Elementary Schools Attached to National Universities: Lotteries, Exams, and What Choosing One Means

Why this topic is on your mind

In families with children in nenchū or nenchō, this option sometimes comes up suddenly at a certain point.

• You were considering a private elementary school but had doubts about tuition of over ¥10,000,000 over six years
• You heard people around you saying they will “apply to a national attached school”
• You read an online article saying “national schools have tuition at public-school level and education quality at private-school level (or higher)”
• You have an image of being able to ride an escalator all the way to university
• There is an elementary school attached to a national university within commuting distance (or within the range you can apply from)

The image of “national attached elementary school = a private school with low tuition” is widely shared among families. However, there are several large gaps between the institutional reality and the image people talk about. Here, we set out MEXT’s official documents, research in the sociology of education, and each attached school’s admission guidelines side by side, and offer material for your family to decide.

What is an elementary school attached to a national university? Its institutional position

Elementary schools attached to national universities differ in character from private elementary schools, which are “independent schools run by educational corporations”. The MEXT (2017)“Report on Reform of National Teacher-Training Universities and Faculties, Attached Schools, and Graduate Schools” sets out the roles of attached schools as follows.

• A place for pioneering and experimental educational research: research and development of new curricula and teaching methods, while following the national curriculum guidelines
• Hosting teaching practicums: a place where students in the university’s teacher-training programs do their teaching practicum
• Collaboration with teacher-training universities and faculties: university faculty and attached-school teachers carry out joint research projects
• A hub for educational research in the region: sharing research results with local teachers through research presentations and open classes

In other words, the position of an attached elementary school is less “a school for educating children better” and more “a school that researches and tests how education should be done, in which children learn”. The MEXT (2021)“Summary of the Review of New Ways to Make Use of Schools Attached to National Universities” also reaffirms this character, and in recent years they have been asked “not to be skewed toward a pupil population different from local public schools” and “to strengthen their function as places for research on responding to educational issues”.

This means that “attending an attached school = attending an experimental school”. Research lessons and open classes are held frequently, and large numbers of observers (student teachers, university faculty, local teachers) come into the classrooms throughout the year. Whether you see this as “a valuable research environment” or as “a heavy load to live with for six years” depends on your family’s values.

The current state of elementary schools attached to national universities in Japan

According to the MEXT (2024)FY2024 School Basic Survey (final figures), Japan has about 70 national elementary schools nationwide, with about 36,000 pupils (about 0.6% of all elementary school children). They are an even smaller minority than private elementary schools (about 1.3%), and regional differences are large.

• Tokyo area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama): many options, including schools attached to Ochanomizu University, the University of Tsukuba, Tokyo Gakugei University (Takehaya, Setagaya, Koganei, Oizumi), Yokohama National University, Chiba University, and Saitama University
• Kansai area (Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara): schools attached to Osaka Kyoiku University (Tennoji, Ikeda, Hirano), Kyoto University of Education, Kobe University, Nara University of Education, Nara Women’s University, and others
• Prefectural capitals: basically one to several attached elementary schools at each prefecture’s national university or university of education
• Some areas: no elementary school attached to a national university within commuting distance at all

Each school sets its commuting area, and “your place of residence is within the designated area” is a precondition for applying. Areas are defined in detail school by school, such as “within ○○ City” or “within 40 minutes on foot or by public transportation”.

The admission process: assessment and lottery

Selection at elementary schools attached to national universities may look similar to private elementary schools, but there are several major differences.

1. Winter of nenchū to spring of nenchō

   Researching schools and checking commuting areas

   List the elementary schools attached to national universities within commuting distance. Check each school commuting area (the designated range of residence). At many schools you cannot apply if you live outside the area. Attending information sessions and open research meetings also starts around this time.

2. June to August of nenchō

   School information sessions and preparing applications

   Each school holds information sessions and open classes. Prepare the application form and required documents (certificate of residence, health certificate, etc.). The assessment fee is about ¥1,500 to ¥3,300 per school (overwhelmingly cheaper than the ¥20,000 to ¥30,000 at private schools).

3. September to October of nenchō

   Applications and first-round selection (assessment)

   Paper test (language, quantity, shapes, reasoning, etc.), behavioral observation (group play, following instructions), physical activity, interview (depending on the school), and so on. Takes about half a day to a full day. Compared with private schools, it is more of a one-shot test.

4. October to November of nenchō

   Second-round selection (lottery; depends on the school)

   Many schools, including those attached to Ochanomizu University, the University of Tsukuba, and Tokyo Gakugei University, choose successful applicants by lottery from those who passed the assessment. At schools with ratios of 20 to 50 applicants per place, the reality is that some children pass the assessment but lose the lottery.

5. November to December of nenchō

   Results and enrollment procedures

   Results are announced by posting at the school, by mail, and so on. After passing, complete enrollment procedures (within the specified deadline, paying an enrollment preparation fee, etc.). Elementary schools attached to national universities charge no tuition, but actual costs of tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand yen a year arise for PTA fees, teaching materials, uniforms (at schools that require them), and so on.

6. April of the following year

   Enrollment: six years at an experimental school begin

   Children spend six years in an environment where research lessons, open classes, and hosting student teachers are part of daily life. At research presentation events (once to several times a year), the whole school becomes a venue for research lessons. Parents are often involved, for example in preparing for and observing research presentation events.

An assessment fee of “¥1,500 to ¥3,300 per school” is about 1/10 of the assessment fee at private elementary schools (¥20,000 to ¥30,000). This is institutionally important: it creates a structure in which “because the barrier of tuition costs is low, the pool of applicants is broader than for private schools and the applicant-to-place ratio tends to be higher”.

The reality of the lottery: ratios of 20 to 50 to 1 in the Tokyo area

A distinctive element in selection at elementary schools attached to national universities, not found at private schools, is the “lottery”. At many schools, after narrowing applicants down to a certain number through the assessment (paper test, behavioral observation, etc.), the final successful applicants are decided by lottery. Some schools also hold a “preliminary lottery” before the assessment.

The applicant-to-place ratios (number of applicants / number of places) at popular schools in the Tokyo area vary by year and sex, but are roughly on the following scale (from each school’s admission selection guidelines).

• Elementary School Attached to Ochanomizu University: against about 40 places each for boys and girls, there have been cases of 1,500 to over 2,000 applicants in total for boys and girls (a ratio of roughly 20 to 1, varying by year)
• Elementary School Attached to the University of Tsukuba: against about 64 places each for boys and girls, applicants number in the thousands (a ratio of roughly 30 to 50 to 1, varying by year)
• Schools attached to Tokyo Gakugei University (each campus): ranges vary by school and year, but generally a ratio of around 10 to 1

In other words, it is a world where “even if you do everything you can to prepare, you may lose the lottery at the end” is normal. At private elementary schools, results are decided by performance on the assessment, so it is easier to feel that effort leads directly to results; at elementary schools attached to national universities, selection is a matter of “doing what you can and leaving the rest to luck”. Whether you see this as “a fair system” or feel “after putting a 6-year-old through an exam, it comes down to luck?” depends on your family’s values.

At elementary schools attached to national universities in other regions, the number of applicants itself is small, and some schools do not hold a lottery, while others use only a lottery with no assessment. The reality is that the uniform image of “national attached elementary school = high applicant-to-place ratio” applies to parts of the Tokyo and Kansai areas, and things are quite different in other regions.

Differences from private elementary schools

Elementary schools attached to national universities and private elementary schools are similar in that admission involves selection, but the institutional differences are large.

Three points deserve particular attention: “teacher transfers”, “internal progression”, and “connection to university”. At private elementary schools, teachers often work at the same school for a long time, so relationships such as “being looked after by Ms. ○○ for six years” develop. At elementary schools attached to national universities, teachers often transfer to other schools, universities, boards of education, and so on after a few years, so it is normal to have several homeroom teachers over six years. This can be read either as “meeting a variety of teachers” or as “relationships not being stable”.

Barriers to internal progression: it is not an escalator

The image that “once you get into an elementary school attached to a national university, it’s an escalator through junior high, high school, and university” is in most cases not true.

• Internal progression to the attached junior high school: varies by school and year. At some schools the internal progression rate exceeds 90%, while at others internal progression also involves internal selection and a certain number of children take outside entrance exams. From the Elementary School Attached to Ochanomizu University to its attached junior high school, the internal progression rate is relatively high, with separate quotas for boys and girls, but there is selection. From the Elementary School Attached to the University of Tsukuba to its attached junior high school, internal progression involves an assessment; the internal progression rate is generally relatively high based on the school’s published figures, but not everyone goes on.
• Internal progression to the attached high school: internal progression rates from junior high to high school differ even more by school and sex. At schools that recruit boys and girls separately, the internal progression rates for boys and girls differ.
• Connection to university: there is basically no internal progression system from attached high schools of national universities to the national university they are attached to. University entrance is premised on outside exams (the Common Test and individual university exams). The university admission records of high schools such as the High School Attached to the University of Tsukuba, the High School Attached to Ochanomizu University, and Tokyo Gakugei University Senior High School are built through outside exams.

For this reason, the path known by the image “from a national attached elementary school to the University of Tokyo” is the route “attached elementary school → attached junior high school → attached high school → University of Tokyo via university entrance exams”, in which junior high school entrance exams may be avoided, but university entrance exams are faced in full. It is not an option of “riding the escalator the whole way with ease”.

The “from national attached elementary school to the University of Tokyo” myth: thinking about selection bias

It is true that many students from elementary schools attached to national universities, especially from some attached high schools in the Tokyo area, go on to the University of Tokyo. However, reading a causal relationship from this fact, that “getting into an attached elementary school brings you closer to the University of Tokyo”, is almost untenable from a research standpoint.

This does not mean “attached elementary schools are meaningless”. It means that “the grounds for the school effect of attached elementary schools bringing children closer to the University of Tokyo are weak”. Thinking about the meaning of choosing an attached elementary school along a different axis is more consistent with research.

The reality of designated commuting areas: where you live determines eligibility

Almost all elementary schools attached to national universities set a commuting area (the range of residence from which you can apply). How the area is defined varies by school.

• “Living within ○○ City / ○○ ward” (designation by administrative division)
• “Able to commute within 40 minutes on foot or by public transportation” (designation by time)
• “Within a radius of ○ km” (designation by distance)
• A combination of the above

The commuting areas of elementary schools attached to national universities in the Tokyo area tend to be concentrated in areas with high land prices, centered on central Tokyo and the southern and western districts. For this reason, some families move into the relevant area in nenchū or nenchō in order to apply to an attached elementary school. People say “tuition at attached elementary schools is at public-school level”, but housing costs for living within the commuting area can end up being a large expense.

At elementary schools attached to national universities in other regions, the commuting area is often set around the center of the prefectural capital, and whether you live in the area or can commute depends on your family’s housing situation.

How ojuken cram schools respond: courses for national schools

Many ojuken cram schools for private elementary schools have a separate “national school course”. Preparation for private schools and preparation for national schools overlap in content but differ in several ways.

• Preparation for private schools: mainly preparation tailored to specific target schools. Because question tendencies differ greatly from school to school, there are specialized courses for each first-choice school
• Preparation for national schools: aimed at polishing overall ability in basic paper skills, behavioral observation, and physical activity. Because there is a lottery, the design is “not to specialize too much in a particular school, and to have several schools within reach”
• Strategy for applying to several schools: with a schedule of private schools (early November) → national schools (late November to December), it is easy to apply to private and then national schools

Fees are often set somewhat lower for national school courses than at schools specializing in private school preparation, but they are not very different from private school preparation in reaching ¥600,000-1,000,000 a year. The image that “it will be cheap if we only apply to national schools” does not necessarily match the reality of cram school fees.

The strengths of elementary schools attached to national universities: what cannot be denied

So far we have set out the practical constraints, but there are also clear strengths of elementary schools attached to national universities that research cannot deny.

• Free tuition and light actual costs: compared with annual school costs at private elementary schools (about ¥1,800,000), the burden on the household budget is much lighter. Tuition money can be put toward junior high school entrance exams and university costs
• Learning at a site of pioneering educational research: the Elementary School Attached to Ochanomizu University (2023)research bulletins and Schools Attached to Tokyo Gakugei University (2023)research bulletins of schools such as the Elementary School Attached to Ochanomizu University, each Tokyo Gakugei University attached school, and the Elementary School Attached to the University of Tsukuba continuously accumulate research on new educational practices, such as cross-curricular programs, inquiry-based learning, use of ICT, and collaboration with special needs education
• Links with the university campus: in some cases, links with university laboratories, libraries, sports facilities, and so on are built into school events and lessons
• A diverse group of parents: not as homogeneous as private elementary schools, with a somewhat wider range of SES than private schools (though clearly more skewed than public schools)
• Freedom in choosing future paths: because it is not an escalator, choices of junior high school, high school, and university can be redesigned to suit the child’s situation

These are, as facts, values enjoyed by families attending attached elementary schools. It is an option with its own meaning, neither “just low tuition” nor “just being close to the University of Tokyo”.

Annual schedule: what happens in the exam year

Here is a summary of the year’s activities if you apply to elementary schools attached to national universities (an example from the Tokyo area; dates at elementary schools attached to national universities in other regions may be earlier or later).

• Winter of nenchū to spring of nenchō: researching target schools, checking commuting areas, attending information sessions. Choosing and joining an ojuken cram school (national school course)
• June to July of nenchō: each school’s information sessions and open classes. Some schools start distributing application forms
• August to September of nenchō: filling in and preparing application forms, obtaining a health certificate, taking photos
• Late September to October of nenchō: applications (a combined schedule of private schools in early November → national schools in late November to December is common)
• October to November of nenchō: assessment (paper test, behavioral observation, physical activity, interview, etc.)
• Late November to December of nenchō: second-round selection (lottery; depends on the school), announcement of results
• December to February of nenchō: enrollment procedures at the school that accepted you, buying items for starting school

If you apply to both private and national schools, September to December becomes a schedule in which almost every weekend is an exam day. How to sustain the stamina and energy of your child and the parents becomes the biggest challenge of the preparation period.

“Families it suits” and “families it suits less well”

Research does not classify “families who suit attached elementary schools” and “families who suit them less well”, but the tendencies observed in practice and on the ground can be summarized as follows.

• Tendencies of families who tend to suit elementary schools attached to national universities: find pioneering educational research and experimental lessons appealing / can accept teacher transfers and the frequency of research lessons as changes in the child’s environment / want to keep junior high school and university entrance exams as options for the child / live within the commuting area (or can move) / can accept both the assessment preparation and the luck element of the lottery / private elementary school tuition is difficult for the budget, but the burden of a 6-year-old taking an assessment is acceptable
• Tendencies of families who tend to suit private or public elementary schools better: value stability of the homeroom teacher relationship over six years / want integrated progression through junior high school, high school, and university (private) / prioritize ties with the local community and a short commute (public) / find the luck element of a lottery hard to accept / live outside the commuting area

These are not “right answers” but hints for taking stock of your family’s values.

Closing dialogue

What to do if you actually go ahead

Based on the research and the institutional picture, here are points for your family to consider.

1. Step back from the image of “a private school with low tuition”

Elementary schools attached to national universities are not a budget version of private elementary schools. They are schools with a different character from private schools in terms of institutional purpose (educational research, teacher training, teaching practicums), teacher transfers, the frequency of research lessons, the range of internal progression, and the lack of connection to university. The first step in choosing is to step back from this image and look at the attached-school system as it is.

2. Check the realities of the commuting area and commuting time

Elementary schools attached to national universities almost without exception have designated commuting areas. Whether your family lives within the commuting area of your target school is the precondition for applying. If you live outside the area, you cannot even apply. If you consider moving in order to live within the commuting area, it is realistic to factor the increase in housing costs into the household budget as a “cost other than tuition” of the attached school.

3. Share the commitment to accept the luck element of a lottery

At elementary schools attached to national universities, even after doing everything you can for the assessment, you may lose the lottery at the end. The approach least likely to leave regrets is to share as a family the premise that ‘even after passing the assessment, you may lose the lottery’, and prepare to accept the result whatever it is, before applying. Because this is a form of selection in which it is easy to feel that “effort is not rewarded”, the words you say to your child are an area to plan with particular care.

4. Check the realities of internal progression for each target school

The image that “once you get into an elementary school attached to a national university, it’s an escalator through junior high school, high school, and university” is not accurate at most schools. It is realistic to always check, based on what the school publishes, your target school’s internal progression rates (elementary → junior high, and junior high → high school), its university admission record, and what is assumed about university entrance exams. As a family, look ahead to what will remain and what will be given up as options for your child’s future path.

5. Whether “the character of an experimental school” matches your family’s values

Are your family’s values ones that can accept an environment where research lessons, open classes, and hosting student teachers are part of daily life as “a valuable research environment”, or ones that feel it is “a heavy load to live with for six years”? This is the question at the very heart of the choice. If the character of an experimental school matches your family’s values, an attached elementary school becomes an option with its own meaning. If not, public and private schools each have their own strengths. It is an area where you can decide with confidence based on your family’s commitment and values.

Research details

Primary sources

StrongMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)2017国立教員養成大学・学部、附属学校及び大学院の改革に関する報告 [Report on Reform of National Teacher-Training Universities and Faculties, Attached Schools, and Graduate Schools]

Official document / public report: A report compiled in August 2017 by MEXT’s “Expert Panel on Reform of National Teacher-Training Universities and Faculties, Graduate Schools, and Attached Schools”. A basic document of recent attached-school reform that comprehensively sets out how national teacher-training universities and faculties, attached schools, and professional graduate schools of teacher education should be

Content: • Redefines the roles of attached schools as “pioneering and experimental educational research”, “hosting teaching practicums”, and “collaboration with teacher-training programs” • Requires that they “not be skewed toward a pupil population different from local public schools” • Strengthening their function as places for research on responding to educational issues • Direction of reviewing the number of pupils and students enrolled at attached schools and moving toward an appropriate size

Significance: The most basic official document for understanding the institutional position of elementary schools attached to national universities. It is important that MEXT itself reaffirms their character as “experimental schools for educational research” rather than “one school option”.

Limitations: A policy document at the level of system design; the realities at each attached school (details of operation, teacher assignment, frequency of research lessons, etc.) differ from school to school.

StrongMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)2021国立大学附属学校の新たな活用方策等に関する検討のまとめ [Summary of the Review of New Ways to Make Use of Schools Attached to National Universities]

Official document / public report: A review summary published in 2021 by the Teacher Personnel Policy Division of MEXT’s Comprehensive Education Policy Bureau, on new ways to make use of schools attached to national universities and on improving their operation

Content: • Reaffirms the three roles of attached schools: educational research, teacher training, and teaching practicums • Strengthening their function as places for pioneering research on educational practice (use of ICT under the GIGA School Program, special needs education, inquiry-based learning, etc.) • Deepening collaboration with teacher-training universities and faculties • Introducing operational evaluation and third-party evaluation of attached schools • A direction of reflecting local diversity in the composition of pupils and students

Significance: An official document that, following the 2017 report’s policy, shows a more concrete direction for operational improvement. Allows the latest institutional direction of recent attached-school reform to be grasped.

Limitations: A policy document; the state of implementation at each attached school differs from school to school.

StrongMatsuoka Ryoji2019教育格差 ── 階層・地域・学歴(ちくま新書) [Educational Disparities: Class, Region, and Academic Background (Chikuma Shinsho)]

Study design: An analysis of the relationships between family socioeconomic background (SES), area of residence, and final educational attainment, using large-scale Japanese social surveys (the SSM Survey, JGSS, and several sets of secondary data on educational disparities). A comprehensive empirical overview by the sociologist of education Matsuoka Ryoji

Main results: • What most strongly predicts a child’s final educational attainment is the family’s socioeconomic background (parents’ education, occupation, and income) and area of residence • The relationship between class of origin and final educational attainment is reproduced across generations in Japan as well • Family SES and area of residence predict children’s educational attainment more strongly than individual optimization of school choice • Pupils at selective schools at the elementary level (national attached and private elementary schools) are subject to a large selection effect skewed toward high-SES families • Much of the fact that “many from ○○ school go to the University of Tokyo” can be explained not by school effects but by selection effects

Significance: A representative book in the Japanese sociology of education that explains selection effects and selection bias for general readers. Provides the perspective of reading the “track records” of elementary schools attached to national universities and private elementary schools by separating school effects from family effects.

Limitations: Not a direct analysis of individual attached or private schools, but a picture of the overall structure of educational disparities in Japan. It does not claim that individual schools have “zero school effect”.

MixedElementary School Attached to Ochanomizu University2023お茶の水女子大学附属小学校研究紀要(教育研究) [Research Bulletin of the Elementary School Attached to Ochanomizu University (Educational Research)]

Official document / research practice report: A research bulletin published continuously by the Elementary School Attached to Ochanomizu University. It accumulates research practice on cross-curricular programs, inquiry-based learning, lesson design that draws out children’s initiative, collaboration with special needs education, use of ICT, and more

Content: • Cross-curricular inquiry-based learning projects (the school’s own curriculum research, while following the national curriculum guidelines) • Lesson design that develops children’s “ability to ask questions” and “ability to discuss” • Sharing research results with local teachers at an open research presentation held about once a year • Joint projects with researchers at the university (Ochanomizu University)

Significance: A primary source that concretely shows the character of elementary schools attached to national universities as “experimental and research schools”. Allows you to grasp what research practice attached elementary schools carry out on a daily basis.

Limitations: A report on research practice; quantitative causal inference about how much these educational practices contribute to children’s academic ability, social skills, and so on is not the main purpose of the bulletin. Research themes and methods also differ greatly by school, so it does not represent attached elementary schools in general.

MixedSchools Attached to Tokyo Gakugei University2023東京学芸大学附属学校研究紀要 [Research Bulletin of the Schools Attached to Tokyo Gakugei University]

Official document / research practice report: A research bulletin published continuously by the schools attached to Tokyo Gakugei University (Takehaya, Setagaya, Koganei, and Oizumi campuses). It accumulates research on research practice linked to teacher training, special needs education, international education, use of ICT, cross-curricular programs, and more

Content: • Hosting students in teacher-training programs (student teachers) and mentoring by attached-school teachers • Practical research on special needs education and inclusive education • Connection to the International Baccalaureate (at some campuses), development of international education programs • Sharing research results with local teachers at open research presentations held once to several times a year

Significance: A primary source that concretely shows the character of elementary schools attached to national universities as “sites of teacher training and educational research”. Allows you to grasp what an environment where student teachers, university faculty, and local teachers routinely come into attached-school classrooms is like.

Limitations: A report on research practice; quantitative verification of how hosting teaching practicums affects children is not the main purpose of the bulletin.

StrongMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)2024令和6年度 学校基本調査(確定値) [FY2024 School Basic Survey (final figures)]

Official document / public statistics: A core statistical survey of schools, pupils and students, and teaching staff nationwide, conducted by MEXT every year as of May 1 (final figures published December 18, 2024)

Content: • Total elementary school pupils: about 5.94 million • Number of national elementary schools: about 70 nationwide • Pupils at national elementary schools: about 36,000 (about 0.6% of the total) • Pupils at private elementary schools: about 80,000 (about 1.3% of the total) • The remaining roughly 98% attend public elementary schools • National elementary schools are located in the Tokyo and Kansai areas and around each prefecture’s capital

Significance: The most basic public statistics for understanding the realities of elementary school choice in Japan. Supports the facts that “about 0.6% of children attend elementary schools attached to national universities” and “they are a smaller minority than private schools”.

Limitations: Overall statistics; individual data for each attached school, such as applicant-to-place ratios, commuting areas, and internal progression rates, must be checked separately in each school’s admission selection guidelines and published materials.