JFT-Basic scoring explained

Three bands, one threshold that matters for the visa

Since August 2026 a JFT-Basic score report can say one of four things. Scores run from 10 to 250; below 145 the report shows a number but no level at all.

• A2.2 (A2) — 200 to 250. The Specified Skilled Worker (i) requirement, unchanged from before August 2026.
• A2.1 — 175 to 199. Past A1 and working towards A2.2. Used mainly for voluntary employer changes under Employment for Skill Development.
• A1 — 145 to 174. Used for the Employment for Skill Development status, and for some student enrolment.
• Below 145. A score, but no assessed level.

If your goal is a Specified Skilled Worker visa, none of this changes what you need: 200. What it changes is what a near-miss is worth — 185 used to be nothing on paper, and is now a documented A2.1.

Where 200 comes from

The pass mark is not an arbitrary threshold set to fail a certain share of candidates. It is where the scale places the A2.2 boundary on the JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education, which is aligned to the CEFR.

A2 describes someone who can handle routine exchanges and manage daily life in Japanese with limited difficulty. That is precisely the standard the Specified Skilled Worker visa was designed around, which is why the visa requirement and the test's pass mark sit at the same point.

Why 80% is not as harsh as it sounds

Everyone compares it to the JLPT and gets alarmed. JLPT N4 asks for 90 out of180 — 50% — while JFT-Basic asks for 80%. On the face of it JFT-Basic looks dramatically harder.

It is not a meaningful comparison. The two exams built their scales independently, so those percentages are percentages of different things. The JLPT uses scaled scoringacross a 0–180 range, with raw marks converted through an equating process. JFT-Basic reports across 10–250 with the A2.2 boundary at 200. Neither percentage tells you anything about the other exam.

What is true in practice: JFT-Basic leaves you less visible margin.At N4 a candidate can be genuinely weak in one area and still clear 50% on the strength of the rest. At 80% there is much less room for a section you never studied.

How many questions can you afford to miss?

Honestly: nobody outside the Japan Foundation can tell you precisely, because the conversion from raw correct answers to scaled points is not published. Anyone giving you an exact number is guessing.

As a planning guide, work to 80% with margin. On a paper of about 50 questions that means aiming to get 40 or more right in practice. If your mock scores land exactly on 80%, you are not ready — you are on the boundary, and the boundary is not where you want to be when the clock is real and the room is unfamiliar.

Reading your result

A provisional score appears on screen the moment you finish. This is JFT-Basic's genuine advantage over the JLPT: no two-month wait wondering. The official score report follows online, and that is the document your visa application will reference — keep it somewhere safe.

Because you know the result on the day and can retake after 45 days, a JFT-Basic attempt is a far lower-stakes event than a JLPT sitting. If your timeline allows it, booking early enough to leave room for one retake is a sensible hedge. One catch worth knowing: once you score 200 or above you cannot sit it again, because you have already met the A2.2 requirement.

If you scored under 200

Look at where the marks went, not at the total.

• Do not restart from the beginning. You do not need to relearn what you already answered correctly.
• Give the weak section most of your study time, and keep the others ticking over so they do not slip.
• Practise at speed. A large share of near-misses are pacing failures rather than knowledge failures — about fifty questions in sixty minutes, with no per-section limits, is tighter than it sounds.
• Use timed mock tests, not untimed exercises. Knowing an answer slowly is not the same as scoring the mark.

Remember the other half of the requirement

Passing JFT-Basic with 200 satisfies the language requirement for the Specified Skilled Worker visa. It does not satisfy the skills test for your industry, which is a separate exam with its own registration and schedule.

Applicants who satisfactorily completed Technical Intern Training (技能実習 2号) in a corresponding field are generally exempt from both. Confirm your own position with the Immigration Services Agency or your accepting organisation before paying for anything.