Toelatingsexamen Tandarts common mistakes
Toelatingsexamen Tandarts · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Reading the Dutch physics or chemistry stem once, spotting familiar numbers, and immediately computing with whichever formula comes to mind, without first writing down the requested quantity and its unit.
The KIW section is timed and formula-driven, so candidates accelerate by pattern-matching to a memorised formula. Dutch subject-specific vocabulary (e.g. 'versnelling', 'hoeveelheid stof', 'dichtheid') and distractors built from plausible unit mixes punish this shortcut.
What to do instead
Before calculating, write a one-line plan: given quantities with units, unknown quantity with unit, and the relation that connects them. Check the unit of the answer against the question text before marking it.
Treating a Dutch or English word problem in biology or physics as a vocabulary test and answering from the everyday meaning of a term rather than its scientific definition.
Candidates who are still strengthening academic Dutch rely on everyday connotations (e.g. 'aangepast', 'selectie', 'evenwicht'), while the KIW questions test the precise scientific concept, which often differs from colloquial use.
What to do instead
Build a personal glossary of Dutch scientific terms per subject with a one-line definition and a counterexample of the everyday meaning. When a term appears, restate the question in your own words using the scientific definition before choosing.
Solving quantitative KIW items purely symbolically and never checking whether the answer is physically plausible or dimensionally consistent.
Under time pressure, candidates trust the algebra and skip the sanity check; a factor-of-ten or unit-conversion error (mL to L, kJ to J, cm to m) then survives to the answer sheet.
What to do instead
After each calculation, do a 10-second plausibility check: order of magnitude, sign, and whether the unit matches the requested quantity. Flag any answer that requires an implausible value (e.g. a human mass of 700 kg, a pH of 15).
Spending a long time on one hard KIW item while leaving several easier items at the end of the section untouched.
The section mixes difficulty levels randomly, and the instinct to 'finish what you started' combined with anxiety about an unfamiliar topic consumes time that easier marks would have earned.
What to do instead
Adopt a strict per-item time cap in practice (e.g. 90 seconds). If the cap passes, mark the item, write a one-line note of the sticking point, move on, and return only after all items have been seen.
Answering 'what does this graph or table show' items by matching a phrase in the options to a label in the figure instead of reading the axes, units, and trend direction.
KIW data-interpretation items deliberately include options that quote axis labels or units verbatim; surface matching feels safe but ignores whether the claim is actually supported by the plotted data.
What to do instead
For each figure, first state aloud (or in writing) what the x-axis and y-axis are, with units, and the direction of the relationship. Then test each option against that statement and eliminate any option not directly supported.
Guessing on KIW multiple-choice items without eliminating any option, or leaving items blank when there is no penalty for a wrong answer.
Candidates fear being 'wrong' or believe a blank is neutral, and under stress they freeze rather than reason about distractors.
What to do instead
Confirm the scoring rule for the exam and, if wrong answers are not penalised, never leave an item blank. Practise a 20-second elimination routine: cross out two options using a unit check or a definition check, then choose between the remaining two.
Underlining or rereading the passage repeatedly instead of extracting the question's demand, so the answer is chosen from general memory of the text rather than from the specific sentence that settles it.
Generieke Competenties passages are long and candidates default to school-style rereading, which feels productive but does not locate the decisive evidence; time then runs out and later questions are rushed.
What to do instead
Read the question first, identify the key term, then scan the passage for the sentence containing that term. Justify the chosen option by pointing to the specific sentence, and reject options that are true in general but not stated in the passage.
Treating 'which conclusion follows' or 'which assumption underlies the argument' items the same as comprehension items, choosing an option because it is plausible rather than because the argument requires it.
Candidates conflate 'true in the real world' with 'logically entailed', and they do not distinguish necessary assumptions from sufficient ones or from mere restatements of the premise.
What to do instead
For each argument, write the premises and the conclusion in one line each. Then apply the negation test for assumptions (if the option is false, does the argument collapse?) and the 'does it follow from the premises alone' test for conclusions.
Judging options by tone, length, or how 'academic' they sound instead of by content, and preferring the longest or most nuanced option.
Test-wise heuristics learned elsewhere ('choose the longest answer', 'avoid absolute words') are unreliable on this exam, where distractors are often long and carefully hedged while the correct answer is short and precise.
What to do instead
Mask the options by summarising each in three to five words before comparing. Eliminate on the basis of content and logical relation to the question, and only then check wording. Track in practice whether length or tone heuristics actually help.
Planning the two sections as one block, running out of time in KIW and then rushing or abandoning GC items, or the reverse, without a written time budget per section.
The domains demand different pacing, and candidates rarely rehearse the full exam under one continuous clock, so the transition between sections is unplanned and anxiety from one section bleeds into the other.
What to do instead
Rehearse full-length mock exams with a written time budget per section and per item type, including a fixed transition routine (stop, note remaining time, reset). Review the timing log afterwards to identify which item type consistently overruns.