Custom BRON and ROD integration
BRON, the Basisregister Onderwijs (Basic Register of Education), is now called the Register Onderwijsdeelnemers (ROD) by DUO. Schools and institutions use it to exchange enrolments, exam results and diplomas, and DUO uses this data for funding, among other things. This usually goes through a software supplier's student administration system. If you work with your own system, or want to handle feedback and alerts better, Appfront builds the ROD integration.
What is an integration with BRON and ROD?
An integration with BRON and ROD lets your administration exchange data with DUO's Register Onderwijsdeelnemers. DUO's manuals state that ROD was formerly the Basisregister Onderwijs (BRON); the name BRON is still widely used. Primary education, secondary education, vocational education (mbo and vavo) and higher education all exchange data with ROD. In mbo, ROD consists of two registers, Onderwijsdeelname (education participation) and Onderwijsresultaten (education results), containing enrolments, diplomas and data on work placements, which are first exchanged with SBB. Secondary schools submit the results of school exams and central exams every year, and in higher education, enrolments and diplomas go to ROD HO after a student has enrolled via Studielink.
The exchange works with messages and feedback messages. For example, a school sends the message Identify person, and receives the pupil's citizen service number (BSN) or education number back as a feedback message in the administration system. If something is wrong, you receive an error message or signal, which you resolve before exchanging the message again. The software supplier arranges the secure connection; the school board grants a mandate for this in the Onderwijs serviceregister (education service register). For each sector, DUO sets out in a programme of requirements what the software must meet, and names Edukoppeling 1.3 as the messaging standard. Institutions that do not receive government funding submit data through the Loket Onderwijsdeelnemers (education participants portal), manually or with an XML file.
We build custom software because not every institution works with an off-the-shelf package, and because even with a package a lot of work still falls on signals and feedback messages. Your own system that delivers to ROD, a bulk file for the portal generated from your administration, a check that finds errors before DUO reports them, or an overview that places your administration alongside the data in ROD: these are the questions an integration helps with. Whether you must meet the programme of requirements yourself or connect through a supplier, and which messages apply to your sector, we establish with you and DUO in the first step.
In line with DUO
Administration matching ROD.
Feedback messages
Automatically to the pupil.
Alerts
Spotted and resolved in time.
How we build your integration with BRON and ROD
We start with your administration: which sector you belong to, whether you receive government funding, which system holds pupil or student data, how you currently exchange data with ROD, and where signals and feedback messages get stuck. Then, together with you and DUO, we establish which messages, which programme of requirements and which route apply to you, and we build the first flow, usually enrolments or the upfront check on the data that is most often rejected. You test it with real data. Results, diplomas and the overview alongside ROD follow once that goes well. After that, we maintain the integration when DUO publishes a new programme of requirements or your administration changes.
Sector, system, signals.
Enrolments or checks.
Results and diplomas.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when requirements change.
What an integration with BRON and ROD actually does
The components below appear in almost every integration with ROD. Which ones you need depends on your sector, your administration and the way you currently exchange data with DUO.
Registrations
Delivered from your system.
Results
Exams and diplomas.
Feedback message
BSN and status processed.
Alerts
Errors with the reason included.
Validation
Your administration alongside ROD.
Access
Permissions per role.
Who we build an integration with BRON and ROD for
The integration is intended for educational institutions and suppliers that exchange data with ROD and work with their own system, or that spend a lot of time on signals and feedback messages. The more pupils or students you have, the more it delivers.
Schools and boards
Primary and secondary education in line with DUO.
Vocational and adult education
From enrolment to diploma.
Higher education
ROD higher education and funding.
Not government-funded
Bulk to the portal.
Technology and integrations
This page is about the exchange with DUO's Register Onderwijsdeelnemers (register of education participants). If you are looking for your own student administration, see our page on a student information system for higher education or on education ERP. For the messaging standard itself, we have our page on the Edukoppeling integration, and if you work with Osiris, the Osiris integration. You can read about our approach on building software.
Why Appfront for your integration with BRON and ROD?
A signal from DUO that sits unresolved for weeks, an enrolment that differs in ROD from your own records, or a bulk file that is compiled by hand every time: each costs an institution time and can affect funding. That is what we build on: data that is checked in advance, feedback that is processed automatically, and signals that are visible in time.
Checked in advance
Fewer rejected messages.
In time
Signals visible immediately.
To check
Every exchange logged.
Security and privacy in an integration with BRON and ROD
The integration processes personal data of pupils and students, including the citizen service number (BSN), which falls under the GDPR. It uses only the data DUO requires for the exchange, via the connection and mandate arranged for that purpose, and logs every exchange with its time and result.
The integration runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage. Keys and certificates are kept secured and are not visible to staff. Who in your institution may see which data and signals is something we agree with you beforehand.
Frequently asked questions about an integration with BRON and ROD
Questions that school boards, administrators and information managers in education ask before they get started.
It is the same register under a different name. DUO's manuals state that the Register Onderwijsdeelnemers (ROD, the education participants register) was formerly the Basisregister Onderwijs (BRON). In practice, both names are still used.
A connection between your records system or your own system and DUO's Register Onderwijsdeelnemers. Enrolments, results and diplomas then flow from your system to ROD, while feedback and signals come back to the right pupil or student.
Primary education, secondary education, vocational education (mbo) and adult secondary education (vavo), and higher education. Each sector has its own messages, its own requirements specification and its own manual or guide at DUO. Institutions that do not receive government funding only supply data for recognised or accredited programmes.
The software supplier arranges the secure connection, and the school board grants a mandate for this in the Onderwijs serviceregister (education service register). DUO names Edukoppeling 1.3 as the messaging standard. Institutions that do not receive government funding use the Loket Onderwijsdeelnemers (education participants portal), manually or with an XML bulk file.
After every exchange, DUO returns feedback: a confirmation, a number such as the citizen service number or education number, or an error message. A signal shows that something is not right. You resolve it and exchange the message again; the integration prepares those signals for you, with the reason included.
Often it is about what happens around it: signals that go unresolved, a check on the data before it goes to DUO, or an overview that compares your records with the data in ROD. If everything works well and there are few signals, extra custom work is usually not needed.
For institutions with their own records system, institutions without government funding that currently compile files by hand, and boards with many pupils or students and many signals. Suppliers who want to connect their package to ROD can also use it.
Want to exchange your records with ROD?
Tell us which sector you work in, which system you use and where things currently get stuck with DUO. We will show you how an integration solves that.