The USA doesn’t offer it in July (not sure about other counties though). I’ve always assumed that it’s because it would frequently bump up against Independence Day week 
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Yes, the official reason in the US is that it will nearly always fall on Independence Day weekend and they can’t get any venues or proctors during that weekend so they don’t bother trying
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Next December (US and A), I’m going to go ahead and try N3 (or maybe N4, see how I feel when it gets close to registration time). Definitely going to prioritize the exam itself even less, but I like it as a baseline to see how I feel about taking a test in that environment at an appropriate difficulty level.
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I would like to try N2 in December, but with the test always being on Sundays and the location being uncertain until after registration ends, it’s hard to take the risk because it’s difficult to get childcare. Maybe when my kids are in elementary school I’ll be at the appropriate level to take on N1 
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Happy New Year’s JLPT-based resolution time! 
My resolution is just to keep going with JLPT practice 
How about you?
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My resolution is to practice speaking more and to improve my level from B1 to B2 or low N2 to low N1.
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It’s an ambitious goal, so good luck 
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Me too! Seen many people say it’s not possible in a year. January is my N5+N4 rep month and the rest of 2026 will be N3 grind.
Good luck! 
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It absolutely is possible
However, it really depends on how much studying you do in that year! 
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Passed the JLPT N2 last year with exactly 50%.
Retaking it to get a better score. I want to feel like I am at the N2 level and not question if it was just a marking error.
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I applaud people who retake an exam even after passing. I passed N2 in 2024 with a low B1 score but I am never planning to retake it. I will review grammar points and vocabulary, and try to continue to improve on my level though.
I hope you can pass with a B2 level score next time.
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I was thinking also to target N4 by December instead of N5 but don’t know if I can do it. Vocabulary and Kanji wise I would most probably pass N5 now but grammar and listening wise I’m not so confident. Is the gap between N5 and N4 big?
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Is the gap between N5 and N4 big?
The official site has sample practice questions per JLPT level:
https://www.jlpt.jp/e/samples/forlearners.html
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It’s my tradition to take it every year.
Since I don’t really study for the test I just increase my level overall
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It’s a good point that having the CEFR on the results from now on could mean that it might get more popular to retake exams of the same level to try and get a higher CEFR level.
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I’m going to shoot for N2 in December. I passed N2 way back in 2011. That was my “peak” and my flirtation with gaining serious Japanese fluency has been on hiatus since then. Recently decided to make it a major life goal to finish the job and get that N1. Based on some casual reading of N3 practice tests, I don’t think getting back up to N2 by December will be too much of a challenge.
N1 in Dec. 2027 is the real goal though…
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I’m aiming to take the N3 in December (this was a no brainer since the JLPT in not offered in July in my country). I haven’t been really focused on my Japanese studies last year and failed (by not many points, tbf); this year I plan on getting a new tutor and add speaking practise starting from January on, and focusing more on JLPT-specific practice and revision in the fall,
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