groups and all years covered by the dashboard.

The language-level tables cover only people recorded as voldaan (met the obligation) by the end of 2025. CBS excludes people with a full vrijstelling (exemption) or ontheffing (waiver) from the integration obligation, and people whose obligation ended for another reason. People with partial language-exam exemptions or waivers remain included.

For the requirements behind these statistics, read what inburgering (civic integration) requires in the Netherlands.

The figures show the levels of passed language exams among people who completed integration. They do not show pass rates for reading, writing, speaking, listening or Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij (KNM, knowledge of Dutch society). For example, 47% at B1 means 47% of completers had passed language exams only at B1.

About 9,975 people had completed integration by the end of 2025. Most came from the earliest groups. Later groups had less time to finish, so the figures give an early picture of results. They cannot show the final completion rate for everyone covered by the law.

The table uses CBS data through December 2025. Counts are rounded to the nearest five; shares are approximate. “All passed exams at B1” means every passed language exam was at B1; it does not say how many exam parts a person passed.

The three groups with passed language exams only at B1 or higher account for about 62% of completers. They are all passed exams at B1, mixed B2 and B1, and all passed exams at B2. The mixed categories mean some exams were passed at each level shown.

CBS groups people with no passed language exams and people with an unknown level in one category: about 15% of completers. This category includes Z-route (self-reliance route) completers who took no language exams and a small number with partial language-exam exemptions. Language exams are optional on the Z-route.

The B1-route (B1 learning route) rules (External site, opens in a new tab) set B1 as the target. If B1 is beyond your reach after at least 600 hours of language lessons, discuss A2 with your municipality. If your municipality approves a reduction to A2, it must record that change in your persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie (PIP, personal integration and participation plan).

If these levels are new to you, read our guide to A2 vs B1 levels. It explains what each level means in practice. Which Dutch exam you need explains how your required level is set.

A cohort (year group) is the year you received the integration-obligation notice from DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, the Dutch education service). The table uses December 2025 data. Each percentage is a share of completers in that year group. We calculate each year’s shares from its published language-level counts.

The published language-level counts add to about 410 people for 2024 and about 25 for 2025. CBS hides small counts and rounds other counts. The published language-level counts differ slightly from the status totals. We leave 2025 out of this table because its group is too small for a useful comparison. B1 is the largest category in every year shown.

Later year groups include only those who finished earliest. Their results can change as more people complete integration. The percentages therefore describe the completers so far, rather than the eventual results for a whole year group.

CBS measures duration from the signing of the first PIP to completion. The table uses December 2025 data. The shares use about 9,975 people who had completed integration as their base.

About 60% of completers took two to three years. About 9 in 10 took less than three years. Someone who finishes in 2026 or later will appear in a future update.

Among people still integrating at the end of 2025, about 3% had already spent three years or more since their first PIP. DUO’s integration overview (External site, opens in a new tab) gives the standard integration period as three years. Your DUO letter gives the start date of your integration period.

At the end of 2025, about 130,600 people had become subject to the integration obligation under the 2021 law. About 8% had met it, and about 85% were still integrating. This status table uses December 2025 data.

By the end of 2025, about 28% of the 2022 year group had met the obligation. The shares were about 6% for 2023, 1% for 2024 and close to zero for 2025. Newer groups had less time to complete integration. These figures cannot show their eventual completion rates.

Among people still integrating, about 88% had passed no language exams by the end of 2025. The figure does not show whether they had reached the exam stage or attempted an exam.

CBS splits the population into asielmigranten (asylum migrants) and gezins- en overige migranten (family and other migrants). The asylum group includes people joining asylum migrants to reunite or form a family. The totals cover both groups. The overall population includes people later exempted or waived. The completed-language and duration tables exclude people with full exemptions or waivers from the integration obligation, or whose obligation ended for another reason. People with partial language-exam exemptions or waivers remain included in the language-level tables.

We used all five chart downloads:

• “Inburgeringsplicht voldaan behaald niveau op taalexamens” (language levels after meeting the obligation).
• “Inburgeringsplicht nog niet voldaan behaald niveau op taalexamens” (language levels while still integrating).
• “Inburgeringsplicht voldaan duur van het traject” (duration before meeting the obligation).
• “Inburgeringsplicht nog niet voldaan duur van het traject tot eind 2025” (time spent integrating by end-2025).
• “Status inburgering, eind 2025” (integration status at end-2025).

CBS hides counts below 10 and rounds other counts to the nearest five. Some charts have slightly different totals. We divide the overall language-level and duration counts by about 9,975 completers. The duration rows add to about 9,930. CBS excludes people whose first-PIP date is unknown from that chart. For each year group, we divide by the sum of its published language-level counts.

Small groups, especially 2024 and 2025 completers, make percentages sensitive to a few extra people. Inburgering.org calculates the shares shown here from CBS counts; CBS produces the underlying statistics.

Your required level comes from your PIP. If your target is B1, use B1 study materials. If you need to discuss a reduction to A2, contact your municipality. The percentage of people who finished at A2 does not give you permission to change your target.

If you are planning your remaining study time, check the start date in your DUO letter. The standard integration period is three years. The figures here describe people who already finished. They do not change your required level or the time you have to integrate.

For your next step, choose one of these articles:

• Which Dutch exam do you need? A1, A2, B1 or B2
• How the Netherlands assigns inburgering learning routes
• Staatsexamen NT2 (Dutch as a second language state exam): levels, registration and results