# How to enrol your child in school in NL

Canonical: https://howtoin.nl/enrol-your-child-in-school  
Last reviewed: 2026-09-01  
Themes: Family, Daily life  
Time: An afternoon to work out the local rules, then a registration window set by your municipality; a school has 6 weeks to decide on an application, extendable once by a maximum of 4 weeks.  
Source: How to in NL (https://howtoin.nl)

## Summary

How to enrol a child in a Dutch primary or secondary school, from compulsory education (leerplicht) to newcomer language classes. You register with the school itself, but in some municipalities the schools allocate places centrally.

## Overview

There is no single national school registration system in the Netherlands. Enrolment is always with an individual school, but compulsory education (leerplicht), the transition from primary to secondary school, and the funding of state schools are all governed nationally, while the way places are allocated is decided locally. This guide sets out the national framework first, then shows you where your municipality (gemeente) fills in the detail.

## Before you start

Compulsory education applies to every child living in the Netherlands, whatever their nationality, so this guide applies to you regardless of your residence permit. A primary school registers your child using their citizen service number (burgerservicenummer, BSN) and asks for the birth certificate, passport or identity document to establish it, so registering the family at the municipality (gemeente) normally comes first. A secondary school will give a child who has no BSN yet a temporary education number instead. Before you contact any school, check your municipality's website: some run a central allocation round with fixed registration windows, and missing that window changes which schools are still open to you. What you do next also depends on your child's age and on whether they already speak Dutch.

## Which enrolment route applies to your child?

The national rules are the same, but the route you take depends on your child's age when you arrive and on whether they are joining at a standard transition point.

- **Child under 4** You may register your child at a primary school (basisschool) from the age of 3. Your child may start at 4 and is only legally required to attend from the first day of the month after their fifth birthday. From 3 years and 10 months most schools offer familiarisation days (wendagen), up to a maximum of 5 days, although not every school runs them. In municipalities with a central system this is the age at which the registration form reaches you.
- **Child aged 4 to 11 arriving mid-year** You are outside the standard intake, so you approach schools directly rather than waiting for an allocation round. The decision period is national, not local: the school has 6 weeks from your written application to decide whether it can admit your child, and may extend that once by a maximum of 4 weeks, so allow 10 weeks and apply at least that far ahead. Some municipalities, Utrecht among them, tell parents they may apply to several schools at once provided they say which is the preference, so check what yours expects. If your child does not speak Dutch, ask about a newcomer school or language class (nieuwkomersschool or taalschool) at the same time.
- **Child aged 12 to 17** This is secondary education (voortgezet onderwijs), split into the vmbo, havo and vwo tracks. A child coming from a Dutch primary school is placed on the basis of the definitive school advice and the school must place them at least at the level of that advice. A child arriving from abroad who does not speak Dutch normally starts in an international transition class (internationale schakelklas, ISK). If you are moving house, you may register at a secondary school at any point in the year.
- **Young person aged 16 to 18 with no basic qualification** This runs alongside the secondary school route above rather than replacing it. Full-time compulsory education ends at the end of the school year in which your child turns 16, and also once they have completed 12 full school years, after which the qualification obligation (kwalificatieplicht) applies until 18 to anyone without a basic qualification (startkwalificatie), meaning at minimum a havo, vwo or mbo level 2 diploma. They must follow full-time daytime education and may not work full time. The obligation does not apply to young people who followed practical education (praktijkonderwijs) or the work-oriented or daily care pathways in secondary special education.

## Deadlines

**Secondary school: register in the central week, 25 to 31 March 2027**

For the move from primary to secondary school the central registration week (centrale aanmeldweek) runs from 25 to 31 March 2027, and the definitive school advice must reach you by 24 March 2027. Every application made before 1 April 2027 counts as if it were made on 31 March, so an application inside the week, and any your region allowed you to make earlier, are treated equally. Register on or after 1 April and you are outside the round, which in practice leaves you choosing from the schools that still have places; the Rijksoverheid publishes the timetable for each year.

## Steps

### 1. Work out whether compulsory education already applies

Compulsory education (leerplicht) applies to children living in the Netherlands whatever their nationality. Your child may attend primary school from the age of 4, but is only legally required to attend from the first day of the month after their fifth birthday. Full-time compulsory education runs until the end of the school year in which your child turns 16, and also ends once they have completed 12 full school years. From 16 to 18, anyone without a basic qualification (startkwalificatie), meaning at minimum a havo, vwo or mbo level 2 diploma, remains under the qualification obligation (kwalificatieplicht) and must follow full-time daytime education.

**Do this:** Check your child's age against the leerplicht and kwalificatieplicht rules so you know whether you are choosing a school or legally required to have one.

**Timing:** A few minutes, but do it before you start looking at schools.

> **Common mistake:** Parents often read "school starts at 4" as a deadline and enrol a child of 4 late in the year without realising the legal obligation only begins the month after the fifth birthday. The opposite mistake costs more: assuming a 16 year old may leave school, when the qualification obligation runs to 18 unless they already hold a basic qualification.

**Source:** [Rijksoverheid: Leerplicht en kwalificatieplicht](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/onderwijs/leerplicht/leerplicht-en-kwalificatieplicht)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/enrol-your-child-in-school#step-1

### 2. Get your child's BSN and gather the registration documents

A primary school registers your child using their citizen service number (burgerservicenummer, BSN), so registering the family at the municipality (gemeente) normally comes first. You will be asked to produce the child's birth certificate, passport or identity document in order to establish the BSN. If your child does not yet have a BSN, a secondary school will give them a temporary education number.

**Do this:** Register your family at the municipality, then collect your child's BSN, birth certificate and identity document before you approach any school.

**Documents needed:**
- Citizen service number (BSN)
- Birth certificate
- Passport or identity document
- Proof of registered address, where it is asked for

**Timing:** Depends on how quickly your municipality can give you an appointment; do this as soon as you arrive.

> **Common mistake:** The BSN requirement is not the same at both levels. For primary school you must provide your child's BSN at registration and produce the birth certificate, passport or identity document to establish it, so the municipal registration genuinely comes first. For secondary school a child without a BSN is given a temporary education number instead. Ask the individual school what it will accept while your municipal registration is pending, rather than assuming it will hold a place for you.

**Source:** [Government.nl: Registering a child with a primary school](https://www.government.nl/themes/education/primary-education/registering-a-child-with-a-primary-school)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/enrol-your-child-in-school#step-2

### 3. Find out how your municipality allocates school places

You enrol with an individual school, but in some municipalities the schools have made agreements about how children are distributed, and those agreements decide when and how you apply. In Amsterdam your child has priority at the 8 schools closest to their officially registered address, measured by walking distance, and where more children apply than there are places a draw is held in the presence of the school boards and the municipality. In Utrecht you apply during the calendar quarter in which your child turns 3, and it makes no difference where in that quarter you apply, because all the applications for the quarter are divided once it closes. Neither of these is the national rule, so check your own municipality's website.

**Do this:** Look up your municipality's page on primary school registration and note its registration window, priority rules and closing date.

**Timing:** Registration opens when your child is 3; municipalities with a central round set their own closing dates.

> **Common mistake:** Applying directly to a school in a municipality that runs a central round can leave your application outside the allocation. In Amsterdam, once the closing date has passed you can only choose from the schools that still have places, so a missed form is not a delay of days but of a whole round.

**Source:** [Gemeente Amsterdam: Schoolwijzer Amsterdam: primary school registration procedure](https://schoolwijzer.amsterdam.nl/en/po/procedure/)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/enrol-your-child-in-school#step-3

### 4. Register at a primary school, or apply directly if you arrive mid-year

You may register your child at a primary school from the age of 3. From 3 years and 10 months most schools offer familiarisation days (wendagen), up to a maximum of 5 days, although not all schools have them. If a school is full it may place your child on a waiting list. If you arrive with a child who is already 4 or older you are outside the standard intake and you contact schools yourself; some municipalities, Utrecht among them, tell parents they may apply to several schools at once as long as they say which is the preference. The decision period is set nationally: the school has 6 weeks from your written application to decide, extendable once by a maximum of 4 weeks, so apply about 10 weeks ahead.

**Do this:** Submit your registration in writing through your municipality's system if it has one, or email your preferred schools directly if your child is already 4 or older.

**Documents needed:**
- Citizen service number (BSN)
- Birth certificate
- Passport or identity document
- School reports from the previous school, where the school asks for them

**Cost:** No tuition fee at a state-funded primary school

**Timing:** The school has 6 weeks from your written application to decide, and may extend that once by a maximum of 4 weeks.

> **Common mistake:** Assuming a refusal leaves you with nothing is the mistake here. The school you apply to has a duty of care (zorgplicht): if it cannot admit your child, it must offer a suitable place at another school. If it has not decided within 10 weeks and your child is not enrolled anywhere else, your child has the right to a temporary place at the school you applied to. Put the application in writing so those clocks start.

**Source:** [Rijksoverheid: Hoe krijgt mijn kind passend onderwijs?](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/vraag-en-antwoord/passend-onderwijs/hoe-krijgt-mijn-kind-passend-onderwijs)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/enrol-your-child-in-school#step-4

### 5. Handle the move to secondary school and the doorstroomtoets

At the end of primary school your child receives a preliminary school advice, sits the transition test (doorstroomtoets), and then receives a definitive school advice naming a track: vmbo, havo or vwo; if the test advice is higher than the preliminary advice the school raises the advice, unless it judges that is not in the child's interest, which it must then explain in writing. A secondary school places a pupil on the basis of that definitive advice, must place a child with a havo advice at havo level at minimum, may not make your child sit an extra admission test, and may not refuse a place on the basis of other test results from the primary school; only schools that require a specific aptitude, such as a bilingual or sports-talent programme, may assess that aptitude. For 2027 the dates are: preliminary advice from 10 to 31 January, doorstroomtoets from 25 January to 12 February, definitive advice by 24 March at the latest, central registration week from 25 to 31 March, and an admission decision within 6 weeks of the application, meaning by 12 May 2027, or by 9 June 2027 where the school uses the one extension it is allowed. If your child needs a new secondary school because you are moving house, you may register throughout the year.

**Do this:** Register your child at a secondary school during the central registration week using the definitive school advice, or apply directly at any time of year if you are moving house.

**Documents needed:**
- Definitive school advice (definitief schooladvies)
- Citizen service number (BSN)
- Proof of identity
- Certificate of deregistration from the old school, if transferring

**Cost:** No tuition fee at a state-funded secondary school; a fee applies only to a student who is 18 or older on 1 August and is in full-time VAVO or MBO

**Timing:** Central registration week 25 to 31 March 2027; the school decides within 6 weeks of your application, which for 2027 means by 12 May, and by 9 June at the latest where it needs the one permitted extension.

> **Common mistake:** Accepting a preliminary advice as final is the expensive mistake here. If the doorstroomtoets result is higher, the school is expected to raise the advice, and a school that does not do so must explain the decision to you in writing. Ask for that explanation rather than registering on the lower advice.

**Source:** [Rijksoverheid: Tijdlijn schooladvies 2027](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/onderwijs/schooladvies-en-doorstroomtoets-basisschool/tijdlijn-schooladvies-2027)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/enrol-your-child-in-school#step-5

### 6. Arrange Dutch language provision if your child does not speak Dutch

Parents of children who are new to the Netherlands choose which school to apply to, and many children start without enough Dutch to follow lessons. In primary education the specialist schools and classes are usually called a newcomer school (nieuwkomersschool) or language school (taalschool). In secondary education they are called international transition classes (internationale schakelklassen, ISK). A pupil may be enrolled at a temporary newcomer provision for no longer than 2 years in total, and during that time must have at least 10 hours of Dutch a week. Provision is arranged locally: municipalities and school boards are required to meet at least once a year to organise newcomer education, so what exists near you depends on your area.

**Do this:** Ask both the school and your municipality what newcomer provision, taalklas or ISK is available in your area, and how a child moves from it into a mainstream class.

**Timing:** A place in a newcomer provision lasts no longer than 2 years in total.

> **Common mistake:** Assuming the nearest school will sort out the language support is the mistake that costs a year. Newcomer provision is organised between the municipality and the school boards, sometimes at a single school serving a whole area, so a child can sit in a mainstream class without adequate Dutch teaching if nobody raises it.

**Source:** [Rijksoverheid: Onderwijs voor nieuwkomers](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/onderwijs/basisonderwijs/onderwijs-voor-nieuwkomers)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/enrol-your-child-in-school#step-6

### 7. Check what you will actually pay, and consider international education

Parents do not pay school fees for primary or secondary education at a state-funded school. Schools may ask for a voluntary parental contribution (vrijwillige ouderbijdrage) towards camps, excursions and cultural activities, but it is not compulsory, admission may not depend on it, and every pupil must be allowed to take part in all extra activities even where the parents have not paid. Schools must state this in their school guide. Separately, some Dutch primary schools run an internationally oriented department (internationaal georienteerd basisonderwijs, IGBO) taught in English. DUO states that schools with an IGBO department receive extra government funding per department and per IGBO pupil. Independent international and foreign schools can have a different funding and fee model, so check the status and fee schedule of the specific school rather than assuming all international schools are unfunded.

**Do this:** Read the school guide (schoolgids) for what the voluntary contribution covers, and check the status and fee schedule of any international school directly before you commit.

**Cost:** State-funded schools charge no tuition fee; the voluntary parental contribution varies by school, and fees at independent international schools depend on the school

**Timing:** Ask before you accept a place, not after the first invoice arrives.

> **Common mistake:** Paying a voluntary contribution you were told was compulsory is the mistake schools are most often challenged on. You do not have to pay it, you do not have to give a reason, and a school may not exclude your child from a trip, camp or activity because you have not paid.

**Source:** [Rijksoverheid: Is de vrijwillige ouderbijdrage verplicht?](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/vraag-en-antwoord/financiering-onderwijs/is-de-vrijwillige-ouderbijdrage-op-de-basisschool-en-middelbare-school-verplicht)

Anchor: https://howtoin.nl/enrol-your-child-in-school#step-7

## Documents

- Your child's citizen service number (burgerservicenummer, BSN)
- Your child's birth certificate
- Your child's passport or identity document
- Proof of your registered address, where the school or municipality asks for it
- A certificate of deregistration (bewijs van uitschrijving) from the previous school, if your child is transferring
- School reports from the previous school, where the school asks for them
- The definitive school advice (definitief schooladvies), if your child is moving up from a Dutch primary school

## Costs

- State-funded primary and secondary schools charge no tuition fees; parents do not pay school fees for primary or secondary education
- The parental contribution (ouderbijdrage) is voluntary and each school sets its own amount; you do not have to pay it and you do not have to explain why not
- Some materials, such as atlases and dictionaries, are bought by parents as specified by the school
- Out-of-school care (buitenschoolse opvang, BSO) is paid to the provider directly and is not a school fee; childcare benefit (kinderopvangtoeslag), applied for at the Belastingdienst, can cover part of childcare costs
- Lunchtime supervision (tussenschoolse opvang, TSO) applies at primary schools without a continuous timetable (continurooster); the government publishes no rate, so ask the school what it asks for
- Some state-funded Dutch schools offer international education, including IGBO departments that receive government funding. Independent international and foreign schools can operate outside the state-funded system and set their own fees, so check the school's status and fee schedule directly
- School fees are payable where the student is 18 or older on 1 August and is in full-time adult general secondary education (VAVO) or secondary vocational education (MBO)

## Timing

Registration windows are set locally: Amsterdam sends a preference form around your child's third birthday and allocates places after a closing date, while Utrecht collects applications per calendar quarter and divides the places once the quarter closes. For the primary to secondary transition the national timetable is fixed: in 2027 the preliminary advice falls between 10 and 31 January, the doorstroomtoets between 25 January and 12 February, the definitive advice by 24 March, the central registration week from 25 to 31 March, and the school's admission decision by 12 May, or 9 June where the school uses its one extension. For any other application, at primary or secondary level, the school has 6 weeks to decide and may extend once by a maximum of 4 weeks, so allow 10 weeks.

## Structured timing

- Decision period: within 6 weeks [step-5]. Central registration week 25 to 31 March 2027; the school decides within 6 weeks of your application, which for 2027 means by 12 May, and by 9 June at the latest where it needs the one permitted extension.

## Common mistakes

- Assuming enrolment works the same way everywhere. Amsterdam gives priority at the 8 schools nearest your registered address and draws lots where a school is oversubscribed, while Utrecht runs quarterly rounds. Applying under the wrong municipality's rules can leave you outside the allocation round entirely.
- Waiting until your child turns 4 to register. Registration opens at 3, and in a municipality with a central round the places are allocated before your child starts, so a late application leaves you with whatever is left.
- Treating the parental contribution (ouderbijdrage) as a school fee. It is voluntary, admission may not depend on it, and a school may not keep your child out of a trip, camp or any other activity because you have not paid.
- Registering for secondary school on or after 1 April. Every application made before 1 April counts as made on 31 March, so applications inside the central week and any your region allowed you to make earlier compete on equal terms, and one made in April does not.
- Arranging a school place without asking about Dutch language provision. Newcomer classes and international transition classes (ISK) are arranged locally, not by the school you happen to apply to, and a child may be enrolled at a temporary newcomer provision for no longer than 2 years in total.

## Next steps

- Ask the school for the school guide (schoolgids) and check that it states pupils may always take part in all extra activities, including where parents do not pay the voluntary contribution.
- If your child is in a newcomer class or ISK, ask the school for the plan and timetable for moving into a mainstream class, and how the minimum of 10 hours of Dutch a week is delivered.
- Contact your municipality's compulsory education officer (leerplichtambtenaar) if you cannot find a school place, since the municipality is jointly responsible for arranging newcomer provision.
- Register or check your child's details in the municipality's records if you move house, and arrange a certificate of deregistration from the old school before starting at a new one.

## Related guides

- [apply-for-childcare-allowance](https://howtoin.nl/apply-for-childcare-allowance)
- [claim-child-benefit](https://howtoin.nl/claim-child-benefit)
- [bring-your-partner](https://howtoin.nl/bring-your-partner)
- [register-at-municipality](https://howtoin.nl/register-at-municipality)

## Official sources

- [Rijksoverheid: Leerplicht en kwalificatieplicht](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/onderwijs/leerplicht/leerplicht-en-kwalificatieplicht)
- [Rijksoverheid: Hoe krijgt mijn kind passend onderwijs?](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/vraag-en-antwoord/passend-onderwijs/hoe-krijgt-mijn-kind-passend-onderwijs)
- [Government.nl: Registering a child with a primary school](https://www.government.nl/themes/education/primary-education/registering-a-child-with-a-primary-school)
- [Government.nl: Registering your child at a secondary school](https://www.government.nl/themes/education/secondary-education/registering-a-child-with-a-secondary-school)
- [Rijksoverheid: Onderwijs voor nieuwkomers](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/onderwijs/basisonderwijs/onderwijs-voor-nieuwkomers)
- [DUO: Extra funding for internationally oriented primary education (IGBO)](https://www.duo.nl/zakelijk/primair-onderwijs/bekostiging-en-subsidies/bekostiging-basisonderwijs/extra-bekostiging.jsp)

## About this document

This is a machine-readable rendering of https://howtoin.nl/enrol-your-child-in-school.

Published by How to in NL, part of Flux Forward (https://fluxforward.world).

Last reviewed against its official sources on 2026-09-01.

Canonical JSON: https://howtoin.nl/content/guides/enrol-your-child-in-school.json

General guidance only. Rules can change and may depend on your situation; verify important steps with the official source before acting.