Pass rate at level before corona pandemic.

Pass rate at level before corona pandemic.

Last school year, almost 90% of regular exam students earned their diploma. This brings the pass rate almost back to the level before the corona pandemic, without special exam measures.

Back to the normal percentage

In a normal year, about 92 percent passes on average. This appears from the exam monitor of the Education Executive Agency (DUO), which Minister Mariëlle Paul (Primary and Secondary Education) sent to the House of Representatives on Friday.

Special measures in previous years

In the past three years, the pass rates were much higher, partly because students got extra resit opportunities due to the special circumstances in which they had to prepare their exams. Moreover, they were allowed to drop one grade for their diploma, as long as it was not a core subject (the thumb rule). In 2020, final exams were fully canceled due to the corona pandemic, and almost all students passed. Only in May of this year did students take exams again, almost without special measures.

Failing without resit

The monitor also shows that last school year, students failed slightly more often without having taken a resit compared to 2019 (before the corona crisis). As usual, math and Dutch were the most retaken exams.

Extension of the second exam period

For the school year 2023/2024, students must again take exams without special measures. However, the second exam period remains extended due to the positive experiences during the corona pandemic. This second period now lasts 6 days instead of 4, making it easier for students who missed the exam in the first period due to illness to retake it. This reduces the overlap of exams.

Financial support from the National Education Program

The National Education Program has been providing schools with financial resources since 2021 to tackle the learning delays caused by the corona pandemic. Schools can choose from proven effective methods available on a menu. Schools in primary and secondary education can continue to use these funds until the school year 2024/2025.