Inburgering (civic integration) duties attach to some residence grounds and not others, and the framework changed under the Wet inburgering 2021, so second-hand accounts from people who arrived earlier are often out of date. Getting the category wrong costs either wasted course fees or a missed statutory deadline.
The inburgeringsplicht under the Wet inburgering 2021 mainly targets two groups: family migrants (gezinsmigranten) from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, obligatory from age 16, and asylum status holders, plus a smaller separate route for religious/spiritual leaders. If you're an EU, EEA, Norwegian, Icelandic, or Swiss national, the duty doesn't apply to you at all — you're structurally outside its scope. Highly skilled migrants and students on work or study permits are likewise not covered, since their permits aren't the family- or asylum-based grounds the law targets. That said, there's a second, separate track: applying for a stronger residence permit (permanent, long-term EU resident) or for Dutch naturalisation generally requires passing a civic integration exam regardless of whether you were ever inburgeringsplichtig — including for many EU nationals. Exemptions there exist too (Belgian/Luxembourg nationals, under-18 or pension age, 8+ years of Dutch schooling, Dutch-language diplomas, medical grounds), but they're assessed case by case by IND. Worth checking your own situation on inburgeren.nl or with IND directly rather than assuming either way.