JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER

Becoming a junior high school teacher in Japan

To teach at a junior high school in Japan, you need a junior high school teacher's licence (教員免許状) for your subject, usually earned through university credits, and then you take a local government's teacher employment exam (教員採用選考). Unlike kindergarten and elementary school, there is no national teacher qualification exam (教員資格認定試験) for junior high school (in 2026 it was held only for kindergarten, elementary school and high school information studies).

From 2027, 51 local governments in a joint council plan to use common questions for the first-stage written exam: a general exam of about 40 questions in 60 minutes (about 30 on pedagogy, 10 on general knowledge) and a subject exam of about 25 questions in 60 minutes, all multiple choice (as of October 2026). This site covers the general exam in the Pedagogy & General Knowledge Lab. Subject exams for junior high school are not covered yet.

* Based on materials published as of October 2026. Always check the official guidelines of the local government whose exam you take.