Teenagers who relied on special exam rules during the pandemic are now more likely to run into trouble once they move on to further study. An evaluation by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science suggests that the effects of those disrupted school years did not end when classrooms reopened. According to Trouw, the students who needed extra help to graduate during Covid are showing higher rates of dropout and course changes later on.
When schools repeatedly closed during Covid-19, many students were forced into long stretches of online learning. For some, the format worked well enough, but for others it created gaps that were hard to patch while lessons happened through screens. In response, the government chose a more flexible approach to final exams so that students would not be punished for circumstances outside their control.
In the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years, every student could take an extra resit to repair a failing grade. Schools were also allowed to ignore the grade for one exam subject, which offered another route to passing. These measures helped many students cross the finish line, but they also meant that some moved forward with weaker foundations than they would have had in a normal year.
The ministry’s review found that students who used the relaxed rules were more likely to drop out in the next stage of education. This pattern showed up across vocational programs, universities of applied sciences, and research universities. In other words, the extra breathing room at the end of secondary school did not automatically translate into an easier transition afterward.
The clearest example came from pre-university education, known as VWO. Students who benefited from the flexible rules were twice as likely to drop out later, with an 8 percent dropout rate compared with 4 percent among peers who graduated without special allowances. They were also far more likely to switch courses, with 37 percent changing direction versus 19 percent in the group that did not use the leniency measures. Even those who only just managed to graduate without extra help tended to fare better than those who needed the pandemic-era shortcuts.
The conclusion, as summarized by Trouw, was blunt. Lowering the bar can solve an immediate problem, but it may create new ones further down the line. The ministry says it wants to take these lessons into any future crisis planning, especially the idea that easing standards in one part of the system can shift pressure to another, and that school closures should be avoided whenever possible.
What do you think schools and policymakers should prioritize if a future emergency disrupts education again? Share your thoughts in the comments.
