中学受験 (chūgaku juken) for foreign families in Japan外国から来た家族の中学受験
Chūgaku juken is a choice, not a requirement: most children go on to the local public junior high. If you are weighing it, here is how it works, when everything happens, what it costs and which schools take which route.
Who: grade 3 to grade 6
What it is
In Tokyo most children move from their public elementary school to the local public junior high (公立中学校) with no exam. 中学受験 (chūgaku juken) means sitting an entrance exam in grade 6 to go somewhere else.
Dates and deadlines
From the rules this site's timelines run on. Your child's own dates, by birth date, are on their path page.
Juku intake for grade 4 (新4年生, shin-yonensei) 新4年生 入塾
to Approximate
The usual dates each year
Junior-high entrance prep (中学受験, chūgaku juken) usually starts with the juku year in early February of grade 3. Entrance and trial tests run from late October to January. This is the moment to decide yes or no.
School open days and info sessions (学校説明会, setsumeikai) 私立中学 学校説明会シーズン
to Approximate
The usual dates each year
Private junior highs hold info sessions and open days from June to November, and Tokyo's private school fair brings all 415 private schools to one hall in late August. Most sessions are in Japanese and need booking.
Source: 「2026東京都私立学校展」開催のお知らせ
Returnee entrance exams (帰国生入試, kikokusei nyūshi) 帰国生入試
to Approximate
The usual dates each year
Tokyo private junior highs may hold returnee exams from November 20, earlier than the main February exams. Most fall in December and January; each school sets its own eligibility (years abroad, time since return).
Source: 知っておきたい入試のこと～入試に関する基礎知識～
Junior-high applications (出願, shutsugan) 私立中学 出願
to Approximate
The usual dates each year
Tokyo private junior highs accept applications from January 10; most use online application, and many open web registration and fee payment in mid-to-late December.
Source: 知っておきたい入試のこと～入試に関する基礎知識～
Junior-high entrance exams (中学受験 本番, chūgaku juken) 中学入試
to
The usual dates each year
Private junior-high exams in Tokyo and Kanagawa start on February 1 each year; most are held February 1–5, and results often come out the same day.
Source: 知っておきたい入試のこと～入試に関する基礎知識～
Tokyo public combined junior-senior high schools (都立中高一貫校, aptitude test) 都立中高一貫校 適性検査
to
Exam day:
Published dates for school year 2026
Tokyo's metropolitan combined schools admit by an aptitude test (適性検査, tekisei kensa), not the private four-subject exam. Tuition-free, very competitive.
What it costs
Published figures only, each with its source. An average is not a bill.
- Juku over 3 years of preparation: ¥2,242,147 on average
- A month of the final-year standard course at the large juku: ¥44,972–¥77,275
- The final year alone at the large juku: ¥1,260,000–¥1,380,000
Source: 中学受験にかかる費用について保護者500人に調査。塾代総額や受験料を合わせた費用は平均約184万円中学受験の大手4大塾の年間費用（料金）を比較！どの塾に通うのがお得なの？
Read: Juku cost in Japan for grades 4 to 6: what the ministry's fiscal 2023 survey shows
- A private junior high, a year: ¥1,128,061
- A public junior high, a year: ¥150,761
Source: 結果の概要-令和5年度子供の学習費調査
Read: Tokyo private junior-high fees, and the Reiwa 8 tuition grant
- Junior high, all 3 years: ¥1,626,133 at public schools, ¥4,671,589 at private schools
- Average spent per child, school costs and spending outside school together, from the Ministry of Education's survey of children's learning costs for fiscal 2023.
Source: 令和5年度子供の学習費調査 調査結果の概要（文部科学省、令和8年1月16日差替）表9
Read: What parents paid from kindergarten through high school: the fiscal 2023 survey
Schools and their exams
43 junior highs on this site, each with the rules from its own admissions guide (募集要項, boshū yōkō).
By exam route
Girls', boys' or coed
- Coed schools (31)
- Girls' schools (8)
- Boys' schools (4)
By fees a year
Free tools
- Should we do juken?
Route, cost, school rules your child meets, and the next three steps.
- What juken really costs
Juku fees and junior-high fees for your route, compared with the other routes. Published figures, each with its source.
- Deadlines for April 2027
Every hoikuen application window and junior-high exam date we have verified, month by month, each with its official source.
- Route budget, to university
Kindergarten through high school from the ministry survey, then the national university fee standard.
- Your child's path, by birth date
Which school year your child is in, and every window and exam date from hoikuen to high school.
Every guide for this step
55 guides, grouped by topic. Each one is checked against an official Japanese source.
Routes: returnee, international, English and public combined schools
- Applying to a Tokyo public combined junior high: the online form, the school report and the exam ticket (April 2027)
- Chūgaku juken (中学受験) in Tokyo: the main routes into junior high
- English at junior-high entrance: a 140-school list and two 2027 guides
- Returnee juku and English entrance exam prep: what Sundai, Waseda Academy and SAPIX publish
- Kanagawa's public combined junior highs for April 2027: prefecture, Yokohama, Kawasaki
- Keimei Gakuen's international-student entry for April 2027: who may apply, and the interview parents join
- Returnee student eligibility for April 2027 junior high exams: five schools' own rules
- The parent interview: what three April 2027 guidebooks actually print
- Toho Girls' returnee entry for April 2027: who counts as a returnee, and what the essays and interviews ask
- Tokyo private junior highs: applications from 10 January, exams from 1 February
- Tokyo public combined junior highs for April 2027: who may apply, and the exam days
- Tokyo public combined schools, April 2027: the aptitude test, the school report and the waiting list
Juku, mock exams and hensachi
- A grade 4 to 6 timeline: Waseda Academy's calendar and ONETES mock dates
- Hensachi and mock exams: what Nichinoken and ONETES publish
- Juku cost in Japan for grades 4 to 6: what the ministry's fiscal 2023 survey shows
- The parent's job in the junior-high exam, and one tutor company's published fees
- What the large juku publish: entry tests, class days and monthly fees
School visits (説明会, setsumeikai)
Applications, papers and interviews
- Kanagawa private junior highs for April 2027: dates from the schools' own guidebooks
- Papers the elementary school must seal: the report, the transcript, the envelope
- Sitting several rounds in February (併願): one school's April 2027 guidebook as a worked example
- Web application for a private junior high: miraicompass, step by step
Exam week and after
Costs
Planning the exam years
Elementary school life
- A PTA duty note is a request from the parents-and-teachers group
- A sports-day notice is the school's athletic event, not a test result
- After the school health check: the result slip, the 21 days, and the doctor's note
- An excursion notice is a trip out of school, and the paper names the day
- An open-class notice invites you to watch a lesson
- Bunkyo ward: the 6 a.m. weather rule that closes a school, and the day that does not count as absence
- Children clean the classroom, and clubs are for those who want them
- Clothes, indoor shoes and the things a school actually regulates
- Health-room papers and infection absence: when your child must stay home, and what to hand in after
- Home visits, parents' meetings and the one-to-one conference
- Homework: what one school's summer sheet asks, and what parents are told to check
- Renrakuchō (連絡帳): phrases for absence, lateness and everyday notes
- Reporting an absence and reaching the school: the app, the 8 a.m. rule, and when to phone
- School money: the national average, and what Ota and Suginami print
- Special-needs routes in Tokyo: the support room, the class, and who decides
- The class newsletter: where the dates, the things to bring and the money are hiding
- The emergency pickup drill: only a registered adult can collect your child
- The national academic test: who sits it in 2026, and what the score is for
- The report card (通知表): what A, B, C and 3, 2, 1 mean, and what to ask about
- The school-lunch allergy form is a doctor's sheet, and each school writes its own rules
- The school-year calendar: the months two Minato elementary schools print
- The summer-holiday paper: homework, the first day back, and the supplies to fix before it
- The walk to school, and the injury insurance Ota pays into
- The yearly school health check is required, and the notice names the tests
- What a school-lunch notice is asking you to do
- When a child stops going to school: the places, the attendance rule, and who decides
People also search
What parents type into Google or ask ChatGPT about this step, and the page on this site that answers it.
In English
- chugaku juken foreign family
- junior high entrance exam tokyo dates
- chugaku juken cost
- juku japan sapix nichinoken fees
- returnee exam japan 2027
- kikokusei eligibility
- english entrance exam junior high tokyo
- should we do juken
- tokyo public combined school aptitude test
- when to start juku for juken
- hensachi meaning
Questions parents ask
When are the junior-high entrance exams in Tokyo?
Private junior-high exams in Tokyo and Kanagawa run to each year. For entry, this site lists 100 exam dates at 43 schools.
Source: 知っておきたい入試のこと～入試に関する基礎知識～
How much does chūgaku juken cost?
Juku over 3 years of preparation averages ¥2,242,147, and the final year alone runs ¥1,260,000–¥1,380,000 at the large juku. A private junior high then costs ¥1,128,061 a year, against ¥150,761 for a public one.
Source: 中学受験にかかる費用について保護者500人に調査。塾代総額や受験料を合わせた費用は平均約184万円中学受験の大手4大塾の年間費用（料金）を比較！どの塾に通うのがお得なの？結果の概要-令和5年度子供の学習費調査
When does juku start for chūgaku juken?
Juku courses for the new grade 4 (新4年生, shin-yonensei) start on of grade 3. Entrance and trial tests run to (approximate).
When are the returnee (帰国生) exams?
Returnee exams run to (approximate), before the main February exams. For entry, 34 schools on this site hold one.
Source: 知っておきたい入試のこと～入試に関する基礎知識～
Who counts as a returnee (帰国生) or an international applicant (国際生)?
帰国生 (kikokusei, a returnee) and 国際生 (kokusaisei, an international applicant) are labels on a school's own exam. They are not one national status. A child who qualifies at one school can be outside the rule at the next.
When do applications (出願) to private junior highs open?
Tokyo private junior highs take applications to (approximate); many open online registration in December.
Source: 知っておきたい入試のこと～入試に関する基礎知識～
When is the aptitude test for Tokyo's public combined schools (都立中高一貫校)?
For entry, applications run to and the aptitude test (適性検査, tekisei kensa) is on .
What are mock exams and hensachi (偏差値)?
A mock exam (模試, mogi, or 公開模試, kōkai mogi) is a test run by a juku or a test company, sat by children from many schools on the same day. The result is usually a deviation score (偏差値, hensachi) and, later, a label the company prints next to each school you register.
The other steps
- Before this step: Elementary school entry and o-juken
- After this step: Kōkō juken (high-school entrance)
- Every step, from hoikuen to university
What to do next
- Find your child's path: the free juken check
Free, no sign-in. The route that fits, what it costs and the deadlines on the way.
- See the season pass
Verified dates and fees for every school, a reminder before each deadline, unlimited questions.