We now have ten free, full-length JFT-Basic mock exams, at /mock-exams. Each one is 48 questions on a single 60-minute clock, in the same four sections and the same running order as the real test. No sign-up, no payment, no trial that runs out.
Ten mocks is enough to build a whole preparation around - but only if you sit them in a sensible order and review each one properly. Here is how.
How they relate to the exam demo
Our original free exam demo came first, and it is still the best place to start. Think of it as Mock 0: a general, balanced paper that gives you a baseline before you know anything about your weak spots.
The ten new sets are built the same way, under the same rules. Every listening clip plays twice, automatically, with no replay button, and the listening options are short pieces of Japanese text, not pictures. What changes from set to set is the world the questions are drawn from.
What each set emphasises
Each set has a theme. The grammar and vocabulary are A2 throughout, but the situations, the notices and the conversations follow one kind of working life.
| Set | Theme | Typical situations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | First weeks in Japan | Convenience store, supermarket, dormitory, rubbish days, the station |
| 2 | Factory | Shifts, safety gear, lockers, the line leader, food-factory hygiene |
| 3 | Nursing care | Residents, meals and baths, shift handovers, the duty board, families |
| 4 | Restaurant | Orders, allergies, the register, closing jobs, the shift rota |
| 5 | Construction and cleaning | Morning safety meetings, tools, weather, cleaning rotas |
| 6 | Agriculture and fishery | Greenhouses, harvest, the cowshed, the boat and the port |
| 7 | Hotel | Front desk, room cleaning, guests’ requests, lost property |
| 8 | Transport and clinic | Trains, delays, tickets, the clinic, the pharmacy |
| 9 | City hall, bank, housing | City hall, the bank, rent, the rubbish calendar, a disaster drill |
| 10 | Final rehearsal | Everything, at the hardest level of the ten |
You do not need to be heading into the sector a set is themed on. The real test mixes daily life and workplace situations from everywhere, so a care worker still benefits from the factory set. The theme just makes each paper feel like a coherent day rather than 48 unrelated questions.
The order, over 8-10 weeks
Sit them in this order unless you have a good reason not to. It moves from familiar daily life towards denser workplace Japanese, and it keeps the hardest paper for last.
| Week | Sit | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exam demo | Baseline. Find your weakest section. |
| 2 | Set 1 | Daily life first - the easiest context to follow. |
| 3 | Sets 2 and 3 | Workplace language starts. |
| 4 | Set 4 | Numbers and prices under pressure. |
| 5 | Sets 5 and 6 | Instructions and safety. |
| 6 | Set 7 | Polite language and messages. |
| 7 | Set 8 | Timetables, times and appointments. |
| 8 | Set 9 | Forms, fees and deadlines. |
| 9 | Re-sit your weakest set | Check the gap has actually closed. |
| 10 | Set 10 | Final rehearsal, five to seven days before the test. |
On an eight-week plan, put Sets 2 and 3 in week 2 alongside Set 1, drop the re-sit, and keep Set 10 for the last week. If you have the eight-week study plan open, the mocks slot into its weekend sessions.
One exception to the order: if your own job is in a particular sector, it is fine to sit that set early. Familiar situations make a confidence-building second paper.
Do not sit Set 10 too early
Set 10 is deliberately the hardest of the ten. It is there to show you what a bad day on the real test might look like, while you still have a week to respond.
Sat in week 3, it will just discourage you. Sat the night before, it will tell you something you no longer have time to fix. Five to seven days out is the point where the result is still useful.
Every set has an answer guide
Each mock has its own answer guide on the blog, at /blog/jft-basic-mock-exam-1-answers through to /blog/jft-basic-mock-exam-10-answers. They explain why the right option is right and, more usefully, why the wrong ones were written the way they were.
Read the guide the same day, while you still remember what you were thinking. The method is in how to review a mock test, and the logic behind the wrong options is in how JFT-Basic wrong options are built.
The conditions still matter
A free mock is only worth the hour you give it. Use a laptop, wear headphones, and sit the whole thing in one go with nothing else open. The full checklist is in how to sit our free mock properly.
Ten honest scores, sat the same way, will tell you more about your readiness than any amount of feeling ready. When two in a row land above 200, book the test.