Hoger algemeen voortgezet onderwijs
Hoger algemeen voortgezet onderwijs (havo, meaning "higher general continued education" in Dutch) is a stream in the secondary educational system of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Suriname. It has five grades and is generally attended at ages of 12 to 17. It provides access to the hogeschool-level (polytechnic) of tertiary education. The first three years are the "Basisvorming" (literally "basis formation"). All pupils follow the same subjects: languages, mathematics, history, arts and sciences. In the third year, pupils must choose one of four profiles. A profile is a set of different subjects that will  make up for the largest part of the pupil's timetable in the fourth and fifth year. It is called the "Tweede Fase" (literally "second phase"). A profile specialises the pupil in an area, and some studies therefore require a specific profile. Students must also choose one to three additional subjects. Furthermore, Dutch and English, as well as some other subjects, are compulsory. In all profiles except "Cultuur en Maatschappij", mathematics is compulsory, but what is done for mathematics is different for each profile. This means that students who do "Economie en Maatschappij" do mathematics Alpha, which focuses more on  statistics, and students who do " Natuur en Gezondheid and "Natuur en Techniek" do mathematics Beta, which focuses on algebra. Pupils still have some free space for electives, which is not taken up by compulsory and profile subjects. They can pick two subjects from other profiles. Sometimes, pupils choose more than two subjects, which can result in multiple profiles.