The education ministry plans to make its national achievement test for junior high school third-graders and elementary school sixth-graders fully online, starting in fiscal 2027.
The ministry will make an official decision as early as autumn on the full shift to a computer-based testing system after hearing opinions from schools and boards of education. Paper booklets would no longer be used for the test after the shift, the ministry said Monday.
Under the national achievement test that began in fiscal 2007, all students are tested for their academic ability in Japanese language and mathematics every year. An English examination for junior high school third-graders and a science examination for all students are held once in around three years.
The ministry plans to promote the online shift in stages. Junior high school third-graders will sit an online science examination in fiscal 2025. Online testing will be introduced for all sections of the English examination, in listening, reading, writing and speaking, in fiscal 2026.
Advantages of online testing include allowing test givers and takers to use videos, audio, spreadsheets and other functions, the ministry said.