High schools in Japan
In Japan, most students go to high school after graduating from junior high school.
Since high school education is not compulsory, there is an entrance exam.
Students need to pass the exam to be allowed to enroll in high school.
Types of high schools
There are various high schools such as schools established by the national government or the Tokyo metropolitan government, or schools that students attend during the day or night.
Consult with your junior high school teacher, etc. to choose a school that suits you.
[Public and private]
- Public high schools:
There are “National high schools” established by the national government and “Metropolitan high schools” established by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
- Private high schools:
Privately established high schools.
Tuition is cheaper at public high schools.
[Full-time, part-time, and correspondence]
- Full-time high school:
Go to school every day.
Attending classes from morning to early evening.
- Part-time high school:
Go to school every day.
Attending classes 4 hours a day in the morning, afternoon, or evening.
- Correspondence high school:
Students study at home. Teachers review and grade submitted assignments and reports by students.
Go to school about 2-4 times a month.
[School grade system and credit system]
- School grade system:
Curriculums and required number of credits of each grade are determined.
Students can proceed to the next grade level every year and can graduate after completing the third year.
If a student cannot acquire the required number of credits, they will need to repeat the same grade.
Many of the full-time high schools use a grade system.
- Credit system:
Students can decide subjects of study and in which order to earn credits.
There is no grade repetition because there is no school grade system.
Students can graduate by acquiring all required number of credits.
Many part-time high schools, and correspondence high schools use a credit system.
[High school courses]
- General course:
Study a wide range of subjects such as Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, and English.
For those who plan to go to university, the general course is recommended.
- Specialized courses:
Study subjects that will be useful for future work in industrial, commercial, agricultural, and information technologies.
Students can acquire specialized knowledge, skills, and qualifications.
- Comprehensive course:
Subjects of both general and specialized courses are available.
Students can choose and study subjects that interest them.
Entrance examination
There are two types of high school entrance examinations: “recommended entrance examination” and “general entrance examination”.
- Recommended entrance examination:
An admission acceptance is determined by an assessment report (document written about a student’s grades and attitudes in junior high school), interview, and essay.
It is held earlier than the general entrance examination from early January to early February.
- General entrance examination:
An admission acceptance is determined by the results of the academic achievement test.
Normally, exams are 5 subjects (Japanese, mathematics, English, social studies, and science) for public high schools and 3 subjects (Japanese, Mathematics, and English) for most private high schools.General entrance examinations are held from the end of January to the end of February for private high schools, and from the beginning of February to the beginning of March for public high schools.
Metropolitan high school entrance examination for foreign students
Tokyo metropolitan high schools conduct special entrance exams for foreign students.
In addition, “special measures" are conducted such as adding ruby (furigana) to exam questions, allowing the use of dictionaries, and extending exam time.
See the next page for more details.
Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education: Metropolitan high school entrance exams for foreign students (Japanese)
Consultation services to talk about admission to metropolitan high schools are available in foreign languages at the following helpdesk.
Tokyo Metropolitan Education Consultation Center
Tel: 03-3360-4175
Time: Friday 1:00 pm -5:00 pm
Language: English, Chinese, and Korean
