July 2015 JLPT Results

July 2015 JLPT Results post image

Another Summer JLPT has come and gone.  The test was held on July 5th, a little less than 2 months ago, and the results are starting to come in for those that registered online.  I sat this one out because I have been simply way too busy to prep for it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear from you all about your results.

First things first, I get a flood of questions about the particulars of where and how to get results, so here is a basic run down of how you can find out how you scored and if you passed or not.

If you registered online in Japan via the JEES website, you can head over there and check your results right now (after midnight on August 25th).

If you took the test in Japan, but did not register online and instead did it the old fashion way with money transfer and mailing the little packet in, you are going to have to sit patiently for your certificate to arrive in the mail.  Typically, they start arriving the Wednesday (or even the Tuesday) after the online results come out (September 1st ~).

If you took the test in another country (like China, South Korea, etc…), it all depends on who conducted the test, for more details check the official JLPT website.

Generally speaking, everyone can check their results online from August 27th 5pm JST on the official site (link is dead until Aug 25th @5pm).  Note that the link will die again come November 30th.

Phew!  Okay so that should cover everyone that took the test.  If I missed something, please let me know in the comments below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I totally passed!  Should I take the next level?

A: Congratulations! Passing any level takes concentrated study and discipline.   Taking the next level depends on how much time you have to commit to it, and what level you are jumping to.  Generally speaking N5 to N4, N4 to N3 can be done pretty easily, in about 6 months of concentrated, dedicated study or at least it is worth a try.

N3 to N2 might take a little more elbow grease.  You can try the next test right away in December to see how far you need to go, or take a year and devise some kind of long term strategy.

N2 to N1 is a different beast.  Some people argue that passing the N1 isn’t actually necessary.  N2 provides a lot of what you will see on a daily basis.  N1 adds a lot of icing to the cake and tortures you with fine points.  It is completely bad ass to pass the N1, but isn’t necessary to get most jobs, or survive in Japan.  You might be better off focusing on improving your speaking and conversational skills.

Q: I just passed by one point, should I try it again to get a better score?

A: At the most basic level, a pass is a pass.  I don’t have any empirical evidence to prove this, but I don’t think an employer is going to ask you for your score on the test.  I’m just guessing though.

Some people believe that just passing by a thin margin isn’t really passing as so much as being really lucky that day.  I’ve seen a lot of good, talented people take the test and have wildly different scores each time they took it.  This especially true at the higher levels (N2 and N1).  I’ve never really seen consistent scores from people at this level.  They can vary by as much as 30 points up or down.

So passing by just one point could mean that you were really a lower level but just squeaked by or you were at a higher level and just had a bad day.  If you need that higher score to feel confident then go ahead and do it.  The most important thing about language learning is motivation.  If it is motivating for you to try it again, then more power to you.  If you look at taking the test again with dread, then maybe it’s best you just drop it.

Q: I failed miserably.  I had such a hard time finishing the test.

I’m sorry to hear that.  The test can be tough to prepare for because you might have studied all the vocabulary, kanji and grammar and know it well, but the test requires you to use that knowledge quickly and easily.  You really need to have a pretty good reading speed in order to get through the test in time and give yourself time to think through answers.  Try doing some more reading on a regular basis.  You will start off kind of slow but with regular practice, your speed will pick up.

How did you do?

Let me know how you did in the comments below.  What went right?  What went wrong?  If you need some advice on how to move forward, I recommend checking out the JLPT Study Guide Month 8.  In the post, I went over how to diagnose some key problems.

{ 27 comments… add one }
  • Garry August 26, 2015, 1:00 pm

    Passed N3.
    Thanks for the help!!

  • Paul August 27, 2015, 12:21 am

    Took test in London and link is open (01:00 GMT) but cannot access results. I get the below message.
    “試験結果発表期間外です, it is out of the availability period for the online score display”
    Anyone else get this message?

    • Clayton MacKnight August 27, 2015, 2:26 pm

      Yeah, it wasn’t going to give you the results until the 27th @ 5pm in Japan, which it is already past that now, so you should be able to see the results now.

  • Paul August 27, 2015, 2:06 am

    Was able to check later, failed N3 for second time and got a slightly worst result than last time which is disappointing. (Dec 2014 90/180)

    Now for July 2015 87/180, broken down into,
    Language knowledge 29/60 (A Vocab, C Grammar)
    Reading 21/60
    Listening 38/60
    The above is similar to what I received in December 2014 but don’t have the specifics available at the moment.

    For Dec 2014 study was composed of sou-matome series, for July 2015 study used kanzen master reading book.

    I think failure was due to two things, half-hearted study and secondly been nervous during exam because of time constraints.

    I guess the next step is to try again this December.

    • Clayton MacKnight August 27, 2015, 2:25 pm

      For N3, you need a 100 to pass N3 right? That is such a tough mark to make. I would recommend doing so more reading obviously, which can be a little difficult to get a hold of at the N3 level. N3 is not quite high enough to require native reading, but not low enough that typical Japanese learning materials will work. I read a lot of books aimed at elementary school kids at that level. It really helped me out a lot.

      • paul August 27, 2015, 2:49 pm

        Hi, you need 95 marks to pass. I guess as you said more practice is necessary in order to feel more comfortable with time when doing exams.

  • Leo August 27, 2015, 9:14 am

    Passed N3. Not the best score, but better than I expected. Thank you for uploading all the N3 materials, they helped me a ton in my studies!

    Vocab & Grammar: 36 / 60
    Reading: 40 / 60
    Listening: 60 / 60

    Total: 136 / 180

    Back to Tae Kim I guess. =)

    • Clayton MacKnight August 27, 2015, 2:22 pm

      This is an okay score for N3. I wouldn’t really get down on yourself. It looks like you should do a little more work with vocabulary and grammar, which is relatively easy to do. Also, if you are planning on moving up to N2, the reading will be a lot more difficult.

      • Leo August 27, 2015, 3:19 pm

        I’m gradually becoming more able to read Japanese texts/comics at an acceptable speed, so I’ll try to read more from now on.
        As for vocabulary, I’m doing the Core 2k/6k deck right now. I’m just really lazy with grammar, because unlike Kanj and vocabulary, which mostly take time, grammar takes actual effort to learn. Getting the N3 results made me really motivated, though. I’m feeling it. =)

        For N2, I’ll probably aim for next winter. In Germany, we have fewer cities where the exam is held in summer and the nearest to me is still a 4 hour drive. To add to that, we had over 36°C this year and the proctors were very strict with the no-drinking-rule. Quite the nice experience for my first JLPT. Pretty much fainted the moment I got home =). But I guess it was worth it in the end.
        Winter JLPT is held right next to my city, so that’s nice.

        • Leo August 27, 2015, 3:22 pm

          Also, my biggest “problem”, if you could call it that, is that I spend most of my time learning to write Kanji. It’s the thing I enjoy doing most, but it doesn’t really help much in the multiple-choice-only JLPT.

  • Jr August 27, 2015, 7:26 pm

    Can’t see the result. The ” You are not accessible via this web browser you are using” keeps on appearing even though I’ve already tried multiple browsers. I’ve already used 6 different browsers. Anybody can help? Thanks a lot.

  • Hilary August 27, 2015, 7:43 pm

    Blast! I failed the N3 exam! I failed by quite a lot actually:

    Vocab and grammar 22/60
    Reading 23/60
    Listening 31/60

    I’ll try again in December. ^v^

    • Clayton MacKnight August 30, 2015, 2:18 pm

      Ouch, well, you know what you need to do, lots of reading and some vocabulary drilling. Good luck!

  • Karthik August 28, 2015, 1:00 am

    posted in an older post yesterday by mistake.. long story short.. real disappointment in the N1 as I got 98/180!!!! 23/30/45. I got a B in Vocab and Grammar..so it all came down to literally one question…

    I work at a Japanese bank and while they encourage the effort, most of my senior Japanese colleagues are starting to say ‘if you want to brag a bit then get the N1, else it is really meaningless in your case’. They say I will be better served focusing on more advance reading and conversation skills involving actual business.

    I am kinda confused about re-appearing. it does feel like an incomplete goal and part of me wants to get the certificate. but my office colleagues also seem to have a valid point….

  • Arun August 28, 2015, 9:36 am

    Passed N2. Got 23, 28 and 47 in Vocab, Comprehension and Listening sections respectively with a total of 98/180. The scores were different from what I had expected the splits to be which would have been in the range of ~28, ~35, 35+. The overall total was close to my expectation but the section scores were not. Vocab has lots of room to improve.

    Had taken N2 earlier in Dec 2013 when the total score was 84 although I had cleared all 3 sections.

    In the heat of preparing for July/2015’s exam, my reading speed and grasping power have improved considerably as I read lots of stuff over the last 2-3 months, namely Kanzen master, Speed Master, Soumatome series and easy articles at asahi.com. Speed Master dokkai book was the toughest and is quite close questions that get asked in the exam. Would be a challenge to keep this practice of reading over the next many months as is required for the next level.

    Although the listening score is good (in my opinion), during the exam, the loud speakers were too loud as the class had 160+ students. Additionally the student next to me kept on peeking at my answer paper! Couldn’t concentrate the way I would have liked to. FYI I took the exam in Tokyo.

    Before the exams, I had repetitively watched nice Japanese comedy serials namely ‘At Home Dad’ and ‘Yama Onna Kabe Onna’, these are available on youtube as well with English subtitles. The serials helped me in getting used to the speaking speed though pls. note that the exam questions focus more on deliberately ‘confusing’ the student. Clayton knows it very well!

    • Arun August 28, 2015, 9:46 am

      Last but not the least, thanks to Clayton sama – for providing lots of useful and analytical information at this site. I had also informed my Japanese teacher about jlptbootcamp few months back so that she could further broadcast it to her students.

      • Clayton MacKnight August 30, 2015, 2:20 pm

        Thanks for the love! I’m glad to hear you passed the N2. It’s a tough test.

  • Andy August 31, 2015, 9:14 am

    Passed N3 in Holland, and pretty happy about it. The score:

    133/180
    Vocab/grammar: 46/60
    Reading: 45/60
    Listening: 42/60

    Overall I have improved my scores compared to N4 last December. I think I just need to follow the study drills I have been doing as my score seems to be quite balanced. I am studying super hard at the moment to make it to the N2 in December! I know it is very ambitous but I want to have a goal and would be already happy if I could go to the exam feeling that I’ve built up a good amount of knowledge even if I am not sure that I can pass. Well, I wasn’t even sure that I can pass this one, guess you can never be too sure.

    Not being in Japan is the major issue I think as I am not exposed to Japanese language on daily basis. I am doing my best though, mostly just watching Japanese tv-dramas, movies, animes, reading Japanese news and when meeting Japanese only speaking Japanese. Good job everyone on the exam and to all of you planning to take the exam in December, let’s do our best!

  • Shen Le August 31, 2015, 4:51 pm

    Damnit I did not pass N1 by many marks. I got 14/60 for listening, which (obviously) is the major reason for failing. The rest was meh, 20+/60. But I did study a lot for grammar, which was not reflected. And I have no way to improve my listening.
    I guess I am never taking Japanese again. I have no time to take it once I started working (next year) and no money to waste every 6 months either.
    This was “despite” wasting 7 whole years of my life studying Japanese, I couldn’t even pass N1.

    • Clayton MacKnight September 2, 2015, 12:18 am

      I wouldn’t really say you wasted it. Did you pass N2? That’s a great level, and all that you really need to get out into the real world and start using it. If you get a job using Japanese or keep up a regular conversation practice, you will perfect your ability.

      • Janitha September 3, 2015, 12:22 am

        I agree with Clayton. I haven’t yet sat for N1, but I sat for N2 three times (failing the first by a big margin, and passing the second and third with a handful of point difference). I thought that it’d be a good while before I could get a job using Japanese mainly, but I was wrong. I started as an entry-level interpreter (read: no real life experience) last June, and have all of my roundabout studies with media and minor, minor reading practice and the good Lord to thank for the opportunity.

        If you can communicate well verbally and understand a good amount, that may be a big selling point for you in the future. “Entry-level blah blah” positions asking for some level of Japanese skill do exist.

        I know that you’re discouraged right now. Please don’t give up your Japanese study, Shen.

  • Paul Gilmore September 3, 2015, 2:31 pm

    Passed N2. I’m super delighted I must say.

    Vocab and grammar 26/60
    Reading 39/60
    Listening 31/60

    At this stage I’m pretty much exhausted with all things JLPT. The head needs a rest. My plan for the next few months is to focus more on the spoken language and improving my listening skills. Although I’m living in Tokyo just over 3 years I still find everyday conversation ( Dentists, Banks for example ) are an exercise in patience and concentration.

    I must say I love the website Clayton. There was many a late night I picked up nuggets of information from your articles that keep my motivation going. Great work.

  • Dragos September 3, 2015, 2:38 pm

    Great to read your article Mac (as always). I managed to pass the JLPT N3 with 98 points…. I passed the JLPT N4 last December by a similar small margin (after just 3 months of self study from scratch)… I will try my luck with the N2 next December…. The N3 exam wasn’t that difficult, it’s just that I did just one timed full mock exam beforehand (aside from all the exercises from the entire sou matome n3 collection and kanzen master grammar books) and, just like in December, I didn’t time myself right… Plus fatigue, lack of focus and just wanting to go home made me rush several answers.. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I passed. It was incredibly hard to sneak in all the study routines in my already busy schedule (I work full time, have a very active social life and I’m a fitness maniac).. Nonetheless I firmly believe that if somebody really wants to achieve a particular goal, he/she can definitely do it…. I’ve spent countless weeks sleeping no more than 4 hours to plow through all those textbooks, 8k strong anki deck, NHK news Easy, aozora bunko’s children stories… Even though I passed only by a small margin, I’m happy with my effort and I’m confident in front of a very difficult N2 next december… Reading speed is the biggest obstacle here so I moved up a notch to reading the original NHK website as well as the 社説 from 朝日新聞’s website. Also I started mowing through the kanzen master grammar/reading/vocab books from the first day after the N3 exam… Best of luck to everybody next December!

  • Jared September 6, 2015, 5:08 am

    As usual, late to the game. But as I posted in an older thread, I passed N1! Was pretty happy that I passed but with an overall score of only 114, I am not completely satisfied. I did better on several of the practice tests and my end-goal is to get a 150, eventually. So I plan to sit N1 again in December. Having a test to study for is the motivation I need to study.

    But at least I can say I have N1 when people ask! Before, every time I told someone I had N2, the inevitable question was if and when I was going to go for N1. Now that question is gone. And I’m also happy to have passed on my first try. Now I just have to do better to get the score I’d really like to have.

    • Hana September 30, 2015, 6:39 am

      Congrats! What did you use to study?

      • Jared October 1, 2015, 11:42 pm

        Hana, I mostly used Memrise for vocab study and the practice exams that you can buy off Amazon Japan.

        JLPT Kanzen Moshi N1 (日本語能力試験 完全模試3回分)
        Measures N1 Taisaku and JLPT Moshi (日本語能力試験 模試と対策) [Both Vol 1 & 2]

        So a total of 7 mock exams. I basically did one exam every weekend or once every few weeks while studying my Memrise decks every day. Not sure how much it helped but at least I had confidence going into it!

  • ankalpana October 27, 2015, 2:27 pm

    i am doing n4.how to improve the listing skills

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