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Primary and secondary education

Primary and secondary education is free of charge but schools have the right to ask for a contribution from the parents (usually for school trips, parties, swimming lessons etc.). Parents are not obliged to pay this contribution but it may mean that their child cannot participate in these activities. In principle, books and study material are free of charge. Additional study material (such as atlases, dictionaries, calculators etc.) must be paid for by the parents. Schools have the right to ask parents or carers for a deposit when issuing books and study material.

Parents have the choice to register their child with a public or a special school. About one-third of Dutch children go to a public school. Two-thirds go to a special school with a religious (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or Islamic) or pedagogic (Montessori, Jenaplan or Dalton) signature. The Dutch government is responsible for the education at and the costs of both public and special primary and secondary education.

The Netherlands also boasts various international schools for primary and secondary education that teach in English, French or other languages. In the Utrecht area, we have the International School Utrecht  external link for primary and secondary education. There are also many bilingual schools, usually teaching in both Dutch and English.

For further information about the international schools, go to ‘Foundation for International Education in the Netherlands’.