EIKEN Test Dates 2026 to 2027 and the D, E, F Rule

Most EIKEN date pages give you a list. The published calendar contains one sentence that decides whether half of it applies to you at all.

International first stage dates are only available on D, E and F.

SpeakShark is free for the weeks between the two stages, three AI conversation sessions a day with no card.

In this guide: the rule · Fall 2026 · Winter 2027 · Summer 2026 · three deadlines · the real gap · planning · limits · method · FAQ

Key takeaways

• International first stage dates are only D, E and F, the same dates as testing accommodations.
• Each session's first stage runs across six dates, and group candidates pick one.
• Fall 2026 first stage: September 25 to October 4. Second stage: November 8 and 15.
• Winter 2027 first stage begins January 15, 2027.
• There are three application deadlines per session depending on how you apply.
• The published gap between stages is 35 to 44 days, not exactly one month.

The rule that halves the calendar

The Foundation states, under important notes for every session: testing accommodations for persons with disabilities and international test dates for the first stage are only available on the D, E and F test dates.

Read what that removes. A session offers six first stage dates, labelled A to F. Three of them, A, B and C, are not available for international first stage testing.

It also pairs two different populations under one rule, which is worth knowing rather than being surprised by: candidates needing accommodations and international candidates sit on the same three dates.

There is a second constraint alongside it. For group test sites, candidates must choose only one date from A to F. So the calendar is not a menu of chances, it is a single choice, and for international candidates that choice is from three options rather than six.

Fall Session 2026

Online pass or fail notification for the first stage is October 26, with results arriving November 4. For the second stage, notification is November 17 for the November 8 sitting and November 24 for the November 15 sitting, with results arriving November 24 and December 1 respectively.

The three bold rows are the ones available for international first stage testing.

Winter Session 2027

Applications run October 30 to December 14 for group applications and for individual applications by credit card. Bookstore applications close December 4 and must arrive at the Eiken Foundation by December 8 local time.

The first stage begins January 15, 2027 for group site A, then January 16 for B, January 17 for C, January 22 for D, January 23 for E, and January 24 for public test sites and group site F.

Again, the last three are the international dates.

Summer Session 2026

For completeness, since it has passed at the time of writing and shows the shape of a session.

Applications ran March 23 to April 28 for groups and March 23 to May 7 for individual credit card applications, with bookstore applications closing April 21 and required to arrive by April 23.

The first stage ran May 22, 23, 24 for sites A to C and May 29, 30, 31 for D, E and F, with the second stage on July 5 and July 12.

Three application deadlines, not one

This is the detail that catches people who read a single date somewhere and stop.

For Fall Session 2026 the Foundation publishes three separate windows:

• Group applications: June 30 to September 4.
• Individual applications by credit card: June 30 to September 7.
• Bookstore applications: deadline September 1, and applications must arrive at the Eiken Foundation by September 3 local time.

Three routes, three closing points, spread across a week. The bookstore route is the earliest and carries an arrival requirement rather than a submission one, which is a different kind of deadline and the easiest to misjudge.

The gap between stages is longer than one month

The Foundation's speaking tests page describes the second stage as given approximately one month after the first. The calendar is more precise, and slightly longer.

For Fall 2026, the earliest first stage date is September 25 and the first second stage date is November 8. That is 44 days. From the October 4 first stage date to the same November 8 sitting is 35 days.

So five to six weeks is the honest expectation, and the exact figure depends on which first stage date you sat. That is more preparation time than "about a month" suggests, and it is time with a known date and a single skill to work on. We set out how the two stage structure works in the EIKEN speaking test as a second stage.

How to plan around it

1. If you are outside Japan, start from D, E and F. Three dates, not six, and everything else follows from which you pick.
2. Pick your application route first, because it sets your deadline. The bookstore route closes earliest and requires arrival, not posting.
3. Count your own gap. From your first stage date to the second stage date is between five and six weeks, and knowing the number turns it into a plan.
4. Use the free official papers for the first stage. Every administration is released with audio, which we cover in EIKEN past papers are free.
5. Spend the gap speaking. The second stage is a face to face interview conducted entirely in English, and it is the only part with no released past paper.

That last one is where preparation usually disappears, because there is nothing to read. SpeakShark is the reps instead: 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 the limits.

More EIKEN: the CSE score overlap, Grade 1's two examiners, Grade 4 and 5 speaking, and seven or eight grades. For other exam calendars: IELTS test dates and booking and TOEFL test dates.

Why a six date first stage exists at all

Spreading one exam across six dates looks like generosity and is mostly logistics, and understanding why helps you read the calendar correctly.

EIKEN's first stage is delivered largely through group test sites, which the Foundation describes as approximately 18,000 junior high schools, high schools, colleges and other institutions approved to administer the test. A single national date would require all of them to run the exam simultaneously, on a school day, with staff supervising.

Six dates spread that load. Schools pick a date that suits their timetable, and the candidate inherits it rather than choosing it. That is why the instruction is to choose only one date from A to F: for most candidates the choice was already made by the institution.

Two consequences follow for anybody planning independently.

Public test sites sit on the last date. In every session listed, public test sites appear alongside group site F, which is the final first stage date. So a candidate not attached to a school is normally sitting the latest of the six.

The international restriction lines up with that. International first stage dates are D, E and F, the back half of the window, which is also where the public sites are. Whether that is by design or by consequence the page does not say, but the practical effect is that independent and international candidates cluster at the same end of the calendar.

The scheduling detail matters more than it looks, because it compresses the second stage gap. Sitting the first stage on the final date rather than the first shortens your speaking preparation window by nine days, from 44 to 35 in the Fall 2026 session, and that window is the only structured preparation time the exam gives you for the interview. Our guides on practising at home and practising alone cover routines that fit five weeks, and what band 7 means gives a sense of what a comparable level looks like on another scale.

What we could not verify

The Foundation notes that EIKEN application forms and procedures are currently offered in Japanese only, and that the English information is provided as an additional reference. We read the English reference and did not read the Japanese application pages, so anybody applying should confirm against those.

We did not read the fees, locations, times or terms and conditions sections on the same page, so no figures for those appear here.

We did not verify what "international test dates" covers in practice, for example whether it refers to overseas venues, to candidates residing abroad, or to both. The page states the restriction without defining the term.

How we researched this guide

Every date, application window, notification date and results arrival date above comes from the Eiken Foundation of Japan's EIKEN test administration page, opened directly in a browser and read in its English version. The note that international first stage dates and testing accommodations are only available on D, E and F dates, and the instruction to choose only one date from A to F, come from the important notes attached to each session on that page. The approximately one month description of the gap comes from the Foundation's EIKEN speaking tests page, and the 35 and 44 day figures are our arithmetic on the published calendar.

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 dates, fees, application procedures and current requirements, go to the exam body directly. Use SpeakShark to make your spoken English stronger, and use official material to learn the test.

• Site: speakshark.com
• Support: speaksharksupport@gmail.com
• Free tier: 3 AI conversation sessions per day, no card

Sources

• EIKEN test administration, Eiken Foundation of Japan
• EIKEN speaking tests, Eiken Foundation of Japan
• Preparing for EIKEN, Eiken Foundation of Japan
• CEFR global scale, Council of Europe

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