Practise for the JFT-Basic, with facts you can check

Our mission

Every month, people in Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India and other countries sit the JFT-Basic so they can work in Japan. Many pay the test fee more than once. Good preparation is often scattered, sold through an agent, or mixed with claims nobody can check: a "pass mark per section" that does not exist, audio "played only once" when it plays twice, fees from years ago.

We want any candidate, anywhere, to be able to check their level for free, practise in the real computer-based format and understand their result, with every number linked to the official page it comes from.

Who it's for

Future Specified Skilled Workers who need the A2 level (a total of 200 or more) for SSW (i). Start with the JFT-Basic and the SSW visa guide, then check your options with the SSW eligibility checker.

Beginners starting from kana. The study plan and the hiragana and katakana quiz take you from zero to test-ready.

Candidates close to their test date who want to know where they stand. The free practice test takes a few minutes, and the full mock test runs on the same 60-minute clock as the real one.

How we build our practice tests

Every question is original. We study the public description of the test published by the Japan Foundation (the four sections, the question categories, the 60-minute clock, the two plays per listening clip) and write new items in that format: new scenes, new characters, new wording. We never copy, translate or lightly edit the official sample questions, an Irodori dialogue or any other publisher's items, and we never publish real or remembered exam questions.

Questions stay in the world the JFT-Basic tests: daily life in Japan. Shops, stations, the clinic, the city office, apartment rules, rubbish days, disaster announcements, simple talk at work. Each item has one clearly correct answer and an explanation that says why it is right and why the tempting wrong answer is wrong.

Listening audio is produced from our own scripts with synthetic Japanese voices, and the full script is shown on the review screen so you can check what you heard.

Every new item is checked by our automated format checker (option counts, answer balance, ids) and reviewed by the editorial team before it is published. The full rules are in our editorial policy.

What our scores mean

The real JFT-Basic reports a total on a scale of 10 to 250. It is a scaled score, adjusted so that results from different versions of the test can be compared, and the Japan Foundation publishes no table that turns a number of correct answers into that score.

So our score is an estimate: we convert your percentage of correct answers to the 10–250 scale and show the matching level band. It is a useful signal for deciding when to book, not a prediction of your official result. The score and pass mark guide explains the official scale and bands.

Where our facts come from

Test rules come from the Japan Foundation's JFT-Basic site and its test description. Fees, ID rules, booking and the retake wait come from Prometric, which runs the test. Visa rules come from the official SSW portal (ssw.go.jp) and Japan's Immigration Services Agency. Study material facts come from the Irodori site, and JLPT facts from jlpt.jp.

Every guide and article shows the date we last checked its facts against those pages. If an official page cannot be reached or does not say something, we say so instead of guessing.

Who writes our content

Guides, articles and practice questions are written and fact-checked by the JFT Prep editorial team. We don't publish bylines for people who don't exist, and we don't claim teaching credentials or pass rates we cannot show.

JFT Prep is a study guide, not a recruitment or visa agency. We don't place workers, sell job offers or give immigration advice. For a job in Japan, use the official SSW portal and organisations you can verify.

Independence

JFT Prep is independent. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Japan Foundation, which develops the JFT-Basic, Prometric, which delivers it, or any Japanese government body. JFT-Basic and Irodori are names used by the Japan Foundation.

Our scores are practice estimates. Only the official test, booked through Prometric, gives a result you can use for a visa.