JLPT December 2026 Australia

The Japan Foundation Sydney has confirmed the details for the December 2026 JLPT.

Registration opens Friday 28 August at 9:00am AEST and closes Thursday 10 September at 5:00pm AEST, or when seats run out, whichever happens first. In July, most cities and levels filled well before the deadline. Expect the same or worse this time.

The good news: every one of those four offers all five levels this time. Overall capacity has been increased across the four cities, with additional seats available to help accommodate potential interstate applicants.

Unlike July, this bit is simple. All five levels are available in all four cities. You can register for any city regardless of where you live.

Venues are confirmed on your Test Voucher in November. The cities above are where each site has run before.

The Japan Foundation has published exact capacity this time. This is probably the most useful table on this page, so read the thin rows carefully before you decide where to sit.

That's 1,506 seats for the whole country, with Victoria's usual cohort now competing for them. Perth N1 has 30 seats. Adelaide N5 has 40. If you want one of those, be at a laptop when registration opens.

All prices include GST. Unchanged from July. Credit card only, and your bank may add its own fee.

There are generally no refunds. If you withdraw or don't turn up, the fee cannot normally be transferred to a later sitting. A refund may be considered only in limited special circumstances, with supporting evidence required within five days of the test. Even when a refund is granted, $30 is deducted and the Eventbrite fee isn't returned. You also can't change your level or your city once you've paid.

Victoria has no test site. RMIT stopped hosting in 2023, Monash took over and ran the December 2025 sitting at its Clayton campus, and no one has picked it up since. The Japan Foundation's wording is final for this sitting. Canberra, hosted by ANU, now runs in July only, so if you sat there in July, December means travelling.

From Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide are both convenient flight options, so the choice comes down to available seats and your travel preference. Sydney has the largest capacity, but Adelaide may be useful if your level fills elsewhere. From Canberra, Sydney is usually the simplest option.

You must print your test voucher. This is the change most likely to catch people out. Showing it on a phone or any other screen is not permitted. Print it, bring the paper, and check the name on it matches your ID exactly.

Late arrival excludes you from that section. In force since July 2026. If you arrive after the check-in window, or after the start time of any later section, you're not admitted to that section. Missing even one section means no result at all, including for the sections you did sit.

Photo ID rules are strict. Government-issued, current, printed in English. Driver's licence, passport, Photo Card or Proof of Age Card. A photo student ID showing name and date of birth is accepted. Health care cards, credit cards and bank cards are not. No photocopies, no digital ID on a phone.

The device ban applies during the test period, including breaks. Phones, smartwatches and anything with a camera or a connection must be switched off. A smartwatch cannot be used as a watch, so bring an analogue one. Follow venue instructions when you arrive.

Your passcode must be eight digits, 1 to 9 only. No letters, no symbols, no zero. Get this wrong and you can't check your results online in January.

Two other changes worth knowing: score reports have included a CEFR level reference since December 2025, and sitting the JLPT inside Japan generally requires a Residence Card, so ordinary short-term tourist travel is not a workaround.

STA covers non-standard exam conditions for illness, injury or disability. You'd apply if you need to take medication during the test, wear a health monitoring device such as a glucose monitor, use hearing aids or a magnifier, or have a developmental disability.

What to send. Email the STA Request Form from the STA ZIP, your completed JLPT application form, and your supporting evidence to jlpt_sy@jpf.go.jp. Evidence means a medical certificate, audiogram or a written explanation from a doctor, caseworker or a teacher at your institution. The deadline is 10 September, 5pm AEST, and it covers everything, including paying on Eventbrite.

Separate rooms are extremely limited. Any request for extra time automatically needs one, and each person granted a room now has it to themselves, which is part of why there are so few.

Which Eventbrite link to use.

Send the form on time. On the separate STA link, a late or missing form cancels the application without refund. That link also rules out sitting in a regular room, whether or not the form arrives. On the standard link, a late or refused request just means you sit under standard conditions.

Decisions come back in early November, and requests can be refused or changed. Once approved, reply to your host institution when they contact you or you can lose the room or the extra time. If you can't attend, tell them by noon the Saturday before.

Australia: Japan Foundation Sydney — JLPT page

December 2026 Test Guide: Full PDF Mandatory reading.

Host institutions: Full list

• Sydney — UNSW
• Gold Coast — Griffith University
• Adelaide — JAFA
• Perth — AJSWA JLPT

Contacts:
Sydney: n.fukui@unsw.edu.au
Gold Coast: m.natolo@griffith.edu.au
Adelaide: kaicho@jafa.asn.au
Perth: jlptperth@ajswa.com.au

STA: Special Testing Accommodations

Official JLPT worldwide: jlpt.jp

One more thing: July 2026 results go online at 10:00am Thursday 27 August and stay up until 31 October (Japan time). Dig out your voucher and your 8-digit passcode.

This page will be updated as new information becomes available. Last updated: 24 August 2026.