Voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs

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Voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs (VWO, meaning "preparatory scientific education" in Dutch), also often referred to as Voortgezet Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs (meaning “Secondary Scientific Education” in Dutch) is the highest variant in the secondary educational system of the Netherlands, attended by approximately a fifth of all Dutch high school students.^[1] After leaving primary or elementary school students are enrolled in different types of secondary schools, according to their academic ability. The course is a six-year course and successful completion allows the candidate admission to Dutch universities. The VWO is therefore a matriculation exam.

The VWO includes the so-called Gymnasium variant, which differs from the regular VWO variant (also called Atheneum) in that it has Latin and/or Classic Greek as an additional, compulsory part of the curriculum (some schools offer additional courses as well). A few schools offer only the Gymnasium variant, called 'Categoriaal Gymnasium'. Of all VWO students, around a quarter follow gymnasium, accounting for approximately 5-6% of all Dutch high school students.