The University of Tokyo's foreign-school route is not the junior-high exam, and it has traps

Choosing an overseas or international curriculum can change a later university application. This article is only the University of Tokyo's own question page for its special selection for students who finished a foreign school (外国学校卒業学生特別選考). It is not the junior-high exam, and it is not a rule for other universities.

The university says the page is advice from past cases, to help you make a first judgment. After you apply, the admissions office reviews eligibility. If it says you are not eligible, it tells you in late January and refunds 13,000 yen of the fee. Ask the office named on the recruitment guide if your case is unclear. The guide itself is in Japanese only, and it is usually published around July for entry the following April.

Two kinds

Kind	Who the page says it is for
Type 1 (第1種)	Privately funded international students
Type 2 (第2種)	Returnee students (帰国生徒)

If you have Japanese nationality or Japanese permanent residence, the page says you apply as Type 2.

At the moment of entry, Type 1 is for someone whose first foreign high-school qualification was within the last 5 years. Type 2 is within the last 2 years. There is no age limit on the page.

Traps the page states

• A Japanese school abroad (日本人学校) or another overseas school that follows the Japanese system does not count as a foreign curriculum.
• An international school in Japan does not qualify for this special selection. The page says the ordinary general selection has no such geographical limit.
• An international school outside Japan can qualify if it is accredited by one of the bodies the page lists (WASC, CIS, ACSI, NEASC, Cognia and the named Cognia members, COBIS) and you meet every other requirement.
• A year abroad while you stayed enrolled at a Japanese high school, including an exchange, does not count. It counts only if you were a regular student at the overseas high school for two continuous years, including the final year, and you graduated or completed it.
• You can apply as a student who will graduate, but only if you will have graduated by 31 March of the entry year. Graduating on or after 1 April means you wait for the next year's application.
• Classes after you enter are mainly in Japanese. The application and the exam are basically in Japanese, and the page says you need a certain level of Japanese when you apply. The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test is not required. You may attach it if you want.
• Type 1 must sit the Examination for Japanese University Admission (日本留学試験). For April 2027 the page accepts the June 2026 or November 2026 sitting. The subjects depend on the faculty stream. The exam may be taken in Japanese or English. Type 2 does not take it.
• TOEFL or IELTS must be from the two years before applications open. TOEFL Home Edition is accepted. MyBest scores are not. IELTS One Skill Retake is not. The score has to be sent so it arrives by the last day of the application window. The page suggests starting that send about a month ahead. There is no minimum score. The first stage reads the documents together.
• An International Baccalaureate predicted score cannot stand in for the result. If the result comes in January, contact the office and send the proof within about two or three days of getting it. Proof that arrives by 31 March, inside the qualification window, is accepted.

The page does not say a child on this route will be admitted, and it does not say a child on a Japanese curriculum will be refused somewhere else. Read the year's guide, and ask the university.