What a private elementary entrance round asks of a five-year-old and the parents: two Tokyo schools' April 2027 guides

小学校受験 (shōgakkō juken), which families call お受験 (o-juken), is an entrance round for a private elementary school taken in the autumn before the child turns six. Schools do not publish exam papers, but their 募集要項 (boshū yōkō, admissions guide) say what the day consists of, when it is, and what it costs. Two Tokyo schools' April 2027 guides show the shape of it.

The calendar: October to apply, November to sit

	新渡戸文化小学校 (Nakano, co-ed, about 60 places)	立教小学校 (Toshima, boys, 108 places)
Eligible	child in the right age band; 日本語での日常会話に支障がなく、保護者のもとから通学できる者	born 2 April 2020 – 1 April 2021
Apply	online from Thu 1 Oct 2026 9:00; round 1 closes Fri 23 Oct 16:00, round 2 Tue 10 Nov, round 3 Mon 7 Dec	online Thu 1 Oct 2026 9:00 – Sat 3 Oct 16:00
Fee	30,000 yen per round; 25,000 yen for a second or later round	30,000 yen
Parent interview	parent-and-child interview before the exam day, booked online straight after applying	parents-only interview on a day the school assigns, told by email on 8 Oct
Exam day	Tue 3 Nov, Sat 14 Nov, or Sat 12 Dec 2026	Mon 2 and Tue 3 Nov 2026
Results	online, from 09:00 the next morning (round 1)	online, Thu 5 Nov 9:00 – Fri 6 Nov 16:00
Entrance fee due	within the result window, by card or Pay-easy	340,000 yen, by Fri 6 Nov 16:00

Both schools take applications only through the miraicompass site, with a photo uploaded, the fee paid by card, convenience store or Pay-easy, and the exam slip printed at home. The mechanics are the same as for a junior high and are walked through in Web application step by step.

What the child does on the day

Nitobe Bunka's guide lists the selection method and the day's content:

児童：ペーパーテスト、集団観察、グループテスト 他

ペーパーテスト・グループ対話・工作・集団遊び 他

A paper test, observation in a group, a group task, conversation in a group, a craft, and group play. Its third round drops the paper test and observes the child doing 好きなことを中心にした集団観察 (what the child likes doing). Rikkyo's guide says only 基礎的な学習能力テストを行います。 (a basic learning-ability test) and asks the boy to come in trainers he can move in. That is the pattern across Tokyo: a paper component, a behaviour-in-a-group component, often a movement component, and the school keeps the detail to itself.

The child goes in alone. Nitobe Bunka allows one accompanying parent in the waiting room; Rikkyo asks parents to bring their own indoor shoes for the waiting area. Nitobe Bunka's list for the day is the exam slip, the child's indoor shoes and a water bottle on a strap.

What the parents do

Both schools interview the parents, before the exam day, in Japanese. Nitobe Bunka's is a three-way interview with the child, booked on the miraicompass event site as soon as the application is in; its written application includes a hand-written statement of motive:

志望動機記述用紙：本校を志望した動機について、指定の用紙に手書きで記入してください（横書き・上限800字）

Eight hundred characters, by hand, on why this school. It also asks for a medical form from a Japanese clinic dated August or later. Rikkyo sends the interview date by email on 8 October and asks parents to bring a pre-filled interview sheet downloaded from that email. Both guides say the school will not discuss results by phone.

Nitobe Bunka adds one line a foreign family should notice:

帰国生には一定の配慮が払われますので、面接時に必ずお知らせください。

A returnee child gets some allowance, but only if you say so at the interview.

What it costs after a yes

	新渡戸文化 (2026 figures, may change)	立教 (2026 figures; a revision is announced for 2027)
Entrance fee	300,000 yen, never refunded	340,000 yen, never refunded
Tuition and regular fees	78,000 yen a month (tuition 50,000, education 13,000, facilities 10,000, supporters 5,000)	804,000 yen a year tuition, 318,000 maintenance, 39,000 health, 36,000 materials, 9,000 heating
Lunch	11,880 yen a month	about 110,000 yen a year
Other	50,000 yen in April and May for devices and trips; after-school club entry 100,000 yen; alumni system 10,000 yen; returnee support 51,500 yen where applied	trips and events about 140,000 yen in grade 1; PTA 4,800 yen
Donation	voluntary, after entry	voluntary, 100,000 yen a unit

Rikkyo's guide says a boy who was admitted but does not attend the in-person procedure on 9 November is treated as having declined, and that fees paid after that day, other than the entrance fee, are refunded on withdrawal. Nitobe Bunka's says a late entry payment cancels the admission. Private elementary fee averages for Tokyo, and the after-acceptance steps, are in private elementary fees and after acceptance.

What this means for a foreign family

• The whole round runs in Japanese: the form, the interview, the instructions the child hears in the group task. Nitobe Bunka writes the language condition into its eligibility line. A child who speaks Japanese at daycare level is the baseline, not a bonus.
• The window is short. Rikkyo's application is three days in early October, with the exam a month later. Missing the window means waiting a year.
• Prep classes (幼児教室) exist for exactly this day; no school's guide requires one, and no current price list from a prep school was found on 2026-10-10.
• The national-university elementaries run a lottery instead; see national elementary schools in Tokyo.

What to do now

1. In the spring of the year before entry, read the guides of three schools; the application windows will fall in September and October.
2. Decide who writes the 800-character statement and who sits the interview. Both parents usually attend; families report that the school asks about the child's daily life and the family's reasons.
3. Book the interview the same day you apply, and put the result window and the entrance-fee deadline in the calendar with the fee amount.
4. Keep the daycare's or kindergarten's enrolment letter and the ward health-check result; Rikkyo asks for a copy of the 就学時健康診断 result at its December procedure.

Two schools are not every school. Verify the components and fees in the guide of each school you apply to.