Do I have to speak Dutch in order to become a teacher in the Netherlands?

Are you interested in a teaching job in the Netherlands? And are you not a Dutch native speaker? You will need to consider some language requirements to become eligible to work in this profession. These requirements can differ, depending on which education sector you want to teach in and whether or not you already have a teaching qualification. In some cases you will need to show proof of your language proficiency level, in other cases the rules are less strict. In this article, we provide an overview of the language requirements in different situations.

In some situations, you will be asked to demonstrate that your Dutch proficiency is at level B2 or C1 of the Common European Framework of References (CEFR). You will need to demonstrate this if:

1. You want to become a teacher at a primary school (basisschool), and you possess a foreign teaching qualification. Your teaching qualification will first have to be assessed and certified. This is done by education implementation service DUO: Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs.
2. You don’t have any teaching qualification and would like to obtain your qualification in the Netherlands. In this case, you will have to study at a Dutch university of applied sciences (hogeschool) or research university (universiteit). In order to be admitted, your command of Dutch has to be at least at level B2 or C1 (CEFR), depending on which university you apply to.

If you wish to teach at a school in the Netherlands where the language of instruction is Dutch, it is convenient to speak Dutch well enough to communicate clearly with your students and colleagues. In some cases, the school where you want to work can decide if your level of Dutch is sufficient without requiring hard proof of your proficiency level. This is the case if:

1. You want to become a secondary school (middelbare school) teacher or a teacher in post-secondary vocational education and training (mbo) and have a valid teaching qualification (as determined by DUO).
2. You have obtained your teaching qualification and/or another diploma in the Netherlands at a higher education level (hogeschool/universiteit) where Dutch was the language of instruction. Because demonstrating B2 or C1 level is often required to be able to enter into a Dutch study program in higher education in the Netherlands, completion of your study program implies that you are proficient in Dutch.

As the school decides whether your Dutch is good enough to be able to teach their students, they can ask you to take a language course if you are not yet proficient enough according to their standards.

There are also a few teaching and teacher training options in the Netherlands without any Dutch language requirements:

1. You can become a teacher at an international school. There are forty-nine international schools in the Netherlands, in ten different cities. To teach here, you do not have to demonstrate your level of Dutch, but you might be asked to demonstrate that your proficiency of the language of instruction is at B2 level.
2. The University of Applied Sciences Utrecht offers a teacher training program in English. You can study to become a German, English, French or Spanish teacher. As English is the language of instruction, you will need to demonstrate your English level, but you will not be required to be proficient at any level of Dutch in order to enter the program. Keep in mind that if you wish to work at a Dutch (speaking) school afterwards, you will have to be able to speak Dutch.

If you are not a Dutch native speaker and wish to become a teacher in the Netherlands, in some cases you will need to consider certain language requirements. These requirements depend on different factors, such as whether you already have a teaching qualification, in which country you obtained it, and in which educational sector you would like to work. In some situations, you will need to demonstrate a proven level of Dutch at B2 (CEFR). Other situations require you to speak Dutch well enough to communicate with students, but you will not need proof of your proficiency level. There are also options in which you do not have to speak Dutch, but where English language proficiency is required.