April 2027: the IB course at Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School, and a returnee transfer at a national secondary school

Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School (都立国際高等学校) runs an international studies course and an International Baccalaureate course (国際バカロレアコース). The board's April 2026 school-type page says the IB course teaches Diploma Programme subjects, aims at the full diploma that universities abroad recognise, and also teaches the subjects Japan requires for a high-school diploma. Most of the IB teaching is in English.

This is a January selection for April 2027 entry. From the Reiwa 9 year the school does not hold a September IB intake. Kokusai's separate composition-and-interview selection, for students who need Japanese support, is a different application. If you pass the IB course and do not enrol, the school will not place you on the reserve list for its returnee selection or its in-Tokyo foreign-student selection.

Who the IB course will see

The guidelines say the course has to be the student's first choice. You cannot also apply to a metropolitan recommendation, or to the January foreign-student selection at the eleven other named schools. You must have been born on or before 1 April 2012, and you must not already be on the roll of a high school.

There are two recruitment lists.

• Japanese nationals. Graduating junior high in March 2027, already graduated, or finishing nine years abroad or at a recognised Japanese school overseas, and meeting the full-time residence rules, including a student returning alone to a Tokyo guarantor with a parent due within a year.
• Foreign nationals. Finishing nine years abroad, nine years at a foreign school in Japan, or a Japanese junior high, by 31 March 2027, under the same residence rules.

The school describes the student it hopes to see as having English around Eiken grade 2 to pre-1 (英検2級から準1級程度). The guidelines do not print that as a cutoff.

Confirm eligibility, then apply

The guidelines say you complete an eligibility check (応募資格確認) before you apply. The school says that, from the Reiwa 8 selection, a student already at a public or private junior high in Tokyo does not come in for that check. Anyone the school's list still requires should use one of two days, with no reservation, and arrive at least one hour before the window closes.

Check	When
Saturday 21 November 2026	9:00–15:00
Saturday 12 December 2026	9:00–12:00

Bring proof of nationality and one year of grades, plus the scale the school used. A recent transfer also needs the previous school's grades. The student, a parent, or someone who can explain the case may attend. From overseas, email kokusai.ibdp1@gmail.com with the subject 「IBコース資格確認について」. The school asks for about a week to reply. The board's admissions desk is 03-5320-6745.

Step	April 2027 IB course
Type the application	Fri 18 Dec 2026 – Mon 18 Jan 2027, 17:00
Papers must arrive by trackable mail	Fri 8 Jan – Mon 18 Jan 2027
Exams	Tue 26 and Wed 27 Jan 2027, gather by 8:30
Results	Tue 2 Feb 2027, 8:30 online, 9:30 on the noticeboard
Enrolment steps	2 Feb, 9:30–15:30, and 3 Feb, 9:00–12:00

The exam fee is 2,200 yen. A Japanese junior high sends the report card (調査書). A foreign school or a school abroad sends its transcript, with the marks on it. No changes after you submit.

How the day is marked

English and maths are used only to decide whether the student can manage lessons in those languages. Their marks are not added into the total. The total is 430 points, from the essay, the interview, and the report card.

Test	Time	Mark	Language
English: listening, reading, writing, plus a speaking interview	60 minutes, then 10	100, fit or unfit only	English
Maths	60 minutes	100, fit or unfit only	Japanese or English, chosen on the form
Essay (小論文)	50 minutes	200	Japanese or English
Individual interview	15–20 minutes	200	Japanese or English
Report card or transcript		30

The guidelines say the school sets a bar for every test. One test under that bar and the file is not considered. Missing any one test counts as giving up the exam, unless there is a valid reason. If the foreign-national list does not fill, the school may take Japanese-national candidates who cleared the bar and were not yet offered a place.

The enrolment pledge and the 5,650 yen admission fee follow the ordinary full-time rule: pay within five days of the day after results. No pledge means the place is given up.

What the family actually pays

Item	Amount on the school's page
Admission fee	5,650 yen, within five days of results
Tuition, each year	118,800 yen, which the school says is in principle not charged under Tokyo's tuition system
Year-group fund, IB, years 1 / 2 / 3	235,000 / 203,000 / 57,000 yen
Same fund, the other course	125,000 / 111,000 / 29,000 yen
Blazer and trousers or skirt	about 43,000 yen
PE kit	18,040 yen
Gym shoes	3,520 yen
PTA fee, years 1 and 2, then year 3	4,000 yen, then 7,500 yen
Student-council fee	5,000 yen a year

The IB fund includes the Diploma Programme registration fee. Year 1 is paid at entry and in three further instalments. Year 2 is four instalments and includes the school trip. Tuition support does not pay this fund.

A returnee transfer into the high-school years

Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School (東京学芸大学附属国際中等教育学校) is a national six-year school, not a metropolitan high school. For April 2027 it still takes transfer students (編入学) into years 4, 5, and 6. The page requires a birth date inside the year's guide, a return or arrival after the date the guide sets, no later enrolment at a Japanese school other than a junior high, at least one year and one day continuously at a school abroad, and schooling finished up to the year of entry (or the school's judgement that the work is equivalent).

From this April 2027 cycle a year-5 April transfer is not placed in the Diploma Programme. The general programme still takes that student. The selection is a file, a 45-minute essay in English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, or Korean (85 marks), a 30-minute basic Japanese essay (15), and an interview. On 3 October 2026 the school posted a corrected packet. The exam dates are inside it. Year-1 entry is the end of elementary school.

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