Tokyo: Japan’s two-day unified university entrance examinations began Saturday at 668 venues across the country, including areas hit by the massive New Year’s Day earthquake.

The number of applicants for the unified exams fell by about 20,600 from last year to about 491,900, below 500,000 for the first time since 1992.

The geography and history, civics, Japanese language and foreign language exams will be held on Saturday, and the science and math exams on Sunday. The unified exams will be restructured next year to newly include informatics tests.

According to the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, 864 universities will use the unified exams for admission decisions, including 82 national universities and 530 private universities.

The average scores of the 2024 exams will be announced on a preliminary basis on Wednesday, and the final results are scheduled for Feb. 5. The supplementary exams will be held on Jan. 27 and 28 at venues in Tokyo and Kyoto Prefecture, as well as in earthquake-stricken Ishikawa Prefecture.

JIJI Press