Inburgering: how routes are assigned

If Wet inburgering 2021 (Civic Integration Act 2021) applies to you, check your personal plan for your route and required exams.

Data last updated: December 2025 (provisional CBS figures).

The CBS dashboard (External site, opens in a new tab) counts people who became inburgeringsplichtig (required to integrate) under the 2021 law. The route totals here include only people with a route recorded in their PIP (personal integration and participation plan).

The CBS route-distribution table covers 97,890 people with a recorded route through December 2025. DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, the Dutch education service) open data (External site, opens in a new tab) cover a later period, through August 2026. Those data show about 120,000 recorded routes, excluding small counts hidden for privacy. The rounded split is 70% B1-route, 24% Z-route and 6% Onderwijsroute.

The sources count different groups and use different cut-off dates, so keep the two sources separate. The integration routes statistics page gives the DUO overview using data through August 2026.

Your municipality uses the brede intake (initial assessment) to set your route. The intake includes a conversation. Most newcomers also take the learnability test. The municipality then makes your PIP with you and records your route and required exams. The government’s route rules (External site, opens in a new tab) apply under Wet inburgering 2021, which started on 1 January 2022.

If a visual or hearing impairment prevents you from taking the test, your municipality can exempt you. Ask about this before taking the test. The exemption is final. See page 47 of DUO’s portal manual (PDF, 6.5 MB) (External site, opens in a new tab).

The three routes have different aims:

• B1-route: learn Dutch at B1 and take part in society through work or other activities. The route includes Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij (KNM, knowledge of Dutch society). It is the standard route for people expected to reach B1.
• Onderwijsroute: follow an intensive language and study programme, mainly for younger newcomers who want to continue into Dutch education. The language target is B1 or B2.
• Z-route: learn Dutch and take part in society when the other two routes are too difficult. Language lessons and participation activities help you become more independent. Language exams are optional.

For each route’s requirements, read the B1-route guide, Onderwijsroute guide or Z-route guide. The Wet inburgering 2021 overview explains how the routes fit into the law.

For a move during this process, see Moving house during inburgering.

According to CBS, 97,890 people in the 2022–2025 cohorts had a recorded route by December 2025. A cohort groups people by the year they received DUO’s notice that they must integrate. The table uses each person’s most recent recorded route. It excludes people without a route. Source: CBS, “Verdeling van de leerroutes” (route distribution).

In the CBS figures, the B1-route share rose from about 67% in the 2022 cohort to 74% in the 2025 cohort. The Z-route share fell from about 27% to 19%. The Onderwijsroute was the smallest route in every cohort.

The learnability test advises whether you can reach B1 or A2 within three years. See page 47 of DUO’s portal manual (PDF, 6.5 MB) (External site, opens in a new tab). If you take the test, your municipality uses its advice and the intake conversation together to set your route, as DUO’s intake guidance (External site, opens in a new tab) explains. CBS figures show how the advice relates to the recorded route.

CBS’s December 2025 figures use the labels “B1-route haalbaar” (B1-route achievable) and “B1-route niet haalbaar” (B1-route not achievable). The table counts everyone with each of these results, including people without a PIP yet. Source: CBS, “Leerroutes & advies leerbaarheidstoets” (routes and test advice), December 2025 data. Shares are rounded to whole percentages.

If you count only people with a recorded route, about 86% of those advised “B1-route achievable” are in the B1-route. The figure is about 30% for those advised “B1-route not achievable”. The test advice alone does not determine the route.

CBS records leerroutewisselingen (route changes) by comparing each person’s first and most recent known route. By December 2025, about 32% of Onderwijsroute starters had the B1-route or Z-route as their latest route. The table shows differences between those two records, rather than every change in between.

Each percentage uses everyone who started in the named route. Source: CBS, “Leerroutewisselingen en afschalen” (route changes and downscaling), December 2025 data.

An afschaling (lowering the language target) changes one or more language-exam targets from B1 to A2 within the B1-route. You stay in the B1-route. See DUO’s downscaling rules (External site, opens in a new tab).

Your municipality can consider A2 downscaling after at least 600 hours of qualifying Dutch lessons. B1 must remain too difficult despite sufficient effort. Ask your municipality to check your hours and progress.

Dutch lessons at a school with the Blik op Werk Keurmerk (quality mark) can count, as DUO’s exam guidance (External site, opens in a new tab) explains. Qualifying alfabetisering (literacy) lessons and Dutch lessons at a recognised taalschakeltraject (language transition programme) provider can also count. Qualifying lessons taken during your intake may count too. See Besluit inburgering 2021 (Civic Integration Decree 2021), article 5.5 (External site, opens in a new tab).

According to CBS, about 25% of people in the B1-route in the 2022 cohort had a language target lowered to A2, compared with 1% in the 2025 cohort. The difference is about 24 percentage points. Newer cohorts had less time to reach this decision by December 2025. Source: CBS, “Leerroutewisselingen en afschalen”.

The cohort figures show how many people had a language target lowered to A2 by December 2025. They cannot show how much of the difference comes from initial route decisions or from time spent learning.

Some newcomers need an alfabetisering (literacy) course before or alongside Dutch lessons. They learn to read and write in the Latin alphabet. The table covers asielmigranten (asylum migrants) only.

According to CBS, about 68% of asylum migrants in the Z-route need a literacy course, compared with 12% in the B1-route and 6% in the Onderwijsroute. Source: CBS, “Alfabetisering”, December 2025 data.

Across the routes, about 31% of asylum migrants with a known PIP route need a literacy course. The Z-route combines language learning, literacy support where needed and participation. For the levels people later reach, see Language levels achieved during inburgering.

The overall CBS population includes everyone who became required to integrate under the 2021 law. People later given a partial or full exemption or waiver remain in that overall population. The route section uses a narrower group. It includes people with a vrijstelling (exemption), ontheffing (waiver) or lapsed obligation only when both their intake start and PIP are known.

CBS separates asylum migrants from gezins- en overige migranten (family and other migrants). Its asylum group also includes people who join or form a family with an asylum migrant. Family reunifiers count in that group regardless of whether they applied within three months. The literacy figures here cover only the asylum group.

The route table counts people with a recorded PIP route. The switch table uses the first route as its base. The test-advice table includes people without a PIP yet; the paragraph below it excludes them. The downscaling table uses people in the B1-route in each cohort.

CBS hides counts below 10 and rounds the others to the nearest five. Totals and their parts may differ slightly because of rounding.

The DUO comparison sums recorded routes in its September 2026 CSV (spreadsheet data file) update, covering August 2026. It excludes counts of 1–4 that DUO hides for privacy. Those hidden counts make the visible total slightly lower than the full total.

Use the CBS dashboard for later figures.

If your route is already set, check your PIP for the route and exams that apply to you. If you are waiting for a route, ask your municipality about your intake and plan. Your intake and personal circumstances guide the decision; the national percentages describe other people’s routes.

If the route feels too difficult, ask your municipality to discuss your progress. For the B1-route, ask whether you meet the A2 downscaling conditions, including at least 600 hours of qualifying Dutch lessons and sufficient effort. If you need help with reading and writing, ask whether your plan includes a literacy course.

Read these guides next:

• PIP: what to check in your personal integration plan
• B1-route: requirements and exams
• Z-route: self-reliance requirements