Mbo study choice: tips for parents.

When choosing an mbo study your child can certainly use some help. But how do you help your child choose an mbo study? And what should you look for during an open day? We give you six tips.

2. Look at your child’s languages and interests. Using your child’s talents and interests is important when choosing a study. This way your child ends up where they fit. Ask questions like: ‘what does my child like?’ and ‘what is my child good at?’. This gives a good picture and helps select one or more fields. Ask your child if they prefer to learn by working at a company or by learning at school. This helps decide if your child wants a BOL or BBL study.

3. Select one or more fields. Maybe your child already knows in which field(s) they want to study. Maybe it is harder to link talents and interests to a specific field. Either way, it is useful to take a study choice test. It takes little time and can give interesting insights. The test shows which domains or sectors fit your child’s interests and talents. It is also wise to read about different studies.

4. Check the conditions. When choosing a suitable study, look beyond your child’s interests and talents. For example, also look at the future job prospects in different studies. Is there (a lot of) work in that sector? Are there extra requirements for admission? By checking this early, you avoid unexpected problems at the moment of choice.

5. Visit open days together. Go with your child to open days. Together you get a fuller picture: you see things your child does not see and your child notices things you might miss. You may ask earlier questions about the cost or intake activities. Your child sees the atmosphere and study content. Later, evaluate together what your child liked about the studies and schools and make a choice based on that. 6. Register your child on time. It is almost time! Your child has made a well-thought-out choice and now it is time to register. But what does on time mean? Certainly before 1 April. Then your child has the right to admission. You can register earlier too. For popular studies this is advised because they fill up fast. Watch out: some studies have different registration deadlines or limit places. This must be clear when registering. If your child registers late the mbo school can refuse admission.