17yo Admission (2)

Q&A

17yo Admission (2)

Foreign Credential Evaluations (in general)

Q: Can a person who graduated an international school located outside Japan and is 17-year-old be admitted to a university in Japan?

A: It is possible, depending on the international school. Although there is no definition of an international school in Japanese legislation, it is considered to be an educational facility for foreign residents in a country.

Thus, the education provided at such schools is presumably different from that of the host country. It is advisable to consult with the host country’s embassy in Japan for accurate information whether it is recognized as a school in the relevant country.

If the international school is an approved institution in the host country, its graduates are eligible for admission to a university in Japan. If not, one of the conditions below must be met:

applicant has completed education at an educational institution established in a foreign country for the purpose of educating Japanese children and approved by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology,
applicant has obtained the International Baccalaureate (IB), the German Abitur, the French Baccalauréate, or General Certificate of Education (GCE) A Level
applicant has completed 12 years of education at an educational institution accredited by one of the international school accrediting bodies i.e. the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), the Council of International Schools (CIS), the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), or the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).

Those who do not fulfill any of the conditions above are not eligible for university admission in Japan solely by graduating from an international school. They must satisfy another qualification such as passing the Upper Secondary School Equivalency Examination.

Although the above three requirements were previously subject to the condition of “having reached the age of 18 years,” this age requirement has been abolished due to the revision of the Enforcement Regulation of the School Education Act effective from January 31, 2019, so that even 17-year-olds are eligible for admission to a university in Japan.

(The content of this Q & A is quoted from the University Admission Qualifications Guide written by University Promotion Division, Higher Education Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and translated into English by NIC-Japan. It is amended by NIC-Japan based on the public notice of the MEXT issued on February 25, 2022.)