The English proficiency of public junior and senior high school students in Japan is continuing to improve, an education ministry survey showed Thursday.

The proportion of third-year junior high school students with English skills equivalent to Grade 3 or higher in the country's Eiken proficiency tests rose to 50.0% in the fiscal 2023 survey, up 0.8 percentage point from the previous year.

The share of third-year senior high school students with English skills equivalent to Grade Pre-2 or higher Eiken levels was up 1.9 points at 50.6%.

Both proportions reached 50% for the first time. The government aims to raise the figure to 60% or higher by fiscal 2027.

By prefecture and major city, the proportion of third-year junior high school students with Grade 3 or higher Eiken levels was highest in the city of Saitama, at 88.4%.

Fukui Prefecture came second, at 83.8%, followed by the city of Yokohama, at 67.2%. The lowest figure was marked in Saga Prefecture, at 30.1%.

For third-year high school students, Toyama Prefecture recorded the highest rate, of 61.4%, followed by Fukui Prefecture, at 61.1%, and Ishikawa Prefecture, at 59.0%.

Miyagi Prefecture posted the lowest figure, of 39.6%. The overall proportion of third-year high school students with Grade 2 or higher was 19.8%.

The levels of English skills greatly varied depending on the region. High scores were marked in prefectures and cities encouraging more students to take Eiken tests, ministry officials said.

The survey also showed that the share of English teachers with skills equivalent to Grade Pre-1 or higher rose to 44.8% at junior high schools and climbed to 80.7% at senior high schools.

The proportion of schools using digital textbooks was about 80% for elementary schools and some 90% for junior high schools, according to the survey.