All children in their last year of primary school will take compulsory tests in arithmetic and language skills, as part of efforts to drive up educational standards, education minister Marja van Bijsterveldt said on Tuesday.

The legislation, which must first be passed by parliament, will come into effect next year, with the first tests scheduled for April. Schools will also be able to expand the basic exams to cover history, geography, nature studies and biology.
Currently 11 and 12-year-old children at some 85% of the country’s primary schools take a test know as the Cito in February. The results are largely used to decide what sort of secondary education a child should take.
According to the Volkskrant, both secondary and primary school associations back the idea of a test later in the year. This means teachers will have a greater say in assessing their pupils’ future education.
The new legislation will also introduce a more formal structure for monitoring pupil progress.