Shiga Public High School Entrance Examination - English exam-day guide
Shiga Public High School Entrance Examination - English · Prepare for the day ahead.
Your checklist
Admission ticket (受験票)
The ticket is normally mailed to the applicant or distributed through the junior high school. Check your name, the venue name, and the start time as printed, and keep it in the same folder as your writing tools. If the ticket has not arrived shortly before the date, contact your junior high school teacher or the prefectural board of education office that issued it. Confirm with the provider how a lost ticket is reissued.
Writing tools (pencil, eraser, sharpener)
Bring several sharpened pencils (or mechanical pencils with spare lead) and a clean eraser. English sections include a listening test in Shiga, so have everything laid out on the desk before the listening part begins so you are not sharpening or searching during the audio. Confirm with the provider which pencil types are permitted at your venue.
Watch without communication or calculation functions
A simple analogue or digital watch helps you pace the listening and long reading sections. Smartwatches and watches with alarms, calculators, or communication functions are normally not allowed; confirm with the provider whether a silent, non-smart watch is acceptable at your venue.
Lunch and a drink
The exam day is long and includes a lunch break. Bring a compact lunch that does not need heating and a drink in a closed container. Keep it in your bag until the break, and avoid noisy packaging.
Indoor shoes or the footwear your school specifies
Some venues ask candidates to change into indoor shoes or to bring slippers. Follow whatever your junior high school instructs; if you are unsure, confirm with the provider or your school before the day.
Outerwear you can remove easily
Venues may be heated unevenly. Wear layers so you can adjust to room temperature without leaving your seat. Avoid clothing with large English text or slogans that could distract you or look like notes.
No notes, textbooks, or printed English material in your desk area
Study notes, vocabulary lists, and textbooks must stay in your bag, not on or in your desk. If you review before entering the room, put the material away completely before you sit down.
Phone switched off and stored in your bag
Switch the phone fully off (not silent mode) and leave it in your bag as instructed. Even a vibration or alarm during the test can be treated as a conduct issue. Confirm with the provider where bags are kept at your venue.
Know your route and arrival time
Check the venue location and the gate-opening time in advance, and plan to arrive with margin for train delays. If you travel by bicycle, confirm with the provider whether bicycle parking is available at the venue.
Health and sleep plan for the week
Keep your usual sleep schedule in the final week. Do not pull an all-nighter before the exam; listening and long reading sections reward a rested, focused mind far more than last-minute cramming.
Emergency contact and transport backup
Write down the school's or board's contact number and have a backup route in mind in case of a train delay. If a delay happens, follow the venue's instructions on late arrival; confirm with the provider how delays are handled.
Plan the day
Switch from learning new material to consolidating what you already know. Review your own error notes in English: the grammar points you repeatedly miss, the vocabulary you misread, and the question types where you lose time. Do one full past-paper-style English set under timed conditions, then spend more time analysing the mistakes than doing the paper. Prepare the admission ticket, tools, and bag so nothing is left to the last day.
Practise the listening section in the same conditions as the exam: audio played once, no pausing, answers written while listening. Check how you handle a word you do not catch, since panicking over one word costs you the next two items. Review the order of sections and the time allowed for each, and decide your rough time budget for reading and writing.
Do light review only: skim your vocabulary and grammar notes for 30 to 60 minutes, then stop. Lay out the admission ticket, pencils, eraser, watch, lunch, drink, and clothing by the door. Confirm the venue, the route, and the departure time. Eat a normal dinner, avoid screens late at night, and go to bed at your usual time. Do not attempt a full mock exam the day before.
Eat breakfast, leave with margin, and arrive at the venue before the gate time. Once seated, check that your phone is off and in your bag, your pencils are ready, and your watch is set. Do not discuss answers or compare notes with friends in the corridor; it raises anxiety and changes nothing. Use the time before the start to breathe steadily and read the instructions on the answer sheet carefully.
Read the question and options before the audio starts if the paper allows it, so you know what to listen for. Write answers as you hear them; do not wait until the end. If you miss a word, let it go and rejoin at the next question. Transfer answers to the answer sheet exactly as the instructions require.
Skim the questions first, then read the passage with those questions in mind. Do not spend too long on one difficult item; mark it and return later. For the writing item, spend a minute planning the structure and the grammar you are confident in, write, then use the remaining minutes to check tense, subject-verb agreement, plurals, and spelling. Leave time to confirm that every answer is on the answer sheet in the right place.
Do not rehash answers on the way home; the exam is finished and comparing with friends only adds doubt. Rest, and if you have further subjects or interviews, shift your preparation to those. Keep your admission ticket until results are announced, since some procedures ask for it.
Rules to check
Bring your admission ticket and place it on the desk as instructed. If you forget it or lose it, tell the staff at the venue immediately rather than staying silent; confirm with the provider what the procedure is for a missing ticket.
Follow the venue's instructions on identification. What counts as acceptable identification and whether a student ID is required varies; confirm with the provider or your junior high school before the day.
Phones and any device that can communicate, calculate, or store data must be switched off and kept in your bag, not on your person or desk. Using such a device during the test is normally treated as a serious conduct violation.
Do not bring notes, textbooks, or vocabulary lists into the test room. If you review in the corridor, put the material away completely before entering.
Stay in your seat and follow staff instructions during the test. If you need to leave for health reasons, raise your hand and wait for a staff member; do not leave quietly on your own.
Breaks and the lunch period are supervised. Remain in the designated area, keep noise down, and do not wander into areas the venue has not opened to candidates.
Answer in the format the paper requires: write clearly, put answers in the designated spaces, and do not write anything in the answer sheet that is not an answer. Scoring is based only on what is written in the required places.
If you arrive late, report to the staff at once. Whether you can still sit the test depends on the time and the subject; confirm with the provider how late arrival is handled.