The success of your childcare application depends on the score of your index points. Calculating your index points will help you understand and potentially improve your chances of receiving an acceptance letter for admissions to a Japansese public or private licensed nursery school. Your index points represent how essential are your childcare needs and are determined by your family's circumstances such as parents’ work hours, parents’ and child’s health conditions and other important factors. Bear in mind that the calculation standards vary depending on the local government but the following equation will help you understand the basic way your score is calculated by your local government. You can find more information about the way your local government calculates the total index points of each household below.
Father’s basic + Mother’s basic + Adjustment index = Total points of household
Example of Basic index score
If you work full-time (meaning 20 days or more a month and 8 hours or more during the day), your index score will be, for example, 20 points. Then if your partner also works full-time, their points will be added to yours and then your household points will be 40 which is the highest basic index score a household can receive. In Tokyo, the competition is exceptionally high which means that it’s common that most of the applicants work full-time and therefore they have the highest basic points. In that case, the adjustment index points determine the successful applicants.
Examples of Adjustment index score
Unfortunately, there are limited circumstances that add high Adjustment index points to your Basic points such as points for single parents. Each ward has different rules for appointing adjustment points. However, here are a few examples that can add a few more points and which are common among many wards:
- Having a sibling enrolled in a nursery school in your ward already.
- Multiple children are already enrolled or planning to enrol at the same time at the same school.
- Your child is already enrolled in an unlicensed or a private nursery school and you’re paying a fee. Most of the wards set an attendance limit (1-6 months continuous attendance)
- Nursery transfer due to special circumstances
- Re-enrollment after childcare leave
- Transfer from a specific small-scale childcare facility or nursery school within your ward that has an age-limit of attendance (for example 2-years-old class)
- Grandparents are not available to provide childcare (due to health or distance).
*These are just examples and they don’t apply to all Tokyo wards. I suggest checking with your local government to find out more about the adjustment index score rules or read your local ward’s guidebook translated in English for your convenience below.
Other Priority Criteria
New applicants
Siblings attending at the same time different or the same schools
Long-term residents
Low income households
Single households
If you have more questions about childcare in Japan or you need help with your application, book an online consultation with our expert Educational Consultant. For more information see our Services. We provide a wide range of consultancy services, including personalized advice on how to prepare, what schools to choose and how to submit the applications.