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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice

Netherlands

The organisation of the academic year 2025/2026 in The Netherlands is as follows:

 

National information

Netherlands - Teachers' salaries and allowances

Teachers' salaries and allowances

  • Teachers’ remuneration is regulated by collective agreement for all education levels.
  • The minimum qualification requirement for teachers at pre-primary primary and lower secondary levels is ISCED 6, while in upper secondary ISCED 7 qualification is required.
  • Salary progression of teachers depends on the number of years in service. Teachers’ salaries, placement and progression are determined at the school level.
  • Teachers are not civil servants. There is no difference between teaching staff in public and private institutions.

School heads' salaries

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    National information

    Netherlands - School heads' salaries and allowances

    School heads' salaries and allowances

    • School heads’ remuneration is regulated by collective agreement for all education levels.
    • The minimum qualification required for school heads at pre-primary and primary levels is a specific competence ('Schoolleidersregister PO vastgestelde bekwaamheidseisen'). At secondary level the school boards decide on the minimum qualification requirements.
    • The collective agreements set the minimum pay scale depending on the size of the school (number of students), the type of school.  However, the school boards have autonomy to decide on the criteria to assign school heads to the existing pay scales. Size of the school may be one of the criteria.
    • The salary progression of school heads depends on a school board decision.
    • School heads are civil servants.

    Teachers' salaries

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      National Information

      Further readings

      National education systems - Netherlands

      Regulations about tuition fees are enshrined in the Dutch Legislation, WHW 2008, art. 7.45a - art. 7.46.

      Student grants

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      Footnotes

      <p>The percentage of students paying most common fee was calculated by taking the percentage of students paying statutory legal tuition fees.</p><p>The percentage for grant beneficiaries is based on the supplementary grant for both HBO and university students. There is no available data for the different cycles.</p>

      An alternative and less common form of childcare is childminder care. For more information, you can visit the subchapter home-based provison about childminders in The Netherlands.

      Objectives and accessibility

      Both childminder agencies and childminders are inspected (checked) by the GGD. The inspection of a childminder agency is done annually and childminders are inspected randomly. 

      All requirements for childminders are set out in the Childcare Act. The Innovation and Quality childcare act (wet IKK) does not apply to childminders.

       

      Steering documents

      There is no prescribed national curriculum as such in childcare provision, but providers are obliged to draw up policy on child development and learning opportunities, in consultation with parents’ committees. The policy must include a vision on interacting with and caring for children. The various initiatives in the Netherlands concerned with child development policy frameworks aim primarily to supervise the implementation of child development policy plans. These plans set out policy as regards:

      Admission requirements

      Childcare centres are in principle open to all children between 0 and 4 years of age. Parents can decide if they use childcare services and are free to choose the childcare organization they prefer.