Inconsistencies between the results of different placement tests used to guide Group 8 students in the transition to secondary school have raised concerns among educators and schools in the Netherlands.

Notable differences seen between Dutch transition tests 

All Group 8 students in the Netherlands must take a transition test to determine which of the three streams of secondary education is best suited for them. There are eight different options that schools can choose from, which were all introduced to the Dutch school system to provide a standardised means of measuring a student’s academic abilities while giving schools freedom of choice.

However, in the past few years, educational leaders have noticed differing results based on the type of progression test they choose to use. For example, an analysis by de Volkskrant showed that students who took the Cito’s Leerling in Beeld test were more likely to have higher school recommendations such as HAVO (senior general secondary education) or VWO (university preparatory education). On the other hand, those who used the IEP test or the Route 8 test received fewer high-level placements. 

Filios Scholengroep in Oss noticed lower-than-expected results last year when using the Route 8 test, despite better performance in class assessments. To tackle this problem, 11 of the 20 schools in the school group switched to the Cito test, two switched to the IEP test and the rest stuck with Route 8. The schools that used the Cito test saw the number of students meeting the higher levels rise from 45 percent to 70 percent, while schools using the Route 8 test maintained a score of 63 percent.

Dutch progression tests are “comparable”

Despite schools, educators and even the Education Inspectorate finding issues with the different placement tests, State Secretary for Basic Education and Emancipation Marielle Paul has maintained that it does not matter which test students take. 

Paul also refers to claims from the College for Testing and Examinations (CvTE), which is responsible for standardising the tests, that the tests are scientifically comparable. The organisation states that any differences seen in results are from the different types of students in the different schools using the tests. 

This is not the first time the process around students’ transitions has been criticised. Not only are the placement tests raising concerns with calls to return to a single transition test, but students with non-Dutch names are given lower school level advice by primary schools themselves, highlighting the inequalities of student transitions to secondary school.