JLPT N5 and N4 Pass Marks: 80, 90 and Sectional Cutoffs

To pass JLPT N5 you need a total of at least 80 out of 180, and to pass N4 at least 90 out of 180. At both levels you must also reach two sectional minimums: 38 out of 120 in Language Knowledge (Vocabulary/Grammar)・Reading, and 19 out of 60 in Listening. Fall below either minimum and you fail, however high your total.

What are the JLPT N5 and N4 pass marks?

Every JLPT level is scored out of 180. At N5 and N4 that splits into two scoring sections (得点区分, tokuten kubun), and you must clear the overall pass mark (合格点, gōkakuten) and a sectional pass mark (基準点, kijunten) in each section, at the same time.

• “At or above” counts. That is the official wording, so exactly 19 in listening passes and 18 fails.
• Both bars, always. Below the sectional pass mark in even one section, you fail “no matter how high the total score” is. The JLPT FAQ says the aim is to confirm “a certain level of ability in all three elements”: language knowledge, reading and listening.
• The numbers are stable. They have applied to N4 and N5 since the December 2010 test.

How do the three N5 and N4 papers become two scores?

You sit three test sections (試験科目, shiken kamoku) but get two section scores: the vocabulary paper and the grammar・reading paper feed one 0–120 score, and listening is scored alone.

• No separate vocabulary or reading minimum. Inside the 0–120 section, a strong vocabulary paper can offset weaker reading. The JLPT combines them because, at this basic stage, the two “overlap or cannot be easily separated”.
• Listening stands alone. Nothing else can lift a listening score of 18 to 19, so it is the section to protect.

How do N3, N2 and N1 compare?

From N3 up, reading gets its own scoring section: three sections of 0–60, each with a sectional pass mark of 19.

Scaled scores are only comparable within the same level and section, so N4’s 90 and N2’s 90 mean different things.

What is a JLPT scaled score, and why can’t you count correct answers?

The JLPT gives no question a fixed number of points. Its FAQ says it uses “a scaled score system based on ‘Item Response Theory’” (IRT) and “does not total allocated points of correctly answered questions”. The official explanation of scaled scores (尺度得点, shakudo tokuten) gives the logic:

• Papers differ. Keeping every test exactly as hard as the last is extremely difficult, so a plain count of correct answers would partly reflect which paper you sat.
• A common scale evens that out. People of the same ability should get the same score at any sitting.
• Your pattern counts. The score comes from your “answering pattern”: which questions you got right and wrong, not just how many.

Its example: 10 questions allow up to 1,024 answering patterns, sorted into 61 score groups from 0 to 60 (real papers have more questions). So different patterns can share a score, and two people with the same number right can score differently. The FAQ even notes that a high number of correct answers can bring “a relatively modest scaled score”.

In practice: no “number correct to JLPT score” chart is official; the Japan Foundation and host institutions don’t answer inquiries about individual scores; and every practice test is an estimate.

Can you fail the JLPT with a passing total?

Yes, and it catches people who never expected to fail. Four made-up but realistic results:

• A is a strong reader with little listening practice: 29 points over the N5 pass mark and still a fail. A real overseas result would show ＊ for the percentile rank and CEFR level, which only passers get.
• B passes, because 19 is “at or above” the minimum. But a slightly worse listening day would have turned a comfortable total into a fail.
• C clears both minimums but not N4’s total of 90.
• D learned by ear, from family, anime or work, and reads few kanji. Excellent listening can’t cover a language knowledge・reading score under 38.

How should you read a mock test score?

As an estimate. No practice test can reproduce the JLPT’s scaling, so even a mock score shown out of 60 or 120 is only an estimate built from your correct answers. Read mocks in percentages, by scoring section:

1. Combine the two language papers: your correct answers on vocabulary plus grammar・reading, divided by the questions on both. That mirrors the 0–120 section.
2. Keep listening separate. Nothing else can rescue it.
3. Compare with the real bars: 38/120 and 19/60 are both about 32%, and the total pass mark is about 44% at N5 and 50% at N4.

If a mock exposes a weak section, the 7-week plans for N5 and N4 show how to rebalance your remaining weeks, and our JLPT listening guide helps if it is listening. For the full routine, see how to use JLPT mock tests.

LenGaki (lengaki.com), a Japanese learning website and Android app that takes learners from their first hiragana to the JLPT, has full N5 and N4 mock exams at lengaki.com/jlpt.

N5 set 3 and all three N4 sets come with Pro (a small monthly price, cancel anytime). The free official sample questions on jlpt.jp show the real question types.

What happens if you miss a section, or arrive late?

You fail. The official results page says examinees who miss a test section “will be judged to have failed”. Official sources differ on what you receive:

• jlpt.jp and its leaflet Understanding JLPT Certificates: a score report showing no score for any section, even those you sat, just asterisks such as ＊＊/60. (No report if you sat nothing.)
• AATJ, the host in the USA: the test is marked “Not Completed” and “no test results will be issued”.

Either way there is no pass and no score; your host institution can tell you what it sends.

You can’t retake one section. Pass or fail is decided only for examinees who sit every section at one test, so you would sit the whole level again. The JLPT is held in July and December, so the next chance is normally July 2027; no 2027 date has been announced, and some cities hold the test only once a year.

What will your score report show?

Outside Japan, every examinee receives a Certificate of Result and Scores through their host institution, and passers also get a Certificate of Japanese-Language Proficiency (in Japan, the results document is called a Score Report). Only the section scores and total decide pass (合格, gōkaku) or fail (不合格, fugōkaku); the rest is reference information (参考情報, sankō jōhō), not used for that decision.

The letters help most after a disappointing 0–120 score: a C in reading beside a B in vocabulary shows where the points went.

When will the December 2026 results come out?

Outside Japan, the Japan Foundation’s Test Guide for the 6 December 2026 test says results will be on the JLPT website “by around the end of January 2027”; no exact day has been posted. On the overseas online results site you need your registration number (受験番号, juken bangō) from your test voucher (受験票, jukenhyō) and the 8-digit passcode you wrote on your application form; without the passcode, you can’t see results online. Certificates follow through your host by mid-March 2027; if nothing arrives by the end of March, contact your host.

In India

Results go online on the official JLPT site, not your host’s, and the certificate then comes from your host: for the July 2026 test, MOSAI in New Delhi said it would post certificates to the address on each application. Keep your test voucher, which Indian hosts usually call the admit card, until yours arrives. It has your registration number, and JALTAP in Pune asked for it at certificate collection after the July 2026 test. Centres and hosts are in our guide to the JLPT in India.

Outside India

• USA: AATJ says results are “usually released in late January”.
• Japan: JEES says results open on MyJLPT from late January 2027, with results and certificates mailed in late February 2027.
• Elsewhere: jlpt.jp notes that viewing times and content vary by location, so watch your host’s announcements.

The full timeline is in JLPT December 2026: exam date, admit card, timings and results.

Frequently asked questions

What score do you need to pass JLPT N5 and N4?

N5 needs a total of at least 80 out of 180 and N4 at least 90 out of 180. Both levels also require at least 38 out of 120 in Language Knowledge (Vocabulary/Grammar)・Reading and 19 out of 60 in Listening.

Can you fail the JLPT with a passing total score?

Yes. A score below the sectional pass mark in any one section is a fail however high the total, so an N5 result of 92/120 plus 17/60, 109 in total, fails.

How many questions do you need to get right to pass JLPT N5?

There is no fixed number, because the JLPT uses scaled scores based on Item Response Theory rather than points per question. As a rule of thumb for mock tests, not an official rule, aim for 60% or more in every section.

Can you retake only the JLPT section you failed?

No. Pass or fail is decided only for examinees who sit every section at the same test, so you must take the whole level again.

What happens if you miss one section of the JLPT?

You fail, and no section is scored, even the ones you sat. The official JLPT site says a score report showing asterisks is still sent, while AATJ in the USA says no results are issued, so ask your host institution.

When are the December 2026 JLPT results released?

Outside Japan, the Japan Foundation says results will be on the JLPT website by around the end of January 2027, with certificates from your host institution by mid-March 2027. In Japan, JEES says results open on MyJLPT from late January 2027.