On 3 July, the Dutch government confirmed that the proposed Foreign Language Education Test (Toets Anderstalig Onderwijs – TAO) will not apply to existing higher education programmes taught in other languages. Introduced as part of the Internationalisation in Balance Bill (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, April 2024, December 2024), the TAO was designed as a formal review requiring institutions to prove a foreign-language track was justified by international relevance, regional need, or labour market demand. In a letter to Parliament, education minister Eppo Bruins said he would implement the Parliament’s instruction from 27 May to drop the requirement for current programmes and rely more on universities’ self-regulation. 

Under the new proposal, the TAO will continue to apply to all new associate degree and bachelor's programmes taught in a foreign language which must comply with at least one of the four conditions:  

• The programme offers a response to labour market shortages; 
• The programme is offered in only one location nationwide; 
• The programme is located in border areas or regions with declining populations; 
• The programme is inherently international. 

An inventory of existing non-Dutch-taught programmes will still be required from higher education institutions. 

According to Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the TAO would have had significant consequences for the education system, the labour market, and the vitality of border and shrinking regions. The amended approach, they noted, ensures institutional autonomy while maintaining space for growth in sectors with labour shortages. 

In the past years universities have already moved to regulate international student inflow, stopping active recruitment abroad and warning applicants about housing shortages. In April this year, Universities of the Netherlands presented a self-management plan to rebalance internationalisation, which includes cutting intake in large English-taught bachelor’s programmes, converting some courses to Dutch, expanding numerus fixus enrolment caps, and strengthening Dutch-language offerings. Programmes in border regions and areas with population decline will remain bilingual, while Dutch-taught tracks will be kept widely accessible. Universities also plan to expand Dutch language training for both staff and students to improve retention of international graduates in the Dutch labour market. 

The first effects of these measures are beginning to show. In the 2024/25 academic year, the number of international degree students in the Netherlands still grew, but at the slowest pace in a decade (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, August 2025). Early figures for 2025/26 academic year suggest the trend is now reversing: applications from European Economic Area students are down 4.5% compared to last year and 11% compared to 2023/24, while global applications are 3% lower than in the previous year. In contrast, technical programmes have seen renewed interest, with enrolments in this sector rising by 26% 

The government expects to submit the amended legislation to Parliament by the end of 2025. Provisional enrolment figures for the 2025/26 academic year will be released in November.