Score Rating of “Writing” Section for "Japanese as a Foreign Language"

Update on March, 2017

We will score the “Writing” section according to the following rating standard and indicate the respective scores.

Score Rating
50 (Level S)
An essay at this level
· clearly addresses the topic with persuasive reasons
· is well organized and developed
· uses refined expressions in language
45 (Level A)
An essay at this level
· clearly addresses the topic with appropriate reasons
· is well organized and developed
· uses appropriate expressions in language
40
35 (Level B)
An essay at this level
· addresses the topic with mostly appropriate reasons
· is generally well organized, though it may have occasional problems
· may use inappropriate expressions in language
30
25 (Level C)
An essay at this level
· roughly addresses the topic with reasons, which may be inappropriate
· may have problems in its organization
· uses inappropriate expressions in language
20
10 (Level D)
An essay at this level
· does not address the topic
· is disorganized and underdeveloped
· has serious errors in usage
0 (NA)*
An essay does not meet the rating conditions.

Each of Levels A, B and C has two grades: higher and lower.

*An essay is given a score of 0 (NA) if: