The authors analysed about 50 deep excavations in the Netherlands, with failures in different degrees, ranging from very severe with large impact on the structure it self or on the surrounding, to only relatively small damage to the work or the built environment. The analyses show that in more than 60% the failures were not caused by lack of knowledge but simply by not (correctly) applying existing knowledge. Therefore, the challenge for the education of geotechnical engineering is to not only teach a good theoretical base, but also to learn the students to apply risk management during the entire design process. The paper shows how geotechnical risk management is taught at the Section of Geo-Engineering of the Delft University of Technology.