JLPT N2 Pass Mark: 90 of 180, and 19 in Every Section

JLPT N2 has two pass rules, and you must meet both. Your total must be at least 90 out of 180, and each of the three scoring sections, Language Knowledge (Vocabulary/Grammar), Reading and Listening, must be at least 19 out of 60. A strong total does not rescue a weak section. This guide sets out the rule in jlpt.jp's own words, explains why a score of 90 is not the same as getting half the questions right, and shows where real candidates landed in December 2025. ProSyllabus is an independent study site, not part of the Japan Foundation or Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES), which run the JLPT (JEES in Japan, the Japan Foundation overseas with local host institutions). Every rule, mark and date here is quoted or summarised from jlpt.jp, JEES and MOSAI (the host institution in New Delhi), read on 21 October 2026.

jlpt.jp scoring page and December 2025 test data, read 21 Oct 2026.

jlpt.jp is precise: "In order to pass, (1) total score needs to be at or above the point required for passing (overall pass mark) and (2) score in each scoring section needs to be at or above the minimum point required for passing (sectional pass mark). If there is even one scoring section where the score is below the sectional pass mark, examinees are determined to have failed, no matter how high the total score he/she might have."

Two details follow from the same page. The marks are not new: "The above standards were adopted beginning with July test in 2010 (December test in 2010 with N4 and N5)." And you must sit everything: "If an examinee misses a required test section, scoring is not conducted and he/she is judged to have failed." N2 has two timed test sections (Language Knowledge and Reading together, then Listening), but it is scored in three sections. Reading gets its own 0 to 60 score even though it shares a test section with vocabulary and grammar.

The three scores do not map onto the two sittings, so it helps to know where each item type is counted. jlpt.jp's composition table lists the N2 item types; we have grouped them by the score they belong to.

The practical point: vocabulary, grammar and reading share one 105-minute time allowance. Minutes spent on vocabulary and grammar are minutes not spent on the reading passages, and a rushed reading section shows in the Reading score, which has its own 19-point floor. That is our reading of the format, not an official rule.

The same rule, worked through on five made-up score lines:

The JLPT does not add up points per correct answer. Its FAQ says it "uses a scaled score system based on "Item Response Theory" and does not total allocated points of correctly answered questions." It goes further: "The "scaled score" is determined based on each examinee's individual answering pattern—which questions were answered correctly and which were not. As it differs from the number of correct answers, it is possible for an examinee with a high number of correct answers to receive a relatively modest scaled score."

jlpt.jp publishes average scaled scores in its test data. For the December 2025 N2 test, the overseas average total was 88.8, 1.2 points under the pass mark. Language Knowledge and Reading had the joint-lowest averages, 27.7 each; Listening averaged 33.4.

Reading also had the widest spread overseas (standard deviation 13.0, against 10.9 for Language Knowledge and 10.5 for Listening), so it is the section where candidates differ most. Of 114,010 overseas N2 examinees in December 2025, 46,603 were certified: 40.9%. In Japan the figure was 25.4%. jlpt.jp notes that the examinee counts include "those who took only some of the test sections", who cannot pass. In India, 1,657 people sat N2 in December 2025 out of 2,265 who applied.

jlpt.jp now indicates a CEFR level for reference for those who pass, based only on the total. The FAQ: "A level of A1, A2, B1, B2, or C1 is indicated as a reference for examinees who took and passed the test in and after December 2025". The bands for N2: "For N2, a total score of 90 to 111 is indicated as B1level, and 112 or higher is indicated as B2 level." A fail shows no CEFR level, and there is no CEFR level per section.

Your report shows a scaled score for each section and the total. jlpt.jp gives two ways to see where that puts you. First, each sitting's published data includes a chart of the "Cumulative Distribution of Scaled Scores"; in the FAQ's words, "You can find out where you stand among all examinees who took the same test by using the scaled scores given in the Score Report and this chart." Second, if you pass outside Japan (and were not exempt from the Listening section), your certificate carries a percentile rank: since July 2016 it shows "the percentage of examinees with a score lower than yours in the six latest tests, including the one you took."

There is no section retake. The FAQ: "A judgment of pass or fail is made only for examinees who take all sections each time the test is given." You sit the whole test again at a later sitting, and the new result stands on its own: a strong section from an earlier attempt does not carry over. The JLPT runs twice a year, in July and December, but some cities outside Japan hold only one of them; check with your local host institution.