VMBO BB Geschiedenis
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Cheat sheet
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Give each week a clear focus.
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Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
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ExploreAbout this exam
VMBO BB Geschiedenis is the history component of the basisberoepsgerichte leerweg, the most practical of the four VMBO learning pathways in the Netherlands. Candidates usually take it as a schoolexamenvak, sometimes alongside a centraal examen depending on the programme their school offers. It suits students who learn best with concrete examples and short lines of reasoning rather than long essays: the subject rewards knowing the broad story of Dutch and world history and being able to explain it in plain language. The content runs from prehistory and the first civilisations through the Middle Ages, the early modern period of Renaissance, Reformation and overseas exploration, the industrial age with imperialism and colonialism, and the twentieth century with the world wars, the Holocaust and the Cold War. A separate strand covers historical skills: reading a source, judging its reliability and usefulness, recognising cause and consequence, and explaining that people in the past thought and acted from their own perspective (standplaatsgebondenheid). Preparation works best in two parallel tracks: build a timeline you can reproduce from memory with a few key dates and names per period, and practise source questions until you can answer in short, structured sentences. Your teacher and the school's PTA (programma van toetsing en afsluiting) are the authority on which topics and exam forms apply to you; the official bodies publish current details.
What you'll study
About VMBO BB Geschiedenis preparation
What is the difference between the centraal examen and the schoolexamen for this subject?
The schoolexamen is set and marked by your own school and covers the PTA, which lists every test, its weighting and its rules. The centraal examen is set nationally and taken in May. Whether history is a centraal vak for you depends on your programme and school. Ask your teacher which applies and read the PTA carefully.
How long is the exam and how many questions does it have?
Those figures change and are published per year by the official bodies, so check the current information on the website of the College voor Toetsen en Examens (cvte.nl) and your school's PTA. Do not rely on numbers from older students; the format and length can differ between years.
What question types should I expect?
Mostly multiple-choice and short open questions, plus source-based questions built around a short text, cartoon, photo or map. Source questions usually ask what you see, what the maker's intention or viewpoint is, and whether the source is useful or reliable for a particular question. Answers are expected in short, direct sentences.
How difficult is it compared with other VMBO pathways?
The level matches the basisberoepsgerichte leerweg: you need to know the main features of each period and explain them simply, not write long analyses. The hard part is usually the skills questions, where you must apply knowledge to an unfamiliar source instead of recalling a fact. Practising those with feedback from your teacher matters more than memorising extra detail.
Can I retake the exam if I fail?
Rules for retakes, resits and the possibilities in the laatste jaar differ by school and by whether the test is a schoolexamen or centraal examen. Your school's examencommissie and the PTA set out exactly what is allowed and when. Ask them early in the year so you know where you stand.
What is the best order to study the material?
Work chronologically, because later periods assume earlier ones. Build one timeline with the ten tijdvakken and add a handful of anchors per period: a date, two people, one development. Then revisit each period with source questions. Finish with mixed practice so you can recognise which period and skill a question is testing without being told.
Where do students most often lose marks?
Three recurring mistakes: giving an opinion where the question asks for a cause or consequence, describing what a source shows without answering the actual question, and using vague phrases such as 'vroeger' or 'ze wilden meer' instead of naming the period and the concrete reason. Writing one clear sentence with a subject and a reason scores better than three loose ones.
What does standplaatsgebondenheid mean and how do I answer questions about it?
It means people judge events from the position they hold in their own time, place and social role. A question may ask why a source's maker thought as they did. Answer by naming that position, for example a seventeenth-century ship's captain, a factory owner or a colonised farmer, and then explain what that person would see and what they would miss.
Do I need to memorise many dates?
No, but you need enough anchors to place events in the right century or period. Learn the ten tijdvakken in order and a small set of turning points, such as the start of the Industrial Revolution, the First and Second World Wars and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Exact years beyond those are rarely the point of a question.
Which study materials should I use?
Start with your own textbook and your teacher's lesson materials, since they match your PTA. Use the official syllabus and past exam papers published by the College voor Toetsen en Examens to see the question style. Any extra summary you find online should be checked against your textbook, because simplifications can contain errors that cost marks.