[Cross-Comparison of Preparatory Schools] Boys' Schools 65 (Asano, Azabu, Eiko, Kaijo, Komaba Toho, Musashi, Waseda + Shibumaku, Shibushibu, Tsukukoma, Koishikawa)

This project aims to gather and cross-compare preparatory schools within the same deviation score range. The second installment focuses on the second-tier boys' schools (though some might be offended by that term), specifically the group of schools around the Yotsuya Otsuka/Nichinoken deviation score of 65.

While seven schools—Asano, Azabu, Eiko Gakuen, Kaijo, Komaba Toho (Komato), Musashi, and Waseda—might seem like a large number, I feel they form a cohesive group when looking at their deviation scores and university admission results, so I will proceed with these.

Additionally, I will also look at the co-educational schools Shibuya Education Gakuen Makuhari (Shibumaku), Shibuya Education Gakuen Shibuya (Shibushibu), University of Tsukuba Senior High School (Tsukufu), and Tokyo Metropolitan Koishikawa Secondary Education School (Koishikawa) as close comparison subjects based on their deviation scores and university admission results.

I will delve into university admission results and educational content, and use graphs to perform cross-comparisons. By lining up multiple schools for comparison, I hope to highlight their individual characteristics and provide material for exploring entrance exam trends.

1. Comparison of Deviation Score Trends

First, let's look at the trends in deviation scores.

Here, I look at the SAPIX 80% deviation score and the Nichinoken R4 (80%) deviation score. Since single-year graphs overlap and are difficult to read, I have calculated and graphed the 3-year average for each.

First Half Schedule (February 1st to 2nd)

Roughly speaking, for boys' schools other than Shibumaku and Shibushibu, if we divide them into three phases—(1) 2011-2016, (2) 2016-2020, and (3) 2020 onwards—we can interpret the changes in the power balance as follows.

(1) Musashi Stagnation Era: Divided into an upper group of Azabu, Eiko, and Komato, and a lower group of Waseda, Asano, Musashi, and Kaijo
(2) Komato's Sharp Decline and Musashi's Revival: Komato is absorbed into the lower group
(3) Mostly One Group: The division between upper and lower groups disappears, becoming mostly one group

So, in terms of deviation scores, they have become mostly one group is the current situation. The Shibuya-affiliated schools are showing different movements, but other boys' schools are all within a 2-point difference on both deviation score tables, giving the impression of a tightly packed cluster.

Second Half Schedule (February 3rd onwards)

What stands out at a glance is Koishikawa's rise. Although it is a public integrated junior and senior high school with a different question format, it is said that as it has become known that it is possible to adapt from private school-style preparation, concurrent applications with top-tier schools are increasing, which is likely reflected here.

Other than that (excluding Shibushibu), there don't seem to be any major movements, but the sharp decline of Tsukufu in SAPIX is a somewhat concerning movement.

2. Comparison of University Admission Results

Next is the comparison of university admission results, which many people are likely interested in.

National and Public University Results (2025-2023)

For national and public universities, the acceptance rate is calculated by dividing the number of successful applicants by the number of graduates. Here, we create graphs for two categories: all successful applicants including both current students and ronin (those who failed the previous year), and current students only. We also include four co-ed schools for easier comparison.

Acceptance rate for current students and ronin combined

Azabu, which had been sluggish in recent years, recovered sharply in 2025, so Eiko Gakuen and Azabu have moved to the top. The following Kaijo, Komaba Toho, Asano, and Musashi show slight differences in direction between Tokyo University and medical schools. Waseda has an image where nearly 30% go to top-tier national universities (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hitotsubashi, Tokyo Tech, and medical schools) after half the students leave via internal recommendation.

The four co-ed schools seem to be good points of comparison with the boys' schools in this range.

By the way, I was curious about the data for top public high schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area, so I included them. While I want to keep the difference in the base number (300-400 students) in mind, they seem to be good subjects for comparison.

Acceptance rate for current students

This is what it looks like when limited to current students only.

For current students, many schools are at around 30% for top-tier national universities, while Musashi and Waseda drop slightly to around 20%. By the way, the three schools in the 'most difficult' category are around 50%, and Salesio, which comes next, is under 20%, so I have judged it appropriate to group them together here in terms of both deviation scores and acceptance records.

When calculated for current students only, those that show relative growth are Kaijo, Asano, and Waseda, and among co-ed schools, Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Shibuya and Koishikawa. It is interesting to compare them individually.

Private university records (2025-2023)

Since there are many overlapping acceptances for private universities, the graphs are created by stacking percentages rather than using a 100% scale.

Acceptance rate for current students and ronin combined

Excluding Musashi, as it only provides the number of enrolled students, there are no major differences between the schools. In almost all cases, the total for private medical schools plus Waseda/Keio exceeds 100%.

Acceptance rate for current students

When looking at current students, the graphs change significantly. This is thought to reflect differences in school culture or direction.

Among boys' schools, those with clearly higher numbers of successful applicants are Kaijo and Asano, those with moderate numbers are Eiko and Komaba Toho, and those with fewer are Azabu. This is thought to be related to the strength of the focus on current student success. Waseda would likely be closer to Kaijo and Asano if the recommended students were excluded.

Since co-ed schools also include girls, the trends change slightly, and overall, there are many successful current student applicants. Among them, Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Shibuya and Koishikawa have many private university acceptances, which suggests a strong focus on current student success.

Also, looking at Sophia and Tokyo University of Science, it can be said that a characteristic of boys' schools is that Tokyo University of Science clearly has more. Well, I suppose that is as expected.

Arts and Sciences Ratio

The ratio of arts to sciences is calculated using the past 3 years of successful admission results for top national and public universities (Tokyo University, Hitotsubashi, Tokyo Tech, and medical schools). For specific details on the aggregation, please refer to this past article here ->[Comparison of Arts and Sciences Ratios in Preparatory Schools].

If we consider a 40% arts ratio as the dividing line, Komaba Toho and Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Shibuya lean slightly toward the arts seems to be the trend.

Also, Kaijo has many medical school students, and Kaijo, Waseda, Shibuya Makuhari, and Tsukuba High School have many science students including those in medical schools, I suppose.

Admission Results

Not many schools disclose the number of students who actually enroll, but I have graphed the data for schools that do, along with Tsukoma and Kaisei. These figures are for current students only.

Since Musashi does not have information on the number of successful applicants, I hope you can get an idea by comparing the number of enrolled students with other schools. My impression of private university enrollment is that it falls right between Eiko Gakuen and Salesio.

Since we are at it, the following table shows the ratio of enrolled students calculated from the number of successful applicants to top private universities.

Tsukoma looks like a bit of an outlier, but otherwise, there is a slight gradation among Waseda/Keio, Sophia/Tokyo University of Science, and MARCH.

Regarding Waseda and Keio, it seems safe to assume that schools with a strong orientation toward Tokyo University have about 1/5 of the number of successful applicants actually enrolling, while schools that are not as oriented have about 1/3 enrolling.

For Sophia and Tokyo University of Science, Kaisei is about half of Waseda/Keio, and for others, it is less than 20%, while for MARCH, it is less than 10% which I think is a common enrollment trend.

Overseas University Results (2025-2023)

One more thing, let's compare the number of successful applicants to overseas universities. I have graphed the number of successful applicants to prestigious universities (based on criteria such as the top 100 in the THE World University Rankings, specifically here) and to all overseas universities. (Since single-year data fluctuates, I am comparing the 5-year cumulative figures.)

Shibuya Makuhari and Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Shibuya stand out, but setting them aside for a moment, others that stand out are Kaijo, and then Koishikawa and Musashi. Let's look at the list.

Kaijo has double-digit successful applicants almost every year. Musashi only discloses the number of enrolled students, so looking at the number of successful applicants, it might be on par with Kaijo (I wish they would at least disclose successful applicant results for overseas universities).

Although I think this is only a handful from the whole, I would like to keep an eye on whether paths to overseas universities will be established from these schools, or if such students will be absorbed by the group of schools called international schools.

3. Comparison of Educational Content

Finally, let's compare the educational content.

First, Tsukuba High School, which is a national university-affiliated school, does not use an accelerated curriculum. Also, including students advancing from the affiliated elementary school, about 80% of the total go on to the affiliated high school (the bottom 20% in terms of grades leave for high school entrance exams), which is a major difference from other schools in that it is not a so-called integrated junior and senior high school education.

The other schools provide integrated junior and senior high school education and use so-called accelerated learning aimed at university entrance exams. Koishikawa is a metropolitan school, but it is a 6-year integrated secondary education school, so it is the same in this respect.

This is likely the first difference to note regarding subject learning, but since there is no information available to dig deeper and make a cross-comparison, I will compare programs other than regular classes from here on.

Educational Environment

I will compare them from the following perspectives that parents are likely to be interested in.

1. Global Education

2. Inquiry-based Learning (+ Career Education)

3. Other Characteristic Education / ICT Environment

4. Presence of Advanced Classes

5. Optional Courses / University Entrance Exam Support

In addition to global and inquiry programs, I think the system for university entrance exams is also a point of concern, so I have added optional courses for study. I don't think you can determine the necessity of attending a cram school based on this alone, but I think you can measure the school's stance (how much support they intend to provide) to some extent.

As you compare them, I think you will begin to see where each school is focusing its efforts. Since these often represent the school's character, you might find your own criteria for selection if you dig deeper into each one.

Cram School Attendance Rate (Tetsuryokukai / SEG)

How many people attend cram schools outside of school studies is a point that parents are concerned about, but unfortunately, no school discloses its cram school attendance rate. However, since Tetsuryokukai and SEG disclose the number of enrolled students by school, I will use the ratio of this to the total number of students as a reference.

Here, for reference, I will list them including the schools in the most difficult category. Note that Tetsuryokukai only discloses designated schools, so blank spaces mean not disclosed, not zero.

Since Tetsuryokukai is in Yoyogi and SEG is in Shinjuku, I believe this location has a significant impact. Also, please note that these figures cover all grades from the first year of junior high to the third year of high school. With that in mind, please view this as just one perspective.

Whether it is necessary to attend a cram school for university entrance exams is a question that always comes up in Q&A, and I think the reality is that many people do attend. However, I think you can get some idea of whether cram schools are a given, whether many people use them supplementarily while focusing on school (or if they really don't use them at all), by looking at these figures and the school's support stance seen in the educational environment section.

Schools in Kanagawa are heavily influenced by geographical factors, so it might be difficult to judge based on this alone.

4. Summary

That concludes the boys' second-tier schools edition. I didn't compile this to rank schools or determine which is better or worse based on deviation scores or admission results, but rather in the hope that it would help reveal the direction and trends of each school.

University admission results, which many people care about, are certainly one of the axes, but I think there are several indicators to look at, such as national/public vs. private, science vs. humanities, and overseas universities. Also, some people may value overseas training, study abroad, and experiential programs, while cram school attendance rates, university entrance exam support, school brand, and high deviation scores (the high academic ability of friends and relationships after graduation) will also be criteria for value judgment.

The schools listed here all have various directions and characteristics, and I think they offer a variety of choices, or rather, they are worth choosing from. They are all difficult schools, so it's not like you can just say it's easy to choose, but I hope this helps you think about your preferred school.

[Preparatory School Cross-Comparison Series]