Society

Tokyo Medical Univ to accept some applicants denied by exam rigging

Nov 08 (Japan Today) - Tokyo Medical University will admit applicants who were rejected in 2017 and 2018 due to a rigged admission process, if they still wish to attend the school, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

An independent committee's report said in October that 69 applicants who took the general entrance exams and a common admission test used by most universities this year and last would have qualified for admission if the process had been fair.

The number of such students could be as high as 100, according to the sources, who added the university will hold a press conference Wednesday to announce the action to be taken.

Tokyo Medical University admitted in August it had been deducting points from exam scores for over 10 years to curb the enrollment of women overall, and of men who had failed the exam previously.

The university said it will confirm with each of the affected applicants whether they still want to attend the medical school. And depending on the number that do, the university may reduce the number of applicants allowed to take its general entrance next year.

The committee report had recommended that applicants affected by the discriminatory admission practice in 2018 be allowed to attend the university from the start of the next school year in April 2019. It deferred to the university a decision regarding the affected applicants from 2017.

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