Secondary school students complained much less to the LAKS this year about their central final exams than last year. The student union received ‘only’ 240,000 complaints, 35 percent less than in 2024. Notable were the reports of noise nuisance from fat bike alarms.
In recent years, a new complaint record was established time and again. In 2024, the number of complaints after the first period was 370,000: this year there are about 130,000 fewer. Although a few ‘small’ exams will be taken on Monday, such as Frisian, Arabic and Turkish, the LAKS expects few new complaints.
The student union is pleased with the decrease in the number of complaints. “We are very satisfied with that,” board member Fé Swets tells NU.nl. “We are now back to the old level before the extreme increases.”
It was striking that several complaints were received about fat bike alarms going off during the exams, says Swets. “There was also a complaint about a teacher who wanted to listen to a podcast, but whose earphones did not connect properly. And one about a teacher walking through the room in slippers.”
Swets says that the LAKS has called as many schools about incoming complaints as in previous years. By pointing out, for example, the noise pollution of that day to a school, Swets hopes that all exam days thereafter will be quiet.
LAKS posted messages that ‘complaining for the sake of complaining’ is pointless
This year, for the first time, the LAKS has posted messages on social media that ‘complaining for the sake of complaining’ is pointless. In recent years, exam students have complained a lot about, for example, the length or difficulty of the exam. Swets: “We are very happy that that message has come across. Fewer general complaints have been received that we can’t do anything with.”
In addition, the LAKS made it clear that it has little influence on the norm, the so-called N-term with which the grade for an exam is calculated. Furthermore, the student union shared tips for a ‘good’ complaint: the more specific, the better. For example, by indicating which question contained an error or what kind of noise nuisance was experienced.
Could it also be that the exams were easier this year? Swets: “That’s possible, but you’ll eventually see that reflected in the N-term. We don’t know that yet.”
Most complaints this year were about the history exam at havo (28,000), followed by the English exam at vmbo-gl/tl (18,700 complaints). At vwo, the Dutch exam received the most complaints (18,000).
Students will know whether they have passed their final exams on Thursday 12 June.