182 thousand pupils in final year of secondary school

© ANP / Koen van Weel
  • There are slightly more pupils in their final year than there were last school year.
  • Zuid-Holland has the highest number of pupils in their final year, and Zeeland the lowest.
  • HAVO pupils are more likely to choose the ‘society’ profile, while the ‘science’ profile is more popular among VWO pupils.

A total of 182 thousand pupils are now in their final year of secondary education. That is slightly more than in the 2024/’25 academic year, when the number was 181 thousand. This is according to provisional figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Just over 94 thousand pupils are in their fourth year of prevocational secondary education (VMBO). More than 51 thousand pupils are in their fifth year of senior general secondary education (HAVO) and 36 thousand pupils are in their sixth year of pre-university education (VWO). The final exams began on 8 May 2026, and most pupils will receive their final results today.

More girls than boys in final year

There are over 91 thousand girls in their final year of secondary education, compared to 90 thousand boys. However, there are more boys than girls in the final year of VMBO: 48 thousand boys versus 46 thousand girls.

Most exam candidates in Zuid-Holland, fewest in Zeeland

Nationwide, more than 94 thousand pupils are in their final year of VMBO education. Most of these pupils live in Zuid-Holland. Noord-Holland and Gelderland also have a large number of pupils in their final year of VMBO education. Zeeland has the fewest, at just over 2 thousand.

Zuid-Holland has the highest number of HAVO and VWO pupils in their final year, 10 thousand and 8 thousand respectively. Zeeland has the lowest number of exam candidates enrolled in these types of education, with around 1 thousand HAVO pupils and 530 VWO pupils.

VWO pupils are more likely to choose a ‘science’ profile, HAVO pupils a ‘society’ profile

The majority of pupils in their final year of HAVO have chosen a ‘society’ profile. Of the 51 thousand exam candidates, 32 thousand are following programmes in economics and social sciences, culture and social sciences, or a combination of these two. Meanwhile, 18 thousand HAVO pupils opted for a ‘science’ profile: science and technology, science and health, or a combination. For around 1 thousand HAVO year 5 pupils, the profile choice is unknown or they are following a combined programme of science and social sciences.

VWO pupils in their final year were more likely to have chosen a ‘science’ profile. Of the 36 thousand VWO pupils in year 6, 20 thousand are following a science programme and 14 thousand a social sciences programme. For just over a thousand pupils, the profile is a combination of a science and society profile, or their profile choice is unknown.

Pass rate 2024/'25 was 90 percent

Over 173 thousand pupils took their final exams in the 2024/'25 academic year, of whom 156 thousand passed them successfully. The pass rate was 90 percent. That was one percentage point lower than in 2023/'24, when 163 thousand out of 179 thousand exam candidates passed their final school exams.

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