The Johan de Witt Scholengroep is a large Dutch public secondary school (openbaar voortgezet onderwijs) in central Den Haag with several sites and every level: praktijkonderwijs, vmbo-basis and kader, mavo, havo, vwo (atheneum and gymnasium), as well as the entree programme and ISK prep classes for recently arrived children. Teaching is in Dutch. Since the 2022-2023 school year the school has run the IB Middle Years Programme and is now authorised for it: MYP 1-5, where MYP 1-ISK combines the MYP with intensive Dutch, MYP 2-4 is a shared three-year lower cycle for students with different recommendations, and MYP 5 prepares for the IB Diploma Programme or Career-related Programme, for which the school is a candidate. Students of more than 90 nationalities attend. All programmes hold the Excellente School title; the school asks no parental contribution, and sports, arts and tutoring after school are free.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · MYP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Dutch
Languages taught
English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Turkish, Arabic, Italian
Class size
up to 18 students per class at one of the sites
About the fees Education is free and the school asks no parental contribution (ouderbijdrage); parents are only asked to pay for some activities, the compulsory PE kit and, in vocational profiles, special clothing. After-school support, tutoring and sports clubs are free.
Admissions Students enter the first year after Dutch primary school through the citywide Den Haag procedure, or directly at the school during the late period; the primary school recommendation determines the class (regular, a class for a double recommendation or a mixed three-level class). Transfer students are admitted on written application if there is a place, the family respects the school's rules, the student meets the level requirements and the school can provide the support needed. The ISK prep classes (Dutch Prep School) are for young people aged 12-18 who have lived in the Netherlands for less than two years and speak little or no Dutch: families fill in a form, attend an intake with tests and bring an ID and proof of arrival date (municipal registration, a passport stamp, a residence document or a plane ticket); within a year at most students move on to regular classes. For children not yet ready for secondary school there is MYP 1-ISK with intensive Dutch.
Stages and year groups Grades praktijkonderwijs, vmbo-basis, vmbo-kader, mavo, havo, vwo; MYP 1-5; ISK. Dutch secondary school: praktijkonderwijs, vmbo-basis and kader (4 years), mavo (4 years), havo (5 years), vwo as atheneum or gymnasium (6 years), ending in the eindexamen; entree (mbo 1) and ISK prep classes leading to regular classes. The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP 1-5) since the 2022-2023 school year, with authorisation: MYP 1-ISK, MYP 2-4 in a shared three-year cycle, MYP 5 as preparation for the Diploma Programme or Career-related Programme, for which the school is a candidate. The MYP has eight subject groups: Dutch language and literature; English, French, German and Spanish; geography, history, philosophy, economics; biology, physics, chemistry; mathematics; visual arts, dance, theatre, film, music; physical education; technical design. In upper vwo, optional exam subjects include Chinese, Turkish, Arabic, Italian, Russian and philosophy. The school does not mention Cambridge International courses.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · MYP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Middle Years Programme.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: MYP (ages 11-16). MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Makerspace
Campus: The school has several buildings in central and other districts of Den Haag, all recently renovated in a common style. The main building on Zusterstraat dates from 2011: 34 classrooms for about 1000 students, two gyms, a media centre, an aula and a roof terrace. Glasblazerslaan has three large gyms and the school's own arts campus for dance, theatre, music, visual arts and language expression, with classes of up to 18 students. Hooftskade has a practical campus with a teaching kitchen and workshops for car technology, installation technology, woodwork and metalwork; Capadosestraat has a gym, a separate fitness room and sports fields behind the building. The prep classes for newcomers are in small buildings on Vermeerstraat and Windjammersingel. Swimming takes place in city pools. There is no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Sportcampus: voetbal (sports campus: football) · Volleybal (volleyball) · Basketbal (basketball) · Handbal (handball) · MMA · Boksen (boxing) · Badminton / Tafeltennis (badminton and table tennis) · Zwemmen (swimming) · Fitness mix · Dans (dance) · Bandcoaching (band coaching) · Muziektalentengroep (music talent group) · Beeldende kunst (visual arts) · Muziek digitaal (digital music) · Creatieve taal (creative language: spoken word, rap, poetry) · Zaterdagschool (Saturday school with tutors)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
Every class has a mentor who teaches study skills and career orientation three times a week; the MYP has programme coordinators. The school calls itself a professional learning community and is a training school for future teachers. It does not publish teacher numbers or qualifications.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school has confidential advisers (vertrouwenspersonen) and a complaints route via the mentor, site management, central management and the school board. Support is built up in steps: from help in class to small-group sessions, language and numeracy support, help with motivation, wellbeing and absence, and an individual development plan; where needed, school social work, youth services and the regional inclusive education partnership are involved.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country
The Hague, Netherlands · State