Ippan Shiken, General Entrance Examination

Here in Japan most high schools have two or three entrance examinations, of which one is an Ippan Shiken. Junior high school students take this test if they wish to enroll at a high school, or as in case of my high school, as “Suberidome.” Suberidome means, something which prevents someone from sliding down. Any given high school in Japan makes their own Ippan Shiken, and this test represents the level of education or level of knowledge required for that school. It is common for more students to take the test than can actually enroll into the school in April. After the test is taken, The average score is calculated and according to that a minimum for enrolling is decided. Soon after the results are calculated, the students are notified by mail and from there they have until about the 20th of March to decide whether they actually wish to enroll or not. For the Japanese private high schools this is one of the most exiting months of the year because they need a certain amount of students to enter in order to be able to pay the bills.

Ippan Shiken was held at my school last Saturday. About 500 junior high school students came to take the test. Tests were also held at other (host) schools in surrounding cities so the total number of students taking the Ippan Shiken for my school was about 1500. However, we are looking to accept about 240 students to enroll as first years from April.