Age Restriction

Assessment of Admission Qualifications (in general)

Q: Why has the age restriction for the individual admission qualification assessment remained while it was lifted for most of the other conditions on January 31, 2019?

A: The admission requirement in Japan is, in general, based on the duration of a curriculum. This is based on the following idea: it is extremely difficult to verify the substantial equivalence of school education between Japan and foreign countries. On the other hand, in order to ensure the connection between Japanese and foreign school education, for the sake of convenience, a person who has completed 12 years of school education in a foreign country is considered to have received the same level of elementary and secondary education as in Japan, and is allowed to admit to a Japanese university, etc.

The individual admission qualification assessment^*1 and academic qualification examinations^*2, do not require a person to complete a curriculum in formal education. The age restriction for such examinations has remained as we believe that abolishing it would make it extremely difficult to ensure accessibility to the Japanese school education system.

*1 An assessment conducted to determine whether an applicant possesses academic ability equivalent to or greater than that of an upper secondary school/university graduates, based on their academic record and achievement. For details, see "Q: Is each university responsible for the method of assessment for the individual admission qualification assessment?"

*2 Academic qualification examinations deemed equivalent to or greater than the completion of 12 years of school education in foreign countries.

(The content of this Q&A is quoted from the University Admission Qualifications Guide ver. 2 written by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. NIC-Japan produced this English translation.)