9 min read

EIKEN Grades and CSE Scores: The Ranges Overlap

Seven EIKEN grades are seven separate tests, and their CSE score ranges overlap heavily. The same number means different things depending on which you sat.

EIKEN is usually explained as a ladder, and that description hides the one thing a candidate most needs to understand before booking.

Seven grades are seven separate tests, and their score ranges overlap.

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In this guide: seven separate tests · the published table · the overlap · two grades, one level · the MEXT anchors · choosing a grade · limits · method · FAQ

Key takeaways

  • Seven grades, each described as a separate test with its own items and tasks.
  • Grade 1 compares to C1, Pre-1 to B2, Grade 2 to B1, Pre-2 Plus and Pre-2 to A2, Grade 3 to A1.
  • CSE ranges overlap: Grade 1 is 2630 to 3400 while Pre-1 is 2304 to 3000.
  • So a CSE number is meaningless without the grade beside it.
  • Two grades share A2, Pre-2 Plus and Pre-2, on different score ranges.
  • All grades except Grade 3 were revised from 2016 to test four skills.

Seven grades, seven separate tests

The Eiken Foundation states it plainly: each of the seven EIKEN grades is a separate test with a unique set of test items and tasks designed for that level.

That is not how most international exams work. IELTS is one test reported on a band scale. TOEFL is one test reported on a points scale. EIKEN is a set of tests, and you pick one.

The consequence for a candidate is practical rather than academic. Sitting the wrong grade is not a matter of scoring lower. It is a matter of sitting a paper written for a different level, where the tasks themselves are different.

The Foundation frames the grades as well defined steps that work as both motivational goals and concrete measures as learners move through commonly recognised ability levels, which is why the structure exists at all.

The published comparison table

EIKEN Grade CSE score CEFR comparison
1 2630 to 3400 C1
Pre-1 2304 to 3000 B2
2 1980 to 2600 B1
Pre-2 Plus 1829 to 2500 A2
Pre-2 1728 to 2400 A2
3 685 to 1700 A1
4 and 5 not listed not listed

Read the second column downward and the interesting thing appears before the third column does.

The overlap nobody explains

Grade 1 runs from 2630 to 3400. Pre-1 runs from 2304 to 3000.

So the region from 2630 to 3000 belongs to both grades. A candidate who scores 2700 on Pre-1 and a candidate who scores 2700 on Grade 1 hold the same CSE number, from two different tests, at two different CEFR comparisons.

The same is true further down. Grade 2 runs 1980 to 2600 while Pre-2 Plus runs 1829 to 2500, so 1980 to 2500 is shared. Pre-2 runs 1728 to 2400, overlapping both.

Three consequences worth carrying.

A CSE score alone is not a claim. It has to be reported with the grade, or it does not say what level was demonstrated.

Comparing two people by CSE alone is unsafe unless they sat the same grade.

A high score on a lower grade is not the same as passing a higher one. It shows strong performance on that paper, not readiness for the next one, because the next one is a different test.

This is the same arithmetic trap we found in other exam families, where published numbers only mean something once you notice what they are measured against. See Cambridge speaking criteria by level and the CEFR band table for UKVI.

Two grades at the same CEFR level

Pre-2 Plus and Pre-2 both carry an A2 comparison, on different CSE ranges: 1829 to 2500 against 1728 to 2400.

That tells you something useful about how the ladder is built. The steps between grades are not all one CEFR level apart, because the ladder is designed around learner progress and school stages rather than around the CEFR grid.

For a learner choosing between them, the CEFR label will not separate them. The grade descriptions and the tasks will.

The MEXT anchors that give it weight

The published table ties grades to the Japanese education system, which is why EIKEN functions differently from a private certificate.

  • Grade 3: MEXT benchmark for junior high school graduates.
  • Grade 2: MEXT benchmark for high school graduates.
  • Pre-1: MEXT benchmark for English instructors.
  • Grade 1: listed against international admissions to graduate and undergraduate programmes.

MEXT is the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. When a ministry names a grade as the benchmark for a stage of schooling, the grade stops being optional in practice for anyone inside that system.

The instructor benchmark at Pre-1 is the one worth pausing on, because it puts a B2 comparison on the people teaching English rather than on the students.

How to choose a grade

  1. Start from the purpose, not the score. Admission, a teaching benchmark, or a school stage each points at a specific grade.
  2. Read the tasks for that grade, since each grade is its own test rather than a harder version of the one below.
  3. Do not chase a CSE number across grades. The number without the grade does not carry meaning.
  4. Check the current format for your grade with the Foundation, because the four skill revision from 2016 applied to all grades except Grade 3.
  5. Prepare speaking as a separate discipline, because it is the skill that does not improve by reading and the one an interview format exposes fastest.

That last point is where most preparation goes thin. Reading about a spoken task does not change how you sound under pressure. SpeakShark is built for the reps: unscripted conversation with native accent AI teachers and instant phoneme level feedback on the sounds that keep tripping you. The free plan is three sessions a day with no card, the pricing page shows the paid tier, how it works explains the mechanics, and our comparison of speaking apps is honest about what it does not do.

For how other exams organise the same problem: Linguaskill speaking format, Aptis speaking format, the Oxford Test of English, TOEIC speaking, OPIc against TOEIC speaking, and every English requirement we have read.

Why a ladder built on school stages behaves differently

EIKEN's shape only makes sense once you see what it was built around, and that explains several things that look odd from outside Japan.

It follows schooling, not the CEFR grid. Grade 3 at junior high, Grade 2 at high school graduation, Pre-1 as the instructor benchmark. A ladder designed around school stages will not have evenly spaced CEFR steps, which is why two grades share A2 and why the jump from Grade 2 to Pre-1 crosses a full level.

Progress is expected to be gradual and visible. Seven steps give a learner a target every year or two rather than one distant summit. That is a motivational design, and it is stated as such by the Foundation, which describes the grades as well defined steps acting as both goals and measures.

Recognition is layered. A grade can matter for a school stage, for a teaching post and for university admission at the same time, which is unusual. Most international tests carry one kind of recognition.

For a learner outside that system the practical translation is this. Pick the grade that matches the recognition you need, then treat the CEFR comparison as orientation rather than as the target, because the paper you sit is defined by the grade and not by the CEFR label attached to it.

If you are comparing across systems, our guides to what band 7 means and what band 8 means show how a single scale behaves differently again, and the four countries where speaking is the highest bar shows how the same level can be weighted differently by the body reading it. For self study routines that work whatever the exam, see practising at home and practising alone.

What we could not verify

We did not read the task descriptions for any individual grade in this session, so nothing here describes what a specific paper contains.

We did not verify pass marks, sitting dates, fees or the two stage structure of any grade. The overlap analysis above is arithmetic on the published score ranges, not a statement about how results are awarded.

Grades 4 and 5 carry no CSE range and no CEFR comparison in the table we read, so we make no claim about them.

How we researched this guide

The statement that each grade is a separate test with its own items and tasks, the seven grade structure, the CSE score ranges, the CEFR comparisons, the MEXT benchmarks, and the note that all grades except Grade 3 were revised from the first administration of the 2016 test to cover four skills all come from the Eiken Foundation of Japan's own EIKEN Grades page, opened directly in a browser rather than summarised from a preparation site. The overlap between ranges is our arithmetic on their published figures, and is presented as such.

We are a speaking improvement tool. We are not an exam preparation provider, and we are not affiliated with the Eiken Foundation of Japan or any exam board. For grade formats, dates and current scores, go to the exam body directly. Use SpeakShark to make your spoken English stronger, and use official material to learn the test.

Sources

FAQ

How many EIKEN grades are there?
Seven, and the Eiken Foundation describes each one as a separate test with its own set of test items and tasks designed for that level, rather than one exam sat at different difficulties. That is the single most important structural fact about EIKEN, because it means choosing a grade is choosing a paper, not choosing an ambition. Sitting the wrong grade is not a matter of scoring lower, it is a matter of sitting the wrong test.
How do EIKEN grades map to CEFR?
The Foundation publishes the comparison directly. Grade 1 compares to C1, Pre-1 to B2, Grade 2 to B1, and both Pre-2 Plus and Pre-2 to A2, with Grade 3 at A1. Grades 4 and 5 carry no CEFR comparison in the published table. Note that two different grades, Pre-2 Plus and Pre-2, sit at the same CEFR level while carrying different CSE score ranges.
Why do the CSE score ranges overlap between grades?
Because each grade reports on the same CSE scale while covering a different band of it. Grade 1 runs 2630 to 3400 and Pre-1 runs 2304 to 3000, so the region from 2630 to 3000 belongs to both. A candidate scoring 2700 on Pre-1 and a candidate scoring 2700 on Grade 1 hold the same number from different tests, which is why the grade always has to be stated alongside the score.
What are the MEXT benchmarks attached to EIKEN?
The published table ties grades to stages of Japanese education. Grade 3 is described as the MEXT benchmark for junior high school graduates, Grade 2 as the benchmark for high school graduates, and Pre-1 as the MEXT benchmark for English instructors. Grade 1 is listed against international admissions to graduate and undergraduate programmes. Those anchors are why EIKEN grades carry weight in Japan far beyond a private certificate.
Do all EIKEN grades test speaking?
The Foundation states that in a move to test the four skills at every level, all grades except Grade 3 were revised starting from the first administration of the 2016 test. So four skill coverage is the design across the range, with Grade 3 named as the exception to that revision. Anyone preparing should confirm the current format for their specific grade with the Foundation before assuming.

Curious how it works? Explore SpeakShark's features or see plans and pricing.

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