Applying to UK universities from Japan
Why the high school certificate often isn't enough, what your government will lend you, and the routes that work.
On the cover: the Chūreitō Pagoda and Mount Fuji. Japan's JASSO Type 2 loan can fund a UK degree — including a UK foundation year. Photo: Svetlana Gumerova / Unsplash.
The Bottom Line
Japan is one of the few countries whose government will lend a student the money for a full UK degree. JASSO's Type 2 overseas loan scholarship covers a bachelor's degree abroad — and, unusually, a UK foundation year too. And Japanese foundations go further still: the Yanai Tadashi Foundation will pay up to £70,000 a year, with nothing to repay, for a degree at seven UK universities.
That matters, because for many UK universities a foundation year, or something like it, is what a Japanese student will need. The Upper Secondary School Leaving Certificate on its own often isn't enough. Some universities don't accept it at all, some ask for a year of Japanese university first, and many point to a foundation year, the IB or A-levels. Knowing which universities take which route is the first job for any Japanese family.
What you absolutely need to know:
- The high school certificate on its own often isn't enough
- Four universities publish a foundation year as the only route
- The same certificate appears under 81 different names
- Japan's JASSO Type 2 loan can fund a UK degree — including a foundation year
- UK universities offer nothing only for Japanese students — but Japanese foundations will fund a UK degree, some at up to £70,000 a year
- You will need an English test
- The IB opens doors the certificate doesn't
1. The high school certificate on its own often isn't enough
109 of the 145 universities we researched publish a requirement for Japanese applicants. Their answers vary more than for almost any other country.
| University | Published requirement |
|---|---|
| University of Oxford | Not accepted |
| University of Glasgow | Not accepted — A-levels, the IB or Glasgow International College instead |
| University of Cambridge | The certificate alone "will not be competitive"; further study recommended |
| UCL · University of Bristol · University of Kent | Successful completion of one year of a Japanese university degree |
| University of Edinburgh | Usually a foundation year |
| University of Southampton · University of Birmingham | A recognised foundation year, or A-levels or the IB |
| University of Warwick | Warwick's International Foundation Programme, or the IB, A-levels or the American system |
| University of Leeds | Accepted directly, at 80–90% overall with subject grades |
Each university's published requirement for Japanese applicants. Individual courses may ask for more. Source: Telariq data.
What this means for you: sort your shortlist by route before you sort it by preference. A university that accepts the certificate directly and one that needs a foundation year are a year apart in time and cost.
2. Four universities publish a foundation year as the only route
Bath Spa University, the Royal Agricultural University, the University of Bradford and the University of Liverpool publish a foundation year as the only route for Japanese school-leavers. Many more list a foundation year among several options.
A foundation year is an extra year of tuition and living costs before the degree begins — usually charged at the course's full annual fee.
What this means for you: where a foundation year is needed, budget for four years, not three.
3. The same certificate appears under 81 different names
Across the universities publishing a Japanese requirement, the Kōtō Gakkō Sotsugyō Shōmeisho appears under 81 different names — Upper Secondary School Leaving Certificate, the romanised Japanese title in several spellings, and many variants of both. That's more than for most countries we've looked at.
What this means for you: search each university's site for more than one name. If "Kotogakko" returns nothing, try "Upper Secondary School Leaving Certificate".
4. Japan's JASSO Type 2 loan can fund a UK degree — including a foundation year
JASSO's Type 2 Overseas Loan Scholarship is aimed at students seeking a bachelor's degree at a university overseas, and JASSO names UK foundation-year courses as covered where the UK system requires them. It is an interest-bearing loan.
JASSO also runs a separate, competitive grant for a bachelor's degree abroad, which doesn't have to be repaid; its own results for 2026 show 23 students selected for UK study out of 52 applicants. JASSO's other overseas tracks — Type 1 and the short-term exchange loans — cover postgraduate study or a period abroad inside a Japanese degree, not a full UK degree.
Private lending is very limited: of the 7 Japanese banks we checked, 1 publishes terms confirming it can fund a UK degree. Beyond the banks, Chuo Rokin — a labour bank, run as a cooperative — offers an education loan of up to ¥10 million that covers study abroad of six months or more, for people who live or work in its eight prefectures.
| Country | Lenders |
|---|---|
| India | 16 |
| Nepal | 9 |
| Sri Lanka | 9 |
| China | 6 |
| Malaysia | 5 |
| Canada | 3 |
| Nigeria | 3 |
| United States | 2 |
| Japan | 1 |
Source: Telariq data.
What this means for you: for most Japanese families, JASSO is the route. Because it covers a UK foundation year, it fits exactly the path many universities ask Japanese students to take.
5. UK universities offer nothing only for Japanese students — but Japanese foundations will fund a UK degree, some at up to £70,000 a year
Unlike students from India, the United States or Canada, Japanese students have no scholarships restricted to them by UK universities. The money is at home instead — and some of it is the most generous funding for a UK degree anywhere in our research.
| Provider | What it offers | Who can apply |
|---|---|---|
| Yanai Tadashi Foundation | Up to £70,000 a year, normally for three years, covering tuition, accommodation, insurance and a living allowance. Nothing to repay | Japanese nationals, household income up to ¥27 million, at seven designated UK universities: Imperial, King's College London, LSE, UCL, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford |
| Ezoe Memorial Recruit Foundation | Up to £68,000 a year for tuition and living costs, for two years and then renewable each year until 27. Nothing to repay | Science students aged 24 or under, at universities in the subject top 30; about five a year |
| Masason Foundation | Tuition and living costs, decided individually. Nothing to repay in principle | Exceptionally talented young people aged 25 or under |
| Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education | Tuition for up to four years, up to ¥4 million or ¥8 million depending on the applicant's category | Graduates of Tokyo metropolitan high schools going to a university in the THE or QS world top 100 |
| Sanjo City Board of Education | A one-off ¥2 million | Residents of Sanjo city studying for a degree abroad; two a year |
Source: Telariq data, confirmed on each provider's own pages or the government's JASSO scholarship portal.
These awards are competitive, and each has its own rules. Yanai takes about 20 scholars a year in each of its two schemes — one applied for through a high school before applying to universities, the other after receiving an offer — and it does not fund university preparation courses, so it won't pay for a foundation year. None of them asks scholars to work for a particular employer afterwards, but most ask for regular reports, and Yanai expects scholars to report back on returning to Japan. Ezoe's 2027 round closed on 8 September 2026; most of these run once a year.
What this means for you: if your child is aiming for one of Yanai's seven UK universities, or for a science degree at a top-ranked one, a Japanese foundation could cover almost the whole cost. Check each one's application window a year ahead.
6. You will need an English test
Almost every university accepts several English tests. Of 145 universities, 131 publish an IELTS requirement, 121 accept PTE Academic and 119 TOEFL iBT. The IELTS overall score most often asked is 6.0, followed by 6.5.
| Test | Universities publishing a requirement |
|---|---|
| IELTS | 131 |
| PTE Academic | 121 |
| TOEFL iBT | 119 |
| Cambridge English | 94 |
| Trinity ISE | 93 |
| LanguageCert | 89 |
| Oxford English tests | 62 |
| Duolingo | 53 |
Of 145 universities. Source: Telariq data.
What this means for you: book the English test early. Many foundation years have their own, slightly lower, English requirement — check it separately.
7. The IB opens doors the certificate doesn't
Several of the universities that don't accept the Japanese certificate directly — Glasgow, Warwick and Birmingham among them — do accept the International Baccalaureate, which is taught at many international schools in Japan. UK universities treat the IB the same wherever it is taken: a points score out of 45, set course by course. King's College London publishes a ladder from 40 points down to 29; Birmingham asks for 32 for most courses.
What this means for you: if your child is at an international school, the IB can remove the foundation year altogether.
Our advice
Sort your shortlist by route first. Direct entry, a year of Japanese university, or a foundation year — each changes the time and cost.
Budget four years where a foundation year is needed, and check the foundation year's own entry and English requirements.
Look at the foundations a year ahead. Yanai and Ezoe can cover almost the whole cost, and their application windows open long before UCAS's.
Then JASSO. Its Type 2 loan covers a UK degree and a UK foundation year.
Search under more than one name for the certificate on each university's site.
Confirm entry requirements, scholarships and loan terms with each university and with JASSO before you apply.
The not so fine print: what was excluded in this report
- Course-level entry requirements — these are each university's general requirement for Japanese applicants, and a course may ask for more
- The fees for foundation years run by partner colleges
- The names of individual private lenders, which sit in Telariq's records
- Interest rates and the cost of borrowing
- Medicine, dentistry and veterinary sciences, which are outside Telariq's coverage
A note on this guide. This is what we found when we read each provider's own pages. Its purpose is to show you that options exist and where to start looking. There will be routes we haven't found yet, and some here may have changed since we checked — so treat it as a starting point, not a complete list, and confirm everything with the provider before you rely on it.
Have a question? We'd love to hear from you — admin@telariq.com