Individueel Aangepast Curriculum and the Zorgcontinuüm in Flemish Schools

The letter from the CLB says your child may need an Individueel Aangepast Curriculum. Your school's care coordinator mentioned the Zorgcontinuüm. These are not phrases you were likely prepared for — and the stakes are high enough that "I'll figure it out later" is not a workable approach.

Both concepts sit at the center of how Flemish schools decide whether a child can remain in mainstream education and, if so, with what level of adapted support.

The Zorgcontinuüm: The Phased Framework Before Any CLB Involvement

The Zorgcontinuüm (care continuum) is the legal framework that governs how Flemish schools escalate support for students with learning difficulties. It is a phased system: schools must demonstrate they have exhausted lower levels of support before moving to more intensive interventions. No school can refer a student to special education — or even formally engage the CLB — without moving through these phases.

Phase 0 — Brede Basiszorg (Broad Basic Care): This is the baseline. Every Flemish school provides a powerful, differentiated learning environment for all students. This includes universal design for learning, targeted prevention of learning gaps, and differentiation within the regular classroom. No external diagnostic involvement. No documentation of specific individual need required. This is simply what good Flemish teaching is expected to provide to all students.

Phase 1 — Verhoogde Zorg (Increased Care): If Phase 0 differentiation is clearly insufficient for a specific student, the school's internal care team (zorgteam) implements targeted documented measures. These might include: extra time during tests, text-to-speech tools for a dyslexic student, reduced written output with alternative expression formats, or structured small-group instruction. Phase 1 interventions are specific, written down, and reviewed regularly. The CLB is not yet involved, but the internal care coordinator plays a central role.

Phase 2 — Uitbreiding van Zorg (Extension of Care): When Phase 1 measures have been genuinely tried and documented, and they are clearly insufficient, the school formally involves the CLB. This triggers the HGD-traject — the CLB's specialized diagnostic assessment process (Handelingsgericht diagnostisch traject). The school continues providing Phase 1 accommodations while the CLB conducts its evaluation. Phase 2 is where external specialists can be brought in alongside the CLB, and where the assessment begins to determine the nature and depth of the student's needs.

Phase 3 — Individueel Aangepast Curriculum (IAC): Phase 3 is reached when the CLB's assessment determines that the mainstream common curriculum is no longer achievable for the student, even with maximum Phase 2 accommodations and support. Phase 3 authorizes an Individueel Aangepast Curriculum — fundamentally altered educational goals — or paves the way for transition to buitengewoon onderwijs (special education).

What an Individueel Aangepast Curriculum Actually Means

An IAC is not simply an adapted version of the mainstream curriculum. It is a separate curriculum with fundamentally different goals. The distinction the Flemish system draws is sharp:

• Redelijke aanpassingen (reasonable accommodations) modify how a student accesses or demonstrates the standard curriculum. They do not change what the student is expected to learn.
• An Individueel Aangepast Curriculum changes the actual learning objectives. A student on an IAC is not working toward the same academic endpoints as their peers — their curriculum is individually designed around their functional capacity.

This distinction determines the type of CLB verslag issued. A student who needs accommodations but can follow the standard curriculum receives a GC-Verslag (Gemeenschappelijk Curriculum). A student whose needs require a fundamentally different curriculum receives an IAC-Verslag.

The IAC-Verslag is issued by the CLB when they formally conclude that maintaining the mainstream curriculum is not feasible. It is a significant legal document: it authorizes the creation of an Individual Adapted Curriculum, and it opens the door to BuO (special education) placement — though it does not mandate it.

The IAC-Verslag: What It Authorizes and What It Doesn't

An IAC-Verslag does three things:

It authorizes an adapted curriculum within a mainstream school. A student with an IAC-Verslag can remain in a mainstream school. The school must create an individualized curriculum document outlining their specific learning goals, which will differ from the standard curriculum objectives.

It opens access to BuO schools. The verslag grants access to specialized special education schools (buitengewoon onderwijs). Parents can choose to enroll in BuO rather than maintaining mainstream placement.

It preserves parental choice — with limits. Parents have the legal right to insist their child remains in a mainstream school even with an IAC-Verslag. However, the school has the legal right to refuse under an "ontbindende voorwaarde" — a resolutive condition — if they can demonstrate that implementing the adapted curriculum is disproportionate to their capacity. This refusal must be formal, written, and justified.

What the IAC Document Contains

The IAC itself — the curriculum document that the school creates — must outline:

• The student's specific learning goals (different from the standard curriculum)
• The support and resources the school will provide
• How progress will be monitored and reviewed
• Communication protocols between school, CLB, and parents

Unlike a US IEP, the IAC does not typically specify related services (speech therapy, occupational therapy) in the same integrated way. Those services are funded and organized through separate Belgian health insurance mechanisms (mutualiteit) and must be arranged by parents alongside the school plan.

The Transition Risk: Primary to Secondary

A student with an IAC in primary school (basisonderwijs) does not automatically transfer that IAC to secondary school (secundair onderwijs) with identical terms. The CLB is required to conduct a re-evaluation during the 6th year of primary school to determine the appropriate secondary placement. This re-evaluation can result in:

• Continuation of the IAC in mainstream secondary with renewed accommodations
• Direction to BuO secondary (buitengewoon secundair onderwijs) in one of the four Opleidingsvormen (OV1–OV4)
• A new GC-Verslag if the student's trajectory has changed

For families who have been advocating for mainstream inclusion throughout primary school, this transition re-evaluation is a high-stakes moment. Building a strong documented history of the primary IAC, the support provided, and the student's progress creates the strongest possible foundation for arguing for an appropriate secondary placement.

A Common Misconception: The IAC Is Not a Belgian IEP

Expat families often arrive expecting the IAC to function like a US IEP — a comprehensive, legally binding document covering educational goals, related services, placement decisions, and procedural protections all in one. The IAC is not that.

The IAC is a curriculum document, not a rights-protection framework. It specifies what a student will learn. It does not guarantee specific levels of classroom aide support, mandate particular assessment accommodations, or provide the same procedural protections as an IEP under IDEA.

This difference is important. In the US, an IEP meeting has formal procedural requirements, parental consent obligations, and specific disagreement resolution pathways built into the document. In Belgium, the IAC is one piece of a larger administrative structure — the CLB verslag provides the formal authorization, the Commissie inzake Leerlingenrechten provides the dispute pathway, and the IAC document itself focuses primarily on the curriculum.

Understanding this structure — what each component does and where your leverage points are — is essential for advocating effectively. The Belgium Special Education Blueprint maps the full Flemish SEN process including how to use the Zorgcontinuüm phases strategically, what to document at each step, and how to respond when a Phase 3 outcome is not what you expected.

See more Belgium guides →