HAVO stands for "hoger algemeen voortgezet onderwijs," which means "higher general continued education" in Dutch. It is a stream in the secondary educational system of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Suriname, and it is attended by students aged 12 to 17. HAVO provides students with a basic general education and prepares them for higher professional education at universities of applied sciences (hogescholen), where they can follow a bachelor’s degree in applied sciences (HBO) .

Some key features of HAVO include:

• It takes five years to complete.
• In the lower years (i.e. years 1, 2 and 3), all HAVO pupils follow a general curriculum.
• In the upper years (years 4 and 5), students choose one of four subject combinations, each of which has a compulsory specialized component and an optional component.
• The following subjects are compulsory for all pupils in the upper years of HAVO: Dutch, English, a second modern foreign language, history, geography, economics, and physical education.

Entrance requirements for HAVO vary by school, and seco...