Backpack on the flag pole: Exam results day for 192,000 high school graduates

Over 192,000 secondary school students will find out today whether they have passed their final exams and can put their backpacks on the flag pole - the Dutch way of announcing that you’re graduating from secondary education NOS reports.

Over 91,000 VMBO students, 55,000 HAVO students, 40,000 VWO students, and 6,000 practical education students await their results today. This year is the first time the practical school students find out if they’ll graduate on the same day as the other final exam students.

The national association for school pupils, LAKS, received a record 307,000 complaints about the final exams this year. That is over 21,000 more than last year. According to LAKS, the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing teacher shortage have consequences for graduates’ performance.

The second period of the final exams starts on Monday. Students who missed an exam or have to resit one can do so in this period. Those results will be announced on July 6.