First, check the test date and admission ticket
The Eiken Foundation of Japan's 2026 test schedule lists the first stage of the second test as October 4.
In its guidance on delivery of admission tickets and results, first-stage admission tickets and ID confirmation forms for the main venue are due to arrive by September 28, and if one has not arrived, the enquiry period is September 29 to 17:00 on October 1.
Checking the admission ticket, venue and the day's instructions early, as well as your study plan, makes it less likely you will be rushing with administrative checks the day before.
The dates in this article are based on the 2026 second test for individual applicants at the main venue. Dates may differ at school or group satellite venues, so follow your own test guidance first.
The basic approach for the final 7 days
What to prioritise in the last week is not filling in everything you cannot do.
First look at past papers and recent practice results, and narrow down to two or three areas where you lose the most marks.
How you use the last week depends on whether you are losing marks on vocabulary, running out of time in long passages, failing to follow the choices in listening, or being unable to come up with reasons in writing.
| When | What to prioritise | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| 7-5 days before | Look at past papers and answers and narrow down to 2-3 weak points | Adding several new workbooks |
| 4-3 days before | Repeat weak points and practise with time in mind | Redoing strong areas in equal amounts |
| 2 days before | Run through once in an order close to the real test | Panicking over the score alone |
| Day before | Light review, and check what to bring and the venue | Cramming new content late at night |
7-5 days before: narrow down weak points with past papers
In these three days, first review one past paper or your most recent answer sheet. What matters is not only the score but where marks were lost.
Sort errors into vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, writing and time management, and check where they are concentrated. Even if you find three or more weak points, with one week left you need to prioritise. Dealing first with areas where marks are lost for the same reason again and again makes it easier to narrow the content.
Here is how to think about each skill in the final stretch.
| Skill | How to think about it in the final stretch | What to look for in your own lost-mark pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Do not widen the range. Prioritise words you got wrong recently and words you see often but are unsure about, narrowed to an amount you can review many times in a short time | Are you trying to memorise everything in one go? |
| Reading | Separate running out of time from not understanding the content | If it is time, look at the order you read the questions and the time per question; if you cannot get the content, check the sentence that gives the evidence and go back to vocabulary and sentence structure |
| Listening | Do not add new audio. For a question you have already done, check where you missed it and listen again | Does looking at the choices first help, do you miss numbers or places, or do you need to change your answer at the end of the conversation? |
| Writing | Rather than adding difficult expressions, fix the order you write in: opinion, one reason, another reason or example, then a check of the whole | Are you trying a different structure every time? |
4-3 days before: repeat only the weak points, briefly
At this stage, practise mainly the weak points you found in the 7-5 day window.
For example, if you lose a lot of marks on vocabulary, review vocabulary; if you stall in writing, write short essays; if you run out of time, practise with a time set for each section.
You do not need to do the same amount on strong areas. In the final stretch, a plan that chips away at the parts where you lose marks is easier to build than one that touches everything broadly.
2 days before: run through once in an order close to the real test
Two days before, if you can, solve the questions once in an order close to the real test.
What you look at here is not only the score.
Check whether you have enough time to the end, whether your concentration holds, whether you can leave time for writing, and whether you can fit in a review.
You do not need to redo every mistake afterwards. Just mark the ones to check the next day.
The day before: do not add new materials
The day before, lightly review words you have got wrong and the points you were unsure about to the end.
Starting a new workbook or doing several past papers late into the night tends to scatter what you wanted to check right before the test.
Also check your admission ticket, what you need for ID, how to get to the venue and the meeting time. For final belongings and notes, be sure to check your own admission ticket and the Eiken Foundation's guidance.
What parents can do is more than adding study
With one week left, parents can easily get anxious too.
But increasing study time every day is not the only form of support.
It also matters to create an environment where your child can study without hesitation: narrowing today's tasks to two or three things, sorting past paper results together, and checking what to bring the day before.
Especially in the final stretch, deciding specifically what to fix in the days left leads to action more easily than blaming every question your child could not do.
One-week checklist for the EIKEN first stage
Summary: with one week left, do less and be clearer
With one week to go before the first stage, you do not need to try to perfect everything.
First narrow down to two or three weak points, repeat those briefly, and check once in a flow close to the real test two days before.
The day before, do not add anything new, and sort out preparation for the day, including the admission ticket and venue.
At Petra Tutors, we can also look at past papers and recent answers with you and sort out what to prioritise in the days left. Because it is the final stretch, we value making clear what to do now over study volume.
