Undergraduate School

FAQ – Undergraduate School Admissions

Okayama University has 10 faculties and 1 program. Please refer to this page for more information. 

Okayama University provides the following four types of entrance examinations for admission of international students to its undergraduate courses. Depending on the type of admission procedure, there are some faculties, departments or programs do not accept applicants. For details on each of the above entrance examinations, please make sure to check Applicant Guidelines for the academic year for which examinations are actually taken. 

  1. Special entrance examination for privately financed international students
    This is an entrance examination that anyone without Japanese citizenship can apply for. Screening is done with an overall assessment based on the results of the Examination for Japanese University Admission (EJU) along with those of the Okayama University Entrance Examination (including application document screening).
  2. International Baccalaureate entrance examination
    This is an entrance examination for anyone granted a full International Baccalaureate Diploma. Screening is done based on application documents and an interview (only by some faculties and schools). However, the examination is available to anyone who has completed the Language A course in Japanese, scoring 4 or above (some faculties and schools differ on this), and completed the courses indicated by pertinent faculty or school, achieving the specified results.
  3. Discovery international entrance examination
    Okayama University has a program called the “Discovery Program for Global Learners” through which degrees (bachelorship) can be earned in English. This program conducts its own entrance examinations each year in October, December and March.
  4. General entrance examination
    International students take the same uniform examination administered by the National Center for University Entrance Examinations that Japanese students take, and screening is accomplished through an overall assessment of results, including those of the Okayama University Entrance Examination. 

The admission dates of official courses leading to an undergraduate degree at all faculties and schools are in April. However, admission to the Discovery Program for Global Learners takes place in October as well. The application periods and test dates differ depending on the type of entrance examination. The main ones are listed in Entrance Examination for Undergraduate Students.
Note that as a general rule, our entrance examinations are held at Okayama University, so examinees need to come to Japan for the examinations. If there is a “〇” in the Overseas Entrance Examination column on the Entrance Examination for Undergraduate Studentspage, they are not required to come to Japan, but an interview will be conducted via Skype or other online means.

For admission to official courses at undergraduate level of a school or faculty, there is no need to seek an advising professor (accepting professor) on one’s own. However, if one wishes to become a research student in a school or faculty, one needs to seek an advising professor (accepting professor) on one’s own before applying and obtain unofficial consent for admission.

The Discovery Program for Global Learners is a degree program where all classes are taught in English. There is no English proficiency test score requirement, but applicants’ English proficiency will be evaluated in the admission process.　
Note that those who have not received their education primarily in English in the most recent five years are required to submit the results of an English qualification or certification examination.

Classes in Okayama University’s courses, excluding the Discovery Program for Global Learners, are conducted in Japanese, so it is necessary to have sufficient proficiency in Japanese (Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N1 passing or equivalent) to be able to understand the lessons. 
All classes in the Discovery Program for Global Learners are conducted in English, so no Japanese language proficiency is needed there. However, applicants for April admission to this program need Japanese language proficiency equivalent to that needed to pass the JLPT N1 test. 
The International Baccalaureate entrance examination is aimed at applicants who have completed the Language A course in Japanese and earned a rating of 4 or higher. (Some courses differ on this.)
Applicants for the special entrance examination for privately financed international students take the Japanese test in the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU). For details, make sure to confirm student applicant requirements for the academic year for which you will be taking the examination.

Faculty of Letters, Faculty of Economics, Medical School (School of Medicine), Dental School and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences use EJU result standards as qualification for applicants for the special entrance examination for privately financed international students, but other faculties and schools have not established standard scores as qualification for applicants. In addition, specified EJU examination subjects and point allocation standards differ from one faculty or school to another. Note that individual examinations or tests aside from the EJU may be conducted, so make sure to confirm details by checking Requirements for applicants for the special entrance examination for privately financed international students for the academic year for which the examination is taken.

Scholarships that can be applied for prior to matriculation are limited.

There are scholarships that can be applied for after admission, but almost all of them are offered nationwide (foundations select recipients from among students recommended from universities throughout Japan and make the decision on whether or not to provide the scholarship), so there is extremely heavy competition for them.

A Japanese government (MEXT) funded international student is one who has been provided a scholarship from the Japanese government (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)). Okayama University accepts two kinds of MEXT-funded students, “undergraduate students” and “Japanese studies students (NIKKENSEI).”

  1. Undergraduate students
    This applies to students at least 17 years of age but under 25, who have completed a 12-year course of school education or have completed a school course corresponding to a high school education (including those expecting to complete one). International undergraduate students are solicited by Japanese embassies (or consulates) overseas (through “embassy nominations”). For details, please contact the Japanese Embassy (or Consulate) in your country.
  2. Japanese studies students (NIKKENSEI)
    This applies to students at least 18 years of age but under 30, who have registered in a foreign university’s undergraduate course while in Japan and at the point of returning to their home countries, and who have majored in fields related to Japanese language and culture. There are two ways applicants are solicited: through embassy nominations by Japanese embassies and consulates overseas, and by universities in Japan, who nominate students mainly at universities that have a record of exchanges through arrangements such as exchange agreements between universities. Regarding embassy nominations, please contact the Japanese Embassy (or Consulate) in your country.

Please refer to the Contact Information on Admissions and Professors page.