Consultation and contact

1.1 Participation in the Goethe-Institut examinations is subject to the examination regulations and implementation guidelines of the Goethe-Institut.
www.goethe.de/pruefungen

1.2 Examination venues are the Goethe-Institut Tokyo (7-5-56 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo) and the Institut français du Kansai - Kyoto (8 Izumidono-cho, Yoshida, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto).

1.3 Written and oral examinations generally take place on the same day. Exams A1 and A2 must be taken as a whole. A2 candidates have the option to retake the part of the exam they did not pass once, within one year. However, partial retakes of the A2 exam cannot be done for Reading, Listening, and Writing individually. It is also not permitted to combine results from two separate German exams. For modular exams B1, B2, C1, and C2, modules can be taken individually or in combination, and there are no deadlines for retaking a module.

1.4 All candidates are required to present a valid, government-issued photo identification (e.g., passport, driver’s license, or national ID card) for both the written and oral examinations. Candidates who fail to present valid identification will not be admitted to the examination, and any fees paid will not be refunded.

1.5 Candidates who arrive late, behave disruptively, or pose a health risk to others will be denied entry to the examination. In such cases, examination fees will not be refunded.

1.6 Candidates who are unable to attend the examination due to illness or injury may request a deferral to a future examination date, provided a medical certificate is submitted within five days of the scheduled examination. Please note that examination fees are non-refundable.

1.7 Candidates with specific needs may request accommodations by submitting appropriate medical documentation. Detailed information regarding accessible examination conditions is available at:
https://www.goethe.de/pro/relaunch/prf/de/Teilnehmende_mit_spezifischem_Bedarf.pdf

1.8 The use of pencils is not permitted. Candidates must use a black or blue ballpoint pen to complete their answer sheets. Erasable pens, correction fluid, and correction tape are not allowed. For corrections in written responses, candidates should strike through the incorrect text and write the correction clearly afterward. Please follow the invigilators’ instructions regarding corrections on the Reading and Listening answer sheets.

1.9 The Reading, Listening, and Writing sections of the digital B1, B2, and C1 examinations are conducted on laptops with German keyboards provided by the Goethe-Institut Tokyo. Digital exams are held at the Goethe-Institut Tokyo. The duration, format, and certificate validity of the digital exams are equivalent to those of the paper-based versions.

2.1 Candidates are required to register via the Goethe-Institut’s official online webshop. All registration details must be entered using Latin characters. The Goethe-Institut bears no responsibility for errors resulting from incorrect data entry. Please ensure that your surname and given name are entered accurately and in accordance with official identification documents.

2.2 Each examination session has a limited number of available places. Once the maximum capacity has been reached, no further registrations will be accepted.

2.3 Examination fees must be paid by credit card through the webshop at the time of registration. Upon successful payment, a confirmation email will be sent to the registered email address.

2.4 Candidates who are unable or prefer not to pay by credit card may contact the Language Department office to inquire about alternative payment options. If “bank transfer” is selected as the payment method during registration, a confirmation and invoice will be issued. Payment must be completed within seven (7) days of receiving the invoice; otherwise, the registration will be automatically cancelled.

2.5 Candidates who have attended a course at any Goethe-Institut (in Japan or abroad) within six months prior to the examination date are eligible for a reduced internal examination fee.

2.6 Oral examination appointments are scheduled in the order in which registrations are received, beginning with the earliest available time slots. Candidates who wish to secure an early appointment are advised to register as soon as possible. The specific time of the oral examination will be communicated in the official examination invitation. Please note that scheduled times may be subject to change on the day of the examination.

2.7 Only candidates who have completed the registration process within the official registration period and submitted payment in full using an approved method will be admitted to the examination. Registrations submitted outside the designated period or without timely payment will not be accepted.

3.1 Candidates have the right to withdraw their examination registration within fourteen (14) calendar days of submission, without the need to provide a reason. After this withdrawal period has elapsed, cancellations and refunds of the examination fee are no longer possible. We strongly advise all candidates to confirm their availability for the scheduled examination date prior to completing registration.

Once payment has been completed, changes to the examination date, level, or format are not permitted. This includes switching from a full examination to individual modules (or vice versa), or from a full examination to a partial retake (or vice versa).

4.1 Upon successful payment of the examination fee via credit card through the online shop, participants will automatically receive a confirmation of registration. Please note that this confirmation does not constitute an official invitation to the examination.

4.2 The official examination invitation, including the detailed exam schedule, will be sent via email 1 to 2 weeks prior to the examination date. Please be advised that examination times are fixed and cannot be adjusted at the request of individual participants.

4.3 Specific details regarding examination times will be outlined in the official invitation. Please be aware that there may be an extended waiting period between the written and oral components of the exam. We kindly ask that you do not schedule other commitments during this time, as the oral examination may be rescheduled to an earlier time slot should availability permit.

5.1 Your examination results will be published four weeks after the exam, at 6:00 PM on the same weekday the exam was held. You can view your results on mein.goethe.de under the menu item “My Courses and Exams.”
To access your results, you must be registered on mein.goethe.de and, if necessary, enter your customer number once under “My Courses and Exams” in the designated field.

5.2 As of March 2024, Goethe certificates at the Goethe-Institut Tokyo are issued exclusively in digital format. No later than one week after the results are announced, you can download your certificate free of charge from mein.goethe.de. A printed version of the certificate can be requested separately through the language course office for a fee of 6,000 JPY, provided the exam has been passed. If you did not pass the exam, you can still view your results and download a confirmation of participation from mein.goethe.de.

5.3 For modular exams B1, B2, and C1, a comprehensive certificate will be issued if all four modules are passed within one year of passing the first module and at the same test center.
It is possible to combine certificates from digital and paper-based exams for levels B1, B2, and C1 to receive a comprehensive certificate.
For C2, a comprehensive certificate can only be issued if all four modules are passed on the same examination date.

5.4 If you require certified copies of your Goethe certificate, these can be issued by the German Embassy for a fee.
For further information, please contact the German Embassy directly: www.japan.diplo.de (Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Consular Section)

If you have lost your Goethe certificate, you can apply for a replacement certificate at the exam center where you took the exam within ten years, for a fee. The cost for a replacement certificate at the Goethe-Institut Tokyo is 6,000 JPY. A duplicate of the original paper-based certificate will not be issued. The digital format can be reissued. The previous digital certificate becomes invalid once the new one is issued.

Any objections concerning the manner in which the examination was conducted must be submitted immediately after the exam, either to the responsible examination official on site or to the Head of Language Department.