Tokyo public high schools, April 2027: the February general exam, step by step

For April 2027, Tokyo metropolitan high schools (都立高校, toritsu kōkō) fill most of their places in one written exam: 学力検査に基づく選抜 (gakuryoku kensa ni motozuku senbatsu), the selection based on an academic test. This is the first recruitment (第一次募集, daiichiji boshū). The papers follow the junior-high course of study.

Who can apply

The student must have been born on or before 1 April 2012, and must not already be enrolled at a high school. They also need a schooling condition: expected to graduate junior high in March 2027, already graduated, nine years of school abroad finished or about to be finished, or, for a foreign national, nine years at a foreign school in Japan by 31 March 2027.

For a full-time course the student, in principle, lives in Tokyo with a parent or guardian and will keep commuting from Tokyo. The guidelines list exceptions, such as a parent away for illness or a job transfer. A student who does not fit the printed boxes needs an eligibility check (応募資格審査, ōbo shikaku shinsa) at the high school before applying. A part-time course is wider: an address or a workplace in Tokyo is enough, including one that will exist by the day of entry.

This round is closed if you have already passed the recommendation, the January foreign-student selection at the eleven named schools, or the IB course, or if you are moving up inside a Tokyo combined school. A pass in the returnee selection, or in Kokusai's foreign-student selection, cancels this exam. So does an application to the correspondence early round.

One school, then the papers

You apply to one school and one course or department. If that department has several fields, you may rank the other fields at the same school. You may not list two departments at the same school as first and second choice. The guidelines' example: the foreign-language course at Matsugaya cannot sit beside the general course there as second choice. Two stated exceptions: Tachikawa's science-maths department may name the general course second, and Kagaku Gijutsu's science-maths department may name the science and technology department second.

Application is online. The other papers go by trackable, face-to-face mail (簡易書留 or the equivalent) and must arrive inside the document window. The junior high checks the online form for its own students and posts the report card.

Step	Full-time first round
Type the application	Fri 18 Dec 2026 – Thu 4 Feb 2027, 17:00
Papers must arrive	Fri 29 Jan – Thu 4 Feb 2027
Withdraw to change school, once	Wed 10 Feb 2027, 9:00–15:00
Resubmit at the new school	Fri 12 Feb 2027, 9:00–12:00
Exam	Sun 21 Feb 2027, gather by 8:30
Results	Mon 1 Mar 2027, 8:30 online, 9:30 on the noticeboard
Enrolment steps	1 Mar, 9:30–15:30, and 2 Mar, 9:00–12:00

The exam fee (入学考査料) is 2,200 yen for full-time and 950 yen for part-time, paid on the application site or with the board's slip. Papers include the report card. A school that interviews also wants the self-introduction card (自己PRカード). A school that sets the English exam wants the speaking-test sheet from students who sat it.

A full-time applicant may change school once, by withdrawing in person on 10 February and resubmitting on 12 February. A night, year-based part-time applicant cannot change. Moving from a challenge school, or from Hitotsubashi, Asakusa, Ogikubo, Hachioji Takushin, or Sunagawa, onto a full-time course means paying a 1,250 yen difference in cash at the new window.

The day itself

Full-time schools, other than Kokusai and the encourage schools, use this timetable. Each paper is 50 minutes.

Period	Time	Subject
Gather	8:30
1	9:00–9:50	Japanese
2	10:10–11:00	Mathematics
3	11:20–12:10	English
4	13:10–14:00	Social studies
5	14:20–15:10	Science

The first about 10 minutes of English are listening. Arts and PE departments sit Japanese, mathematics, and English only. Each subject is out of 100. A school that weights a subject says so in its row of the guidelines. Encourage schools do not hold this written exam. Part-time schools set at least three subjects plus an interview. Kokusai sets its own clock. Missing one paper, interview, or practical counts as giving up the exam, unless the absence has a valid reason. The hall is the one on the admission ticket.

Results, illness, and empty seats

A pass is published at 8:30 on the results site and at 9:30 on the full-time noticeboard. The student brings the enrolment pledge (入学確約書) in the window in the table and pays the admission fee within five days of the day after results: 5,650 yen full-time, 2,100 yen part-time. A weekend or holiday on the fifth day moves the deadline to the next business day. No pledge means the place is given up. No payment makes the pledge void.

If the student cannot sit 21 February because of influenza or another school-designated infection, because the junior high has ordered them to stay home, or because of something that is not their fault and a third party can confirm, the junior high applies for a makeup exam (追検査, tsuikensa). The guidelines name menstrual symptoms and being molested on the way among the cases a third party can confirm. The makeup runs only at schools that held the first round. You may apply only to the department that was your first choice. Filing the makeup means you cannot also file the late split or the full-time second round.

	Makeup, and full-time second round	Part-time second round
Apply, in person	Thu 4 Mar 2027, 9:00–15:00	Thu 25 Mar 2027, 15:00–19:00
Exam	Tue 9 Mar 2027, gather 8:30	Fri 26 Mar 2027, time set by the school
Results	Fri 12 Mar 2027, 8:30 online	Mon 29 Mar 2027, 8:30 online

The second round (第二次募集) runs only where the first round left empty seats. Someone who already passed an earlier public round cannot apply. The guidelines ask anyone already enrolled at a national or private high school to refrain. The makeup charges the exam fee again. Day-and-night schools that split their places hold the late split on 4 and 9 March, in person.

The exam, the report card, and any speaking-test points are added under each school's ratio.

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