A distinctive feature of the Dutch education system is its centralised policy. Taking into account the provisions of the Constitution, the central government controls education through legislation and regulations. It does this directly by imposing qualitative or quantitative standards on schools and/or student progress, or indirectly through funding and other resources schools receive from the government plus the conditions schools must comply with, for example regarding the legal status of teachers.

The school inspectorate is one of the most important instruments for the government to gather and analyse quality indicators about special needs education, others are research and national assessments.