School leaving exam results have gone down over the past five years, particularly for Dutch, English and maths, according to new figures from the education inspectorate.

For example, the average grade for Dutch scored by trade school and pre-university pupils was 6.1 last year, compared with 6.4 five years ago, the inspectors said.
‘Education must become more ambitious,’ said chief inspector Annette Roeters in a statement. ‘School boards must see that as their role. All pupils deserve good quality education which prepares them for the next stage.’
Despite the decline in some subjects, primary schools are performing better and there has been a drop in the number of schools labelled weak, or very weak, the inspectors said.