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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice

This chapter provides a thematic and chronological overview of national reforms and policy developments since 2021.

The introduction of the chapter describes the overall education strategy and the key objectives across the whole education system. It also looks at how the education reform process is organized and who are the main actors in the decision-making process.

Key features of the Dutch Education System

  • 8 years of primary education (age 4 – 12)
  • compulsory education: starts age 5, ends age 18
  • selection at age 12
  • highly diversified lower secondary education
  • two out of six streams lead to higher education
  • four out of six streams lead to upper vocational education
  • several routes through system

2025 

No recent reforms and policy developments. 

2024

No recent reforms and policy developments.

2023

Extra resources for social projects linking VET and the labour market

26-04-2023

2025

Targeted support in vocational education for language and math

Many new vocational education students currently need extra support in language and math. That is why the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science has allocated €47.2 million for the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 academic years, so that vocational education institutions can invest in extra guidance, for example by hiring additional teaching staff. The aim is to prevent study delays and dropouts among students as much as possible. 

2025

Curriculum update 

The Dutch curriculum has recently been updated, as the core objectives used in education until then dated back to 2006. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) commissioned the Curriculum Development Foundation (SLO) to update the curriculum in collaboration with the education sector. This process led to the development of new core objectives for primary and secondary education, which were presented in April 2025.

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