Inburgering · Updated 2026-10-19
KNM exam 2025 changes explained
On 1 July 2025, the Knowledge of Dutch Society exam (Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij, KNM) switched to new exam objectives (eindtermen). The old ones were from 2015. If you're studying now, here is what changed. Everything below comes from official or exam-maker sources, linked at the bottom. Where a source doesn't say something, we don't guess.
1. Which exam you get depends on your exam date
DUO's advice: if you take the exam after 1 July 2025, practise with the new practice exams. If you took it before, you could use the old ones. Both sets are on the inburgeren.nl practice page.[1]
2. The format
You take the KNM exam on a computer. It's split into themes (for example "wonen" or "werk en inkomen"), with questions for each theme, and it lasts 45 minutes.[2] Cito, which wrote the new exams, says questions now test knowledge directly, using photos instead of introduction videos.[4]
3. The 8 official themes
- Werk en inkomen (work & income)
- Omgangsvormen, waarden en normen (manners, values & norms)
- Wonen (housing)
- Gezondheid en gezondheidszorg (health & healthcare)
- Geschiedenis en geografie (history & geography)
- Instanties (public authorities)
- Staatsinrichting en rechtsstaat (government & rule of law)
- Onderwijs en opvoeding (education & parenting)
These come from the official regulation published in the Staatscourant.[3]
4. Knowledge, not "what would you do?"
The government says the questions are now more about knowledge and less about behaviour.[5] The regulation explains that each part of the objectives now mainly describes what you need to know, not how you're expected to act or what you're expected to think.[3] Cito adds that the old question type, "What is the best thing to do or say?", no longer fit the new objectives.[4]
5. Topics with new or extra attention
- The Holocaust: what it was, that many Dutch Jews were killed, and that antisemitism and discrimination are forbidden.[5]
- Women's right to self-determination in the Netherlands.[5]
- The state's laws come before the rules of religion and tradition, which was added to objective 7.2.3.[3]
- Digital communication and information: how digitalisation affects your contact with organisations.[4]
6. Who does what
Cito wrote the new exams. DUO administers the integration exams.[5] You'll find which exams you personally need in Mijn Inburgering.[2]
How to prepare
- Do the new official practice exams on inburgeren.nl first.[1]
- Check that books or courses are updated for the July 2025 objectives. Plenty of material from before 2025 is still around.
- Practise in Dutch, but check your understanding in your own language.
Lotus & Tulip makes unofficial practice material. We are not affiliated with DUO, Cito or the Dutch government. Always check the official sources.
Sources
- DUO / inburgeren.nl, "Changes in the exam as from 1 July" (3 April 2025): inburgeren.nl news archive (EN); NL: news archive, "Vanaf 1 juli ander examen KNM"
- DUO / inburgeren.nl, "Kennisexamens": inburgeren.nl/examen-doen/inhoud-kennisexamens.jsp
- Staatscourant 2024, 15802 (revised KNM objectives, in force 1 July 2025): zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-2024-15802.html
- Cito, "KNM-examen in een nieuw jasje" (5 Aug 2025): cito.nl
- Rijksoverheid, "Inburgeringsexamen vernieuwd" (30 June 2025): rijksoverheid.nl
Next step: follow our 4-week KNM study plan, study each of the 8 KNM themes, and learn the key words with our KNM vocabulary list Also see KNM exam cost and booking.