Japanese students preparing for university entrance exams often take mogi shiken, mock exams. The cram school Kawaijuku says that its national Zentō mock exams were taken about 2.735 million times in fiscal 2025, counting every sitting. According to the site Bestjuku, the first sitting of Kawaijuku’s written-answer mock exam in fiscal 2025 had 168,561 takers.
A guide published by a cram school calls the mock exam a place for practice that assumes the real exam. Students work in conditions close to the real exam, get used to the tension and gain practical experience. The result, the guide adds, is only a point along the way.