Second-day tests were held Sunday for this year’s two-day unified university entrance examinations in Japan.
On Sunday, applicants took exams in science and math, as well as informatics, a new subject involved in computational systems that was introduced following revisions to the country’s school curriculum guidelines.
The exams were held at 651 venues across the country, with the number of applicants increasing by about 3,200 from the previous year to some 495,100.
The first-day exams covered geography and history, civics, Japanese and foreign languages.
On Saturday, instruction errors occurred at a venue in Tokyo and another in Shiga Prefecture, making a total of 86 applicants subject to retests. The start of a test was pushed back at one venue because of a delay in train services.
In addition, problems including trouble with exam equipment occurred during the English listening test on the first day. As a result, 46 applicants at 43 venues restarted their tests from the questions that were suspended due to the problems.
According to the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, a total of 838 schools, including 81 national universities and 522 private universities, will use the unified exams for admission decisions.
The average scores will be announced on a preliminary basis Wednesday, and the final results on Feb. 6.
Makeup exams will be held on Jan. 25 and 26 at a total of four venues in Tokyo and Osaka.
Applicants who were unable to attend the exams Saturday and Sunday — for reasons ranging from ill health due to COVID-19 or influenza to traffic accidents or incidents such as molestation on trains — will be allowed to take the supplementary exams. Details are available on the national center’s website.
