Japan To Reform Its University Entrance Exams By 2020

Japan is set to replace its current National Center Test for University Admissions by 2020. A final report has been compiled by an expert panel formed by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry regarding reformed university entrance exams.

The exams will test high school students' ability to work out problems by themselves and to speak their minds coherently. According to Chicago Tribune, this includes an essay test and an English writing and speaking portion. Multiple choice answers are still present but no longer to questions that merely require memorization on the part of the students. Instead, they will have to analyze information provided in the tests in order to arrive at the correct answer.

Large-scale reform is on the horizon for Japan's university entrance exam system. https://t.co/U1ebegFMgh pic.twitter.com/USXDPHbYcn

— Nippon.com (@nippon_en) November 27, 2015

This type of test structure will encourage students to utilize newspapers and books as learning tools and challenge their skills in being able to discuss them. Before this, memorization was the normal form of teaching in the classroom.

The test will also take into consideration how a student answered the questions and provide this information to universities so they will have an easier time finding the types of minds they are seeking.

The panel hopes to schedule these tests by the spring of 2021. Middle schoolers entering their second year next month will be the very first to take the test. This is according to The Japan News.

By 2023, the test will include short-description answers of around 40-80 characters along with multiple choice questions which will center around comparison of data and sentences.

The final report says that by 2024 onwards, computer-based testing will be adopted, including questions using videos and answers recorded through the use of a terminal.

Also included in the final report is the requirement of artificial intelligence to assist with the grading of description-type questions. Because of the many technological advancements required by these new exams, their feasibility remains unknown.