The Netherlands

Last update: March, 2026

At the national level, the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science is responsible for arts and cultural education in formal education through legislation, funding, sharing of knowledge and communication. Arts education in primary and secondary schools is laid down in national legislation, defined through attainment targets.

Typical of the Dutch education system is the considerable freedom schools have in designing and delivering their education. In the Netherlands, there is no government-mandated curriculum. Schools must adhere to legal attainment targets for various subject areas, but they have the freedom to determine how to achieve these targets. Targets for the arts are few, formulated broadly, and monitored to a limited extent, leading to large differences between schools. Therefore, in addition to the legislation above, the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has since the 1980s been developing non-statutory policies, consisting of incentive programmes and subsidy schemes to encourage and help schools to invest more in cultural education.

Since two decades the emphasis lays on arts education in schools, with the most prominent program being ‘Cultural Education with Quality’ (in Dutch, ‘Cultuureducatie met Kwaliteit’), in which more than half of all primary schools participated in 2023. The programme started in primary school, and has been expanded to include also secondary education, special education, and upper secondary vocational education. Cultural Education with Quality is by far the largest stimulus programme for in-school arts education, with an annual subsidy ceiling of approximately EUR 15 million in the period 2025–2028. The program focuses on cooperation between schools and cultural institutions, teacher quality, and continuous learning pathways. There are also programs for specific disciplines: for film (Film Hubs), for dance (DAMU scheme) and for linking in- and out-of-school education (School & Omgeving). Within these policy programmes, the Ministry works closely with municipal and provincial authorities. The total spending on all these additional national policies for cultural education increased from EUR 44.6 million in 2013 to EUR 57.7 million in 2022.

Another policy instrument used by the Ministry is the agreement ‘Administrative Arrangements for Cultural Practice (2025–2028)’ (Bestuurlijke Afspraken Cultuurbeoefening), which succeeds the ‘Administrative Framework for Culture and Education (2023)’ signed by the Ministry, the Association of Provincial Authorities (IPO), and the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG). The core idea of these administrative arrangements for cultural practice is that municipalities, provinces and the national government jointly commit to cultural engagement (including arts education) for everyone in the Netherlands.

Non-formal, extracurricular arts and cultural education is partly, to a diminishing extent, funded by local authorities and partly privately funded (by consumers). Extracurricular lessons are provided by private professionals, associations, and local arts centres. Recent policies focus on making extracurricular arts education more accessible and supporting the amateur arts sector.

The Fund for Cultural Participation is responsible for the distribution of national funding for arts education and cultural participation. The National Centre of Expertise for Cultural Education and Amateur Arts (LKCA) collects, develops, and disseminates knowledge about arts and cultural education and amateur arts. In addition, there is a national discipline-specific support infrastructure comprising amateur arts umbrella organisations and associations, as well as provincial support institutions.

Last update: March, 2026

Cultural education is compulsory subject area with three legal attainment targets, the so called kerndoelen: expressive skills, reflective ability and Knowledge and Appreciation of Cultural Heritage. Almost every primary school offers its pupils arts, culture, and heritage education. On average, pupils receive about two hours of arts and cultural education per week. At most schools, nearly all art disciplines are covered in some form. Most time is spent on drawing and crafts, followed by music. The least amount of time is spent on heritage, media and film. Some schools employ specialised (external) arts teachers, mainly for music education. This is increasing in the last years, but at over 30 per cent of primary schools, the classroom teacher is still solely responsible for arts education. Around 90 per cent of primary schools have a teacher trained as an ‘internal cultural coordinator’, who is responsible for the policy and content of cultural education within the school.

As with primary schools, secondary schools are autonomous in shaping their curriculum and their cultural education. However, in secondary education, there are examination requirements for arts subjects in place. Since 1999, the subject Cultural and Artistic Education (CKV) has been compulsory for all pupils in the upper classes in secondary education (aged 15–18). In the 2017–2018 school year, the CKV subject was revised to place greater emphasis on active engagement with the arts and to allow schools more flexibility in how the subject is delivered. In addition to CKV, secondary schools offer arts subjects as optional subjects. In upper general secondary education (HAVO) and pre-university education (VWO), there are traditional arts subjects (music, drawing, crafts and textile design) and newer arts subjects (general arts, visual arts, drama and dance). Examination requirements have been established for all these subjects, with both practical and theoretical components. Since 2016–2017, the vocational examination programmes in pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO) have been replaced by vocational profile subjects, creating more opportunities to focus on arts and culture. However, the number of students taking a subject in arts and cultural education as part of their programme remains low.

In 2024, an evaluation of the national cultural education policy (2013–2023) concluded that progress had been made when it comes to cultural education in schools. There have been positive results in promoting cultural participation, professionalisation, attention to music education in teacher training colleges (PABO), and the development of continuous learning pathways. On the other hand, it was also concluded that the mix of policy instruments is complex and lacks coherence, that the temporary nature of measures reduces effectiveness, and that the non-binding nature does not contribute to a stronger foundation for cultural education in schools. As a result, the Ministry is seeking greater coherence among the various schemes and more structural embedding of the central governments Cultural Education with Quality. In this context, the expansion of the number of policy measures has not always been beneficial, as schemes that are specific to disciplines such as dance, music, and film education tend to compete with each other. Ultimately, schools often choose to participate in only one of these schemes. Recommendations therefore include: introducing more guidance toward schools so that cultural education is less optional, developing an integrated vision on cultural education from both an educational and cultural perspective within the Ministry, and strengthening the position of the specialist arts teacher within the school.

In 2015, the Ministry launched a process to revise the curriculum in primary and secondary education. The aim is to adapt education to the knowledge and skills people will need in the near future. New curricula are currently being designed and tested for nine subject areas, including one for arts and culture. In November 2025 the new curriculum for arts and culture is published.

Last update: March, 2026

Dutch art academies or schools of the arts are institutions for upper secondary and higher professional education (for example, the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, and the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam). They offer programmes in architecture, visual arts, media, film, photography, heritage, design, music, dance, and theatre, to train students for a profession as a professional artist, arts educator, or entrepreneur in the arts.

Programs are mainly offered at the bachelor’s level, though the number of master’s programmes has increased in recent years. Several academies also have research professorships that stimulate research within the various artistic disciplines. There are also professorships specifically focused on arts education at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen and the Amsterdam University of the Arts.

In order to improve the alignment between arts education and the labour market in the cultural and creative sector, the Dutch Association of Universities of Applied Sciences developed a sector plan in 2011, featuring various performance-based indicators. This plan led to tightened admission requirements and the restructuring of numerous programs in order to enhance the efficiency and quality of arts education in higher education. An additional goal was to improve facilities for young and top-level talent. Universities also offer theoretical and research-oriented programmes related to the arts at bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Technical universities offer programmes in industrial design and architecture (such as Eindhoven University of Technology).

Last update: March, 2026

Approximately 55 per cent of the Dutch population aged six and older engage in amateur art. Around 18 per cent occasionally or regularly take art classes, courses or workshops as a leisure activity, and 4 per cent practice or rehears in an amateur arts association or other group under the supervision of an artistic director or art teacher.

Extracurricular (out-of-school) arts education is offered by professional arts and cultural institutions (such as museums, theatre companies, etc.), local arts education centres and music schools, amateur arts associations, and by private/self-employed arts teachers and artists. These providers also often offer activities for, and sometimes directly in, schools. Music is the most frequently offered artistic discipline. Over the past twenty years, there has been a strong trend towards market liberalisation in out-of-school cultural education. In 2022, 94.6 per cent of registered extracurricular arts providers were self-employed entrepreneurs without staff. This trend can partly be explained by increasing labour market flexibilization and the municipal budget cuts to non-formal arts education in subsidised arts centres and music schools. As a result, these schools and arts education centres were forced to reduce their offerings or even close altogether.

Due to the declining number of subsidised arts education institutions, there are concerns about the availability and quality of provision, as well as about the recruitment of new teachers. A second concern, related to the first, is the affordability of arts lessons. Private courses are generally more expensive than subsidised options. Nevertheless, many independent arts teachers and artistic facilitators charge too low an hourly rate and report that their fees do not realistically reflect the costs they incur and the investments they make. Therefore, there are widespread concerns about their position in the labour market, similar to concerns for all self-employed workers in the cultural sector. (see chapter 2.1 Cultural Labour Market).

Amateur arts associations are an important part of the extracurricular cultural education and participation landscape. 20 per cent of the Dutch population is member of an amateur arts association or other amateur arts group. In 2024, there were around 10.000 formal associations active, alongside many informal groups. There are also thousands of heritage associations actively engaged in preserving, maintaining and practising heritage. After years of declining membership numbers in amateur arts associations and the closure of associations, this decline appears to have stalled in recent years (since the end of the Covid pandemic). Nevertheless, membership recruitment remains a challenge, because many associations are facing ageing populations. Additionally, fewer associations now offer their members the opportunity to take lessons, courses or workshops. Since 2015, libraries have played an increasingly important role in facilitating and promoting cultural participation (see chapter 4.2.5).

Cultuurconnectie is the sector organisation for employers in non-formal cultural education, amateur arts and adult education (Volksuniversiteiten). Its members include local centres for arts education, music schools, and local support institutions for arts and culture. These members are usually municipally subsidised centres for the arts and music schools, but a logical consequence of municipal budget cuts to these institutions is that membership has declined over the past decades. There are also organisations for individual arts teachers and artistic facilitators working in education, in leisure contexts, or both, for example, the Association for Education, Art and Culture (VONKC), the Union of Orchestra Conductors and Instructors (BvOI), and the Dutch Professional Association of Dance Artists (DBDK).

Last update: March, 2026

Art academies and universities of the arts offer teacher training programmes in art subjects taught in secondary education, such as visual arts, music, dance, and drama. Upon completion of these programmes, graduates are qualified to teach in formal education. Some arts programmes include smaller modules on teaching, aimed at the non-formal out-of-school sector, where no formal teaching qualification is required. This is particularly common in music education, but also occurs in other arts disciplines. Universities offer teacher training programmes in theoretical areas, specifically for visual arts and music, which lead to a qualification to teach in the upper years of secondary education.

General teacher training programmes also include modules in various art subjects as part of their curriculum. The primary teacher training colleges (PABO) train generalist classroom teachers for primary education, and students are required to take arts courses during their studies. At the same time, PABO institutions have considerable autonomy, which has led to significant variation in how students are trained. As a result, the knowledge and skills of newly qualified teachers can vary widely. Since 2002, various schemes have been introduced to promote cultural education in PABO programmes.