Boston N3 sold out in less than 12 hours. Next closest to me (in Maine) would have been Philly. That was gone by next morning. So I just jumped on N4 as soon as it opened. My listening skills are crud anyway, so that might be the right level for me. I’m just excited to be taking any level at all. Good luck to everyone!
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I’ll have to wait for next year, since I didn’t have time to go get my hearing test/proof of disability ready to go. Might give me time to get suuuuper comfy with N3, haha.
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I never heard of selling out seats in Spain, it’s shocking to me that it seems to be common everywhere else.
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It probably has to do that its been 2+ years in some places since the last exam with limited spaces maybe…
Also the test has gotten more and more popular over the years too. In 2019, there were 1+ million people taking it overseas…
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Here in Spain they do it in University campus, so they have plenty of space and my guess is that they use teachers other than the ones in the Japanese area.
Apologies, I’m sure this information is available elsewhere but this is the most convenient place to ask.
Does one have to pass each section in order to pass overall, or can your stronger areas carry your weaker ones (to a certain extent).
Say I’m really rubbish at the listening section but much stronger in the others, do I need to pass the listening section on it’s own?
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You need to pass all sections but it’s low mark (19). I have seen people get 60 points for the listening (because they work in Japanese speaking offices, but not necessarily working with Japanese materials) and then barely scrape 20 in the other sections to pass N2. On the other hand I have seen people fail because their scores were too slanted towards one section. It’s much better to have an all round ability obviously but strangely enough your chances to pass might decrease. 33, 33, 33 for N1 would be a fail while 19,21,60 would be a passing score. Another flaw of the test I think.
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So I decided to see how far I’m from N2 in a real test scenario other than speculating so I ended signing up.
I’ll have some laughs, specially with Kanji is my guess.
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Thank you for this–this is very helpful to know!
Edit: quick question on passing marks-- I recall having read somewhere that in addition to the score minimums, you also have to pass within a percentage of others taking the test? Something along the lines, of needing to be in the top x percentage of test takers as well. Is this correct?
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Never heard such a thing. The cut-out scores have always been those since the N levels were introduced afaik.
Quoting from the Noken website:
In order to pass, (1) total score needs to be at or above the point required for passing (overall pass mark) and (2) score in each scoring section needs to be at or above the minimum point required for passing (sectional pass mark). If there is even one scoring section where the score is below the sectional pass mark, examinees are determined to have failed, no matter how high the total score he/she might have.
※The above standards were adopted beginning with July test in 2010 (December test in 2010 with N4 and N5).
Examinees will be judged to have failed if they miss a test section. Although they will receive a Score Report, it will not show scores for any test section, including those that have been taken.
Well that’s great news then!!! I thought I remember reading on the WK forums that some years can be easier than on others, depending on the quality of test takers. Like no matter how well you do, a certain percentage of others could do better than you and you still fail.
Well I’m glad to at least hear that is not the case. Thanks @Megumin !
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That’s because the level sways between exam dates.
Sometimes is easier, sometimes is harder. People speculate that if a lot of people did good on the last test, the next one becomes harder, and also the contrary.
I’m not so sure it happens based on the % of passing people, rather than just chance. Only the organizers in Japan truly know.
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Quick question on this quote-- does this mean you only get back basic results like 140/180…and they specifically don’t tell you that you did 100/120 on Vocab/Grammar/Reading and 40/60 on Listening? So I’m assuming if you get back a score of 89/180 (FAIL), you may not know exactly where or how your score was allocated?
By miss section I understand that you don’t take for that section entirely, for example, if you don’t go to the listening part, or if you leave a whole section in blank.
If that happens, they give you a basic total score, but won’t tell you the score per section, and also you will be automatically failed.
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Oh thank you… I must have misread this. I read “miss section” as they “missed the pass mark”…not "Well…I have other things to do! 
" Thank you!
For those that have taken it…do you receive a breakdown on how well you did for each section? My main worry is listening. I’m pretty sure I will get 80% + on any comprehension/grammar/vocab when the time comes…but listening is a real b**** for me. It would be nice to know specifically how I did.
ありがとう！！ 
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